No matter how much the sun shone, how blue the sky is, or how much he laughed, the fact that she is not with him pained him every second of the day.
Right Here Waiting
Chapter 1 - Prologue
Posted on: December 16, 2013
Author's Note: So when I found my Fanfiction folder on my old computer, I went through it and re-edited the chapter and changed the engagement scene. I didn't notice until I attempted to upload the story that I had already done so in the past four years ago. Silly me. Well here you go! Again.. This time I will stick to the story, I promise! It's on my desktop.
The bells to the jewelry store gave a little jingle as a man in his mid-20's walked out of the store holding a petite velvet box in his hand. He opened it, revealing a beautiful custom-designed emerald ring. At first glance, the gems seemed dull, but when held at a precise angle, it would gleam and radiant so beautifully that would put all diamonds to shame. The young man closed his eyes and sighed.
Athrun had finally decided to ask Cagalli to be his forever.
Already discussing the matter with Lacus and Kira, they had both congratulated him and wished him the best of luck.
The problem at hand is how should he propose to her? Although Cagalli is a public figure, she valued her privacy greatly and would always prefer a quiet night in over an extravagant cocktail party any day.
Last time when he gave her a promise ring, she had exclaimed in a burst of anger, "This isn't the right way to give a girl a ring,"
Athrun had tried asking Kira and Lacus for suggestions but to his dismay, his best friend whom he considered as brother had absolutely no clue, and his wife's ideas were so ridiculously cheesy that no doubt Cagalli would die of laughter before even getting a chance to reply.
The door to his red convertible opened and he slid in with ease.
Being together has not been easy for them. After the second war ended, Cagalli had put their relationship on hold in order to rebuild and restore peace to Orb. Athrun of course understood; but that did not stop his heart ache. Although he had indeed stayed in Orb afterwards to continue to watch over her, he eventually moved back to PLANT because their relationship had become strained and awkward.
The two years he spent apart from her were no less painful. Sure, he had gotten into a relationship with Meyrin Hawke, a bubbly young girl whom he had met on the Minerva battleship where he had served on during the second war. And indeed she did make him happy with her innocence and shy nature but not once did his heart let him forget about the flaming blonde whose tomboyish charm melted his heart away every time.
He knew he would have to think of something soon because tonight, he and Cagalli will be having dinner together at her home. Athrun had tried suggesting eating out somewhere fancy for a change (for a more romantic environment), but his stubborn (hopefully) soon to be future fiancée had shut him down, insisting she did not want to deal with the public more than she already had to during the day time. Also, she had picked up a new cooking hobby recently and had never let a chance slip by where she could show case her new 'talent.'
Her twin brother, Kira Yamato had told him many stories about her cooking. He was scared for himself, but Athrun Zala knew better than to get on her bad side.
The engine of his car roared as he turned on the ignition, and sped away thinking of a way to propose to the blonde leader.
Throughout dinner, the pilot of the inferior Justice Gundam kept fidgeting and was at war with himself over when he should pop the question. This feels even harder than being out in the battlefield.
"Are you even LISTENING to me?!" an irritated female voice shot him out of his thoughts.
"Gomen." Athrun apologized weakly. Shit. He could feel his palms becoming sweaty as he tried to wipe them off on his new dress pants that Cagalli had gotten for him for Christmas. He looked at his full plate that has been barely touched. Tonight, the leader of Orb was trying out a new recipe that she had gotten from Lacus. L'entrecote Grilee it was called. At least, it was supposed to be. He tried making out the dark black lump to be a piece of very, very cooked meat. Angus beef to be precise. And on the side were some veggies and potatoes. At least those were edible, and actually quite good.
Cagalli sighed and put her hands in her face. "I'm sorry. It's been a really hectic day at work today." There was another bomb threat in the city because some bastard was bored, and decided to scare the whole country. Being the leader of Orb, she was running around attending urgent conferences assuring the nation that everything was under control and fine.
