Hey guys. Long time no read?
Sorry for the extremely long delay. I've been really busy with school last year, because I was a graduating high school student, and now I'm a first year college student on my second semester taking Occupational Therapy in a university near home. Taking a medical-related course isn't easy, guys, but this is what I want and I'm going to do whatever it takes to fulfill my dreams! With that being said, I hope you guys understand why I'm having a hard time finding time and inspiration to continue this story. But, like I said in the past, I will never give up on this fanfic and you guys have my word on that!
Other reasons are because my laptop is dead (RIP Lappytoppy T.T) and I've been a lazy bum. Sorry for not updating for almost two years T.T
It just so happened that I was so bored last week that I went through my old files in my hard drive and found sister's copy of all the episodes of Gundam SEED Destiny. I got so into it that I've finally found the inspiration to update You and Me! FUN FACT: I was adding a few finishing touches to this chapter when suddenly an EARTHQUAKE occurred here in the Philippines with a magnitude of 6 ._. I was shaking like crazy, guys. It was all so scary.
Anyway, thank you all so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows despite of the fact that I am so inactive on this site! You and Me has reached one hundred forty-three, guys! 143 for I love you :)
regulusgal: Your words have motivated me to update this story :) ahahaha Thanks for that. I haven't written in a long time, though, so my writing skills might be kind of rusty in this chapter. Beware~
Enma20: Thank you! I'll keep your suggestions in mind :)
Freyis & ShihoJuuri: Thank you! You will get your Shizak drama soon ;)
nitaattha, tetetkh, moonlove, & rynne chan: Thank you :)
autumn's fairy thyme14: Fifi-nee, I've finally updated T.T Btw, I will reply to our PMing soon. Sorry for not replying T.T I am a bad Mimou :(
Anonymous: Sorry for the delay. Here's your update, whoever you are!
Rawrrdoll: I'm sorry if I put my Author's Notes in the beginning and that they're long, but this is just how I write my fanfics, so please respect that. Thank you :) Thanks also for appreciating my story. I hope this update will bring justice to the extremely long wait!
Thanks again to those who still stick around to my story. I hope you guys still go on FFN, or receive mail on your Yahoo! of gMail accounts that You and Me has been updated! Love you guys :)
Disclaimer: I doughnut own Gundam SEED. If I did, ASUCAGA WOULD STILL BE AT THING.
You and Me
What is love?
It's not that she wasn't used to pulling all-nighter's because of work, or that she wasn't used to staying up 'til the sun rose, but that night, Cagalli couldn't sleep at all. All she thought about was how she was going to tell Alex and Ally about the current situation and how they would feel about it. She wasn't prepared to answer what questions they might ask her, or the emotions they might shed, but what fears her most is one thing: What if they come to hate her?
What if they come to hate her for the mistake she had made of not telling them that Athrun Zala, Chairman of the PLANTS, was their father? She becomes conscious about this as similar questions and whatnot run through her mind, especially after that talk she had with Ally a few days ago. What would she feel? What would Alex feel?
What would become of her family?
A sudden knock on the door brought Cagalli back from her lost train of thought. She stood up from her bed and looked through the peephole, which revealed a certain pinkette on her nighties. "Cagalli?"
"Lacus?" The blonde said as soon as she opened the door to let the pink songstress in. "It's one in the morning. Why are you still up?"
Lacus entered the room and cheekily said, "I could ask you the same thing."
Closing the door, Cagalli sighed and turned to face Lacus. "Lacus, you know why I can't sleep right now. I bet Kira's told you everything."
"Everything but what you are planning to do next." Lacus said. "Now, I know that is it not the time to ask about that yet, because I can see that you are thinking about a lot, but I can try and help you, Cagalli."
"With how everything is? How, Lacus?"
"Do not worry, Cagalli. We will figure something out." Lacus gave her a reassuring smile. "Let us take everything step by step, starting by how you will tell the twins."
The hardest one, she thought as she looked at her precious children sleeping like angels. "Okay, but maybe we should take this outside, in case they might wake up and overhear."
Lacus nodded, and the two stepped out to the balcony. The night was beautiful, with twinkling stars adorning the sky. It reminded Cagalli of how (1) Yzak and Shiho started, and also how they were now. As much as she'd love to tease Yzak and help Shiho make him suffer, she had other problems to face. Bigger ones. "You were saying?"
"We should take everything step by step, and how you will tell the twins is the first one. You know, Cagalli, I can be there for you."
"Please, Lacus." Cagalli agreed to her suggestion. "I need someone to be there with me."
Lacus looked at Cagalli, concerned. "I am guessing this is the problem that most troubles you?"
Cagalli narrowed her eyes away from Lacus. "I'm just afraid of how they'll react."
"Oh, Cagalli." Lacus gave her sister-in-law a hug. "Remember that they are your children. This may be the most shocking news they will receive for the rest of their lives, but remember that you are their mother. Their love for you will not waver or change- it is impossible!"
"Lacus..." Cagalli was getting teary-eyed. Talking about her children with anyone lately was a very touchy subject for her. For once, it wasn't about how she used to be a failure of a leader in the past, or the instability of Orb. It was all about her children now, and she was sure nothing would ever change that from this day forth.
Lacus was right. She was their mother, and, despite of the lack of time she had for them like every other mother in the world, the love her children showed her was very heartfelt, unconditional, and real. No one has ever loved her with that much sincerity and passion.
Well, except for a man named Athrun Zala.
The intensity of Athrun's love for her was powerful beyond compare, or at least it used to be. Judging on what has happened between them the past five years; Cagalli guessed that it wasn't as powerful as she thought it was. Her love for him was still strong, there's no doubt about it. But what of him for her? Sure, he may have been surprisingly affectionate with her a while ago, but that still doesn't change the fact that he was engaged to be married to Meyrin.
Athrun had a new woman in his life now, and that woman was not Cagalli.
When she arrived in the PLANTS, she was determined to get Athrun back, but what Kira told her a while ago knocked some sense into her. Her brother was right, Athrun can't just abandon Meyrin just because he found out he had kids with his sister. He was about to share a life with someone he really loved. I mean, why else would he marry her? Cagalli was wrong to think that he would come running back to her, and it showed when Athrun didn't do anything to confirm that. He might have been concerned about Cagalli's feelings, but that was all there was to it, and Cagalli needed to accept the fact that he wasn't going to be hers like she secretly hoped it would.
Right now, it would be about her children. Their children.
Athrun was finally going to be a part of Alex and Ally's life, but not hers.
Lacus broke free from their hug and said, "I would love to be there with you when you tell them, Cagalli. But now that Athrun will be a huge part of their lives, I think you should tell them with him. He is their father, and they need your help to accept that."
"When they were little and asked about their father for the first time, I told them that he just went away to work. But that wouldn't shut them up." Cagalli let out a dry chuckle. "They kept on asking where he was and when he'll come back, but I told them that I didn't know because I told them that he told me that he would be away for a very long time because of work. I told them that he was working here in the PLANTS, and even though he was thousands of miles away, he still didn't forget about them, that one day he would come back for them, and that we'd all be a family from then on.
"But things didn't go the way as planned. Instead, we went to him, and he found us. It's funny how life plays with you, you know?"
Lacus sighed and frowned. "I must apologize, Cagalli. I was the one who pushed you to come all the way here to the PLANTS and do this. The truth is, Kira and I were really worried about you and Athrun, especially when we found out that he was engaged to Meyrin. Athrun is Kira's best friend, and he is like a brother to me, while you are my and Kira's sister, and we care about you two so much that we just had to take matters into our own hands, especially since you were running out of time. In two months, Athrun would be wed to Meyrin, and if you had not told him before that, we, Kira especially, were afraid that things would be more complicated in the future.
"But now, in the present, seeing how things are for you and Athrun, I have come to realize that it wasn't our place to pry and force you to do things. It must not have been our way from the start. It should have been yours, and I apologize for that, Cagalli. I truly am. We did not mean to hurt you like this."
The sister-in-laws got really emotional after their speeches and hugged each other again, because it's really the only thing to make everything seem okay right now.