He hated seeing her like this, but this was part of her lifestyle. Being Chief Representative of Orb is a huge responsibility and is a lot to handle for one person. And sometimes, for him as well because it meant the blonde would have less time for him. And that made him jealous.
Jealous of a country, ha!
Has anyone heard of such thing?
The television was blaring out a rerun episode of Attack on Titans that Athrun did not bother listening to while Cagalli watched intently as the fight between Eren and the Female Titan escalated. He was fighting an inner battle himself on when would be the perfect time.
He flinched a bit as he felt a weight on his shoulders. Cagalli had fallen asleep.
Great.
He hadn't realized that the anime was over, and the 11 o'clock news anchor lady had appeared.
Shit! Good going Athrun. What to do now?!
He clenched his fist in disappointment. Failure. Again. He can't do anything right, can he?
"All I had to do was say, Cagalli would you marry me?" he thought to himself…or at least he thought he did.
"What..?"
A soft innocent murmur that had the power to rush all the blood from his body to his face in a split second, and make his heart run a 50km race startled the HECK out of him.
"Athrun… did you just say..?"
He turned towards his shoulder blade, where a moment ago laid a sleeping blonde is now wide awake. You could not have guess she was unconscious literally a second ago.
"Cagalli, I…"
"BUT WHAT ABOUT MY JOB? I CAN'T JUST QUIT BEING PRESIDENT OF ORB ANYDAY YOU KNOW… OUR RELATIONSHIP IT CAN'T…"
"It's okay Cagalli." All embarrassment and fears have disappeared in that instance. The ex-soldier who was now full of confidence looked straight into his woman's golden amber eyes, and laid his hands firmly on his shoulders so she was a good arm's length from him. In a dead serious tone, he spoke, "I thought about it. I thought about it all Cagalli. I KNOW it will be hard, I KNOW you will never leave Orb just to be with me, and I'm okay with it. I believe we can work it out. We survived two wars together remember? And besides…. I did try leaving you before, that didn't work really well…did it?" His voice and eyes softened towards the end.
Cagalli bit her lip, letting his words sink in.
Throughout the long years that they have been together, this was one of the very rare moments where he poured out his feelings to her openly.
She took his hand and caressed it lovingly, taken her fiancé by surprise by her sudden act of affection.
Yes, her fiancé.
Because she had agreed.
Cagalli Yula Athha yawn for the hundredth time that night, it was already two in the morning and she still has to finish a report for tomorrow's conference regarding the new traffic laws in Orb.
Her phone began ringing and she lazily picked it up, "Hello?"
"Why am I not surprise you're still awake, Miss Cagalli?"
"Shut up Athrun, I was just about to go to bed. In fact, I am brushing my teeth right at this very moment." she heard him chuckling on the other end, "You don't believe me?" she asked angrily.
"I just wanted to check up on you to make sure you are well rested for your meeting tomorrow." Athrun spun his chair 180 degrees so he was now facing the window, the moon shone half way accompanied by grey clouds determined to block it from view.
"I can take care of myself Alex Dino," Cagalli replied, looking at the picture frame in front of her. It was a picture of her and her adopted father, Uzumi Nara Athha.
"Okay Cagalli, just promise me you'll sleep soon. I'll see you at 9 o'clock sharp tomorrow. Goodnight,"
She groaned, "All right Athrun, I promise. Goodnight," She hung up and stretched her arms. For a few seconds she fiddled with the emerald ring on her finger. She smiled at the ring; it reminds her greatly of Athrun's striking green eyes. One of her most favourite features of him.
The rain tapped lightly against the window as if scared to wake up a certain sleeping beauty.
Cagalli stirred in her sleep, and snuggled in the warmth of her bed. Turning over, she opened one eye lazily and looked at her alarm clock.
8:50 AM
Closing her eyes again she smiled of the memory last night. Her eyes opened wide again as reality sunk into her head. Quickly she removed the warm blanket that comforted her and hurried to get dress. Damn it, she was late!