"Oh, Lacus, don't be sorry!" Cagalli sniffed, wiping a few tears away with the sleeve of her nighties. "Really I should be the one's who's sorry."
"Cagalli, I-"
"No! Let me explain, Lacus. If it weren't for you and Kira, I would never have come this far in fixing the situation. Yes, everyone's hurting right now, but it will all be resolved soon. Besides, it's not like this more difficult than saving the world. We got through two wars, so this'll be a piece of cake, right?"
Lacus snorted at Cagalli's humor. "Thank you for being positive, Cagalli. I hope I have given you the help you needed."
"You have. Thank you, Lacus." Cagalli gave her a sincere smile. "You've made me realize a lot of things, and my thoughts may be a bit of a train wreck right now, but as long as I have you guys, my friends, I know I'll be alright.
"You shouldn't be sorry for dragging me all the way here to the PLANTS to reconcile with Athrun, because this has honestly been the best vacation I've had my whole life. Seeing him again, hanging out with you guys, everyone complete- I couldn't be happier!"
"I'm glad you are happy, Cagalli." Lacus smiled. Her words never failed to enlighten people.
"But I'm not done, Lacus. There are, in fact, things you should be sorry for."
"What?"
"Oh, you know, forcing me to go shopping, wearing ridiculous outfits, and wearing makeup are totally worth a punishment-"
"Cagalli," Lacus laughed. "I am not and will never be sorry for those things! I mean, think about the benefits it gave you. New clothes, new stuff, a new look, bonding time with us girls-"
"A sore body, blisters on my feet, more whiteheads-"
Lacus laughed harder. "Cagalli!"
"But you're right. I should be thankful about the benefits, especially that one..."
"Which one?"
Cagalli grinned. "Oh, you know the one where, even just for a while, Athrun peeled his eyes off of Meyrin and looked at me like there no one else in the world."
oOo
"What a long day." Athrun thought as he plopped on his bed and recalled the events of today. It was almost one o'clock, just an hour after he and Kira talked privately.
When Cagalli left to check on Alex and Ally, Kira had invited Athrun to the hotel's bar to cool off. It might not have been a smart move to indulge liquor at their current situation, but it's not like they were going to get drunk crazy. They had kids now. It was different.
And it was the only thing right now that would make everything seem okay.
oOo
After a few shots, Athrun finally mustered up the courage to talk to Kira. "Look, Kira, I know this doesn't change what you feel for me right now, but I just want to tell you that I'm really sorry about messing things up, especially with your sister.
"I know we're both at fault here, but this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't left for the PLANTS. You know what happened, Kira. They forced me into it, and there was nothing I could do about it."
"Exactly, Athrun. I knew what happened, so blame yourself for everything but that. It's not your fault the council members constrained you to be the Chairman of the PLANTS. And besides, you did it for Lacus as well, so I'm thankful you took the position in her place." Kira gave Athrun a pat on the back. "Some things were just meant to happen, you know?"
"But the way I left Cagalli... it shouldn't have happened that way." Athrun still couldn't believe what he had done to her. He knocks her up, leaves without formally saying goodbye, gives up making an effort to contact her, and five years later he finds out that he was a father of twins. Twins, for God's sakes. "I should have done things properly- formally. And maybe, just maybe, if I had, things would be okay and we would have still been together.
"But I didn't, so here I am now, facing the consequences. I never wanted all of this to happen, but we can't just bring back the past now, can't we?"
"Even though shit like this has happened, and I know everyone regrets a lot of things, I honestly wouldn't change the present, especially if I were in your shoes. I wouldn't change a thing, no matter how shitty this whole situation is."
Athrun was confused. "And why not?"
"Because these consequences you'rs of afraid aren't as bad as you think they are, Athrun." Kira gave his best friend a smile. "Not all of them are problems. Alex and Ally are not a problem."
And even until now, Kira was still able to prove Athrun wrong in just about everything. He was right, Alex and Ally, his children, were not problems, and they were definitely not mistakes.
That night before he left Orb, he and Cagalli didn't just have sex, they made love, and this love turned into two beautiful blessings named Alex and Ally.