Two minutes later she was running down the stairs, grabbed an apple and banana, whatever looked like food, her car keys, and dashed out of the mansion.
Unlocking the doors to her BMW, she quickly went in and drove off.
Fuck, the one day I decide to let my employees [driver & maid] have the day off.
She checked the time in her car; the digital clock read 8:55. Good, she still had a good five minutes to get there. The car slowly came to a stop when a red light appeared, "Damn it!" The blonde waited impatiently while waiting for the light to turn green. And when it did, she quickly stepped on the gas pedal going at a faster speed than she legally should.
Her cell phone started ringing, groaning she reached for it which was in her waist pockets. To her dismay, it dropped when she pulled it out. I'm having a really bad day. Slowing the car down, she quickly grabbed the ringing phone from the ground and flipped it open.
But before she could say anything, she sees a car driving towards her. With her quickest reflexes, she turned the steering wheel around causing the car to go out of control from the sudden movement. And she ended up crashing into a nearby poll, hard. Her head banged against the steering wheel and she fell unconscious.
Pacing back and forth, Athrun checked his watched for the third time in that minute. 'She's late…' Rushing to the secretary's desk he asked, "Aiko, have you called Cagalli-san yet?" The shy brunette shook her head, "I'm trying but the line is busy," He thanked her and walked away.
The meeting is starting very soon, and he does not think she will make it. He had called her house number but no one answered. Taking out his own phone, he dialed Kira's number.
"Kira, I'm worried about Cagalli, can you try to find her for me?" the coordinator waited for his friend's response. "Thanks Kira, and yes I'll be replacing her at the meeting," He shut off his phone and entered the meeting room.
The council members looked up at him, hoping the Princess of Orb has arrived but they were disappointed. Athrun confidently walked in with his back straight and sat down. "I am sorry to inform you that the Chief Representative is not here, and as her assistant, I will be replacing her for today."
Kira Yamato placed the phone back into his pocket as he calmly walked out of Orb's Parliament Building. He had just got off the phone with Kisaka, informing him about the missing leader.
He and Lacus live together in Orb at the orphanage after rebuilding it. The council of PLANTS has asked Lacus to be their new chairman, but Lacus had refused. They have both made Orb their home, even though they would sometimes travel to PLANTS once in awhile to help make the decisions to improve the country. Another reason why Lacus Clyne had refused the offer was because she knew Kira would insist on going with her, but he does not want to leave his twin sister here.
Driving his Suzuki car around Orb hoping to find Cagalli, he noticed a big commotion not far from her mansion. It seems like something has happen, and the police officers were trying to move the crowd away. There was a flashing ambulance at the scene too. After the crowd successfully moved away, Kira eyes widened as he saw a crushed BMW, it was Cagalli's car!
His cell rang as if on cue.
"Mr. Yamato, it seems the Representative had been in an accident and is now being rushed to the hospital."
Hearing the awful news, Kira turned his car around and drove directly to the hospital informing Lacus on the way.
The doors to the hospital slid open and a brunette walked in. Kira nodded his head at Kisaka and the police officers.
"Yamato-san? "
The twin brother turned his head at the officer, "Yes that is me."
The officer whose name is, Tamotsu, held a neutral expression as he spoke, "According to the witnesses this morning at around nine, a drunk driver was driving in the wrong lane, making Cagalli Yula Athha swirl in the opposite direction, and unfortunately crashing into a poll. The driver is now being obtained for questioning and a trial is set for court in the near future."
The man with the violet eyes nodded his head in understanding and thanked the officers as they left.
One of the officers stopped and placed something in Kira's hands, "We found this in her car," and he left without another word.
Kisaka was standing patiently with crossed arms, "She's been in there for an hour,"
The coordinator looked at him in the eyes filled with worry. Words could not describe how he was feeling at the moment.
"Kira!"
They both turned around and smiled, seeing the symbol of peace approached them.
"Lacus," the worried brother said in a soft tone. She immediately embraced him, hoping to ease his worries.
"Have you told Athrun?" she asked gently, pulling back. He shook his head, "He's in a meeting replacing Cagalli, but I told the secretary to inform Athrun to call me immediately afterwards."
Lacus Clyne squeezed his hand, "She will be okay."
Hurrying out of the room, Athrun stopped quickly as he saw Aiko rushing towards him
"Dino-san, Yamato-san has requested you call him immediately after the meeting."
He muttered thanks and rushed out of the building, calling Kira. "Come to Honoo no Tobira hospital and I'll explain everything, meet us in the waiting room." Closing his cell phone, he headed straight to the hospital in his car.
Greeted by Kisaka and Lacus, they quickly explained everything to him. Athrun silently cursed and his hand balled into a fist as Lacus finished. "Where's Kira?" He asked, trying to keep his emotions stable. "He's in that room with Cagalli," Lacus answered calmly, scared to disrupt her emotional friend.
Opening the door slowly, he saw Kira sitting beside the injured Princess. Neither of them said anything, they both understood how each other were feeling. Athrun stood beside the ultimate coordinator and took a glimpse at Cagalli, who was now his fiancé.
The Princess of Orb looked pale and part of her head was bandaged, the accident left a few bruise marks on her arms and legs. It pained him deep to see her in this state, and he blamed himself for not being there for her.
"The doctor said her injuries are serious, but will heal in time," Athrun sighed in relief as Kira calmly explained things to him. "But because brain injuries are complicated, they don't know when she will wake up," Athrun starred at the back of Kira's head as he talked, "One year, five years, ten years, or maybe…never," He said the last word in almost a whisper.
Athrun Zala's body froze trying to take everything in one at a time, he is scared, no, terrified. What if she never comes back to him? How will he manage to live without her in his life? Will he have to spend the rest of his life alone? Feeling Kira's eyes on him, he chose not to look at them. "I know she will wake up, and come back to us." The younger man smiled at his best friend. He stood up, putting a reassuring hand on Athrun's shoulder, "Don't worry about it," The older man just nodded at him.
The twin brother then fished something out of his pocket; it was a small plastic bag and inside it held the engagement ring. Placing the ring in his friend's palm, he watched as the midnight hair man closed his hand around the item. The jewel, which was shining so beautifully yesterday, now had a scratch and a spot of blood in the corner. It was like it had died.
"Thank you, Kira," the heartbroken man said, looking at the ground, as his eyes turned teary.
One year and five months later…
It has been a year and five whole months since he had last heard her voice, a year, five months and fourteen days exactly of agonizing pain, and hope. And throughout this time period, he had never once failed to visit her on a daily basis.
Every day he would sit in his office, waiting for work to end so he could head up to the hospital. Tapping his pen impatiently, he stared blankly at the computer screen in front of him. Whenever he stepped out into the public, he would always put on a strong front for everyone to see. But nothing could hide his lifeless eyes.
Walking out of his office and bidding goodbyes to everyone, he headed straight to the hospital to visit Cagalli, the best and worst part of his day.
His footsteps echoed in the empty hallways, it was already late in the evening but visiting time was not over yet. Stopping in front of her door, he closed his eyes. The same old routine for the past year, the same disappointment and pain.
Expecting to see her unconscious body on the bed, to his surprise, the bed is empty. But to his bewilderment, he finds her on the floor conscious.
"Cagalli!" he rushed over to her, "What are you doing on the ground?" He held her by her shoulders and looked at her with trembling eyes. "Wh-" Cagalli tried saying but what cut short by Athrun who pulled her in a tight embrace. "I waited so long, I almost lost hope." Realizing that he is probably squeezing her to death, he let go of her.
Cagalli who had remained quiet asked, "Who are you?"
And that's it for the Prologue!
Hope everyone has a good holiday. :)
Cheri Mai