Yes, he had only met the two a few hours ago and are not really close to them, but ever since he found out the truth, a new feeling formed in his heart, something he hadn't felt in five years.
True love.
But did that mean that what he and Meyrin had wasn't true love? He didn't know, but he did love Meyrin. He had learned to care for her ever since she helped him about seven years ago, when he was about to be arrested by ZAFT. During the war, she was there for him in his every need, and even a few years after, just months after he gained the title of Chairman and was at his loneliest, she was there to comfort him. It took him 2 years to realize that Meyrin wasn't just a friend to him, and when he asked her out on a date and not just dinner, she was thrilled, admitting to him that that was the moment she had been waiting for her whole life, and the rest was history.
Of course, it didn't take long for Athrun to propose because of Meyrin's persuasiveness, telling him that it was finally time to move on and start anew, so the whole thing was planned. Athrun took her out and proposed to her in front of the media, and the next you knew all of the PLANTS were talking about their engagement. At that time, Athrun didn't regret anything, because he believed that it was time to move on and forget the past as well.
But now, because of their situation at present, he wished he had waited longer and had done things at the right time, instead of forcefully rushing it. Yes, he loved Meyrin, and he would do anything to make her happy, but there was something at the back of his heart and mind tugging him to think of Cagalli.
Cagalli, his first real true love.
He knows he had a past with Lacus, but everything between him and her was forced as well, by their fathers. They merely saw each other as lovers and were really just good friends, and he was glad that was established. He was also glad that she was in his best friend's arms, because Lacus was like a sister to her. He still cared for her, yes, but it was someone else's turn to take care of her now.
His love for Cagalli, however, was a different story.
It was unique, their love. From strange beginnings, to mortal enemies, to friends, and, finally, to lovers. Athrun always felt something special ever since he laid eyes on Cagalli on that island where they first met. She wasn't exactly like all the other girls he's seen before. The blonde was a spunky one, he first thought. She was tomboy-ish, stubborn, and most especially aggressive. But as he got to know her better, he learned that she was really smart, kind, caring, and compassionate. She also wasn't a spoiled brat, considering that she was a princess that could have anything in the world, but no. Cagalli never used her father's money for personal intentions. She wanted to be independent, and wanting this even led her as far as rebelling towards her father and running away.
But in the end, just as everything was falling apart, she didn't think twice of helping out and stepping in the shoes of her father. She dealt with everything, and the aftermath of the First Bloody Valentine war was one hell of a ride. Athrun had been there with her to deal with it, and even he can tell that it wasn't easy to restore a whole nation of peace, but Cagalli's love and compassion for Orb was so strong everything worked out as good as it could've.
But maybe that love and compassion was one of the reasons why they drifted apart through the years. Being the representative of Orb kept Cagalli really busy, and being just her body guard, disguised as Alex Dino, Athrun spent most of his time watching her in the sidelines. It hurt him that Cagalli was neglecting her health because she was drowned in mountains of paperwork, but what hurt him the most was when he saw her spending time with that purple-haired freak. Yuna Roma Seiran was a forceful bastard. He was very clingy towards Cagalli, but everyone knew what his intentions were for her: Power.
Athrun wasn't pleased when he found out from the council that Yuna and Cagalli were engaged due to an agreement between their fathers. So before he left for the PLANTS, he gave Cagalli a ring and left her with a hanging promise. He wondered if she still kept the ring...
Athrun was so disappointed in himself, now and then. He let Cagalli go through a new kind of hell when he left her. He couldn't save her from her marriage with Yuna. He couldn't help her with problems with Orb. He couldn't comfort her in any way at all. He couldn't be with her in the times she needed him the most. He couldn't provide the support she wanted.
He just couldn't love her enough.
"But I let them down, Kira." Athrun sighed. "I wasn't there for my children, and I know they needed me. Especially Cagalli. She needed me the most and I couldn't be there for her. I-I failed her. I failed everyone."
"That's where you're wrong, Athrun."
"What do you mean?"
"Cagalli didn't need you the most then, she needs you the most now." Kira clarified. "All of them- Cagalli, Alex, and Ally. Look, I know you can't just abandon Meyrin- you're getting married in two months for God's sakes! But that doesn't mean you can just abandon Cagalli and the twins either. They're your family, Athrun. Cagalli may not be your wife, but you are Alex and Ally's father. You have every right to be a part of their lives as much as the next guy. What you will do with your relationship with Cagalli will be left for the two of you to discuss, same goes for Meyrin, but all that really matters now is the children.
"You're a father now, Athrun. Think about it," Kira downed his last shot and stood up. "I better head up now. Lacus might get worried if I'm not back before midnight."
"Right." Athrun nodded and downed his last shot as well. Before the two of them could ride the elevator back to their respective floors, Athrun held Kira back. "Hey, Kira, thanks for being here with me up until now. I really thought things would be different, considering that Cagalli is your sister. I'm just really sorry for what I did to her, and to the rest of you."
"Don't worry, Athrun. I still want to kill you for what you did to my one and only living relative." Kira grinned. "Cagalli's my sister, but you're my brother, and I would do anything to help you either one of you out. We're all we have left in the world- might as well be there for each other, right?"
Athrun smiled. "Right."
oOo
Athrun put the sheets over himself and thought about what tomorrow would bring. No matter how dramatic everything was right now, he was still somehow thankful that this all happened. He would have to deal with a lot of pressuring things tomorrow, but tomorrow can wait. Right now, he was just happy and thankful for a lot of things.
He was most especially thankful that he got to hold Cagalli again, like there was no else in the world but the two of them.
oOo
Sounds of plates breaking and screaming could be heard from Athrun and Meyrin's condominium back in the city. No, no one was breaking in or getting assaulted or anything- it was just Meyrin letting her frustrations out on the kitchen floor.
What her source had told her rattled her to a new level.
Athrun had found out about his children. He now knows.
Maybe letting him go on that vacation with the rest was a mistake? Maybe she should've come long to prevent that from happening?
No, Meyrin thought. She couldn't throw all the hard work and stress of planning what to do with those little brats and their precious mommy away. Athrun finding out the truth was officially part of her plan, after all.
So now she just took it out on the plates. Very expensive plates.
"M-Miss Meyrin, please calm down-"
"Calm down? Calm down?!" Fifth plate. "How dare you tell me to calm down, bitch. I am losing my husband! Now, would you please be useful and tell me what they're planning to do next- or with me specifically."
"I-I can't answer your question of what their next step is, but with you..." The caller sighed. "I overheard Mister Kira and Miss Lacus talking about it."
"What did they say?"
"Mister Kira said that he talked about it with Mister Athrun and Miss Cagalli, and I believe they all agreed not to just leave you out of the problem. They don't know when they will tell you, or what your role will be to the children, but one thing's for. Mister Athrun is not going to leave you just like that, Miss Meyrin."
That calmed her. "Alright," Meyrin let out a sigh of relief. "just update me on what will happen tomorrow. Keep a close eye on the four of them- Athrun especially. Do your job well. I'm not paying you to sit there and relax, got it?"
"Yes, Miss Meyrin." And the line was cut.
Meyrin leaned on the counter and dried her tears away. Right now, she needed to be strong. She had to do whatever it took get rid of Cagalli and her children, and have Athrun for herself. "I will not let you do this to me, Cagalli Yula Attha. I don't care if you're Orb's representative. My husband is the Chairman of the PLANTS and I will be more powerful than you soon enough! Athrun is mine now, you gave him to me!" Sixth plate. "And you will not," Seven. "take him," Eight. "away from me! You will not have him back again!" She took out the cabinet of plates and just threw them on the ground. She sat on the floor and covered her face. No one was going to see her right now, she knew, but even she didn't want to see herself weak. "You're going to pay, Cagalli, and you're not going to like what I'm going to do to you."
(1) Feel free to read my Shizak story, Dreams Alike in a Birthday :)
And that's it for the sixteenth chapter! Sorry if it's just more talking and drama ahahaha Don't worry, guys. We'll get to the part we've all been waiting for soon.
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