Chapter One
Disclaimer: Not mine. Fukuda and Sunrise's.
Two lines.
Cagalli stared blankly at the pregnancy tester and she dropped it on the floor as if it was on fire.
The world suddenly felt like it was spinning and she had to grip on the towel rack to keep herself steady as nausea washed over her.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The strange cravings.
The morning sickness.
The heightened sensitivity to the faintest smell of food, or worse, bad perfume.
Her increased moodiness.
Cold sweat bloomed on her forehead as the events that led up to this result played on her mind like a bad movie.
She was in a bad dream. She needed to wake up.
It was about four weeks ago, when Cagalli woke up one drunken night after her Graduation party next to that guy she had hooked up with after the night was over.
That night, she dragged a helpless Lacus and Milly to the Club to dance and drink as much Tequila shots as possible after finding out that her boyfriend of four years has been cheating on her with another girl while he was studying abroad for his post-graduate studies.
His reason was somewhere along the lines of Cagalli being immature, too uncontrollable, and the two of them being incompatible. The distance, he added, made them fall apart too, and that he eventually found someone else. That asshole. He cheated on her, and when she confronted him about it, he chose to dump her on her Graduation Day, of all times.
Cagalli did not slap him, oh no, she was capable of something greater than that. She kicked him in the balls with her knees as hard as she could, and stomped on his foot with her six-inch stilettos that she was grateful for once for the existence of such pointy heels that could pierce painfully through the skin depending on how much force you used. The look on his face was enough to satisfy her - for now.
On the other hand, Cagalli met the guy she had recently had a one night stand with – a midnight blue-haired guy who never interested her when they first met.
Never mind that he was drop-dead gorgeous and that he was an elite Military officer – the type who would make girls fall head over heels with just one look from him. To top things off, he was a war veteran, and a war hero. In short, he was what you would call a modern day Knight in Shining Armour – coincidentally, he was also labeled as the Red Knight.
But there was one major problem, based on Cagalli's standards, that is. She bore him with his mysterious and aloof attitude, his seemingly flawless record, and his overly gentle behaviour.
Cagalli has always been attracted to men who made her laugh and laughed along with her, someone who was adventurous and talkative, someone who enjoyed drinking sessions, loud music, dancing and partying until the wee hours of the morning, someone who enjoyed and excelled in sports, someone who smiled as bright as the sun. Someone like her ex-boyfriend.
Cagalli met Athrun Zala during one of the parties at the Zala Manor when she was fifteen years old. She and her father, Lord Uzumi Nara Athha of the United Emirates of Orb, were invited by the Zala family during one political dinner event.
The Zala family were political celebrities up in the PLANTs, and after the war that ended years ago, political peace talks have begun between Orb and the PLANTs regarding the co-existence of Naturals and Coordinators.
Cagalli was seated opposite Athrun, trying her best to be prim and proper, and not to speak her mind too much. On the other hand, Athrun had politely offered his own opinions when he was asked, and Cagalli was impressed by the fact that he was really a no-nonsense teenager – even witty, in fact. As expected of the heir of Chairman Zala and a top military student, for his age, he already had an impressive grasp of politics, military strategy and economics. Not that Cagalli was any less intelligent or less knowledgeable; it was that she was curious as to what it would be like to have a debate with him.
As coffee and tea were served, the men began talking about political alliances, proposed by most of the men in the room, and she almost snorted when her Father politely declined the proposal of welcoming any ZAFT airbases within the vicinity of Orb, or any of the surrounding islands.
When one of the Councillors made the proposal, the PLANTS Chairman, Patrick Zala's face immediately turned grim, but he maintained his composure.
Cagalli wanted to snort and laugh at the stupidity of these men – only Patrick Zala impressed her among all the visiting Councillors in the room. He also happened to be the Father of Athrun Zala.
It was an open secret that during the course of the war, he had been on the extreme side of exterminating Naturals; however, events that transpired during the war have mellowed the man into the person he that he is today.
It was ironic, in fact, that it was the Attha family and a few Naturals who saved him during the war.
Since then, Patrick Zala has always ensured that he got to return the favour to Orb and Cagalli's father.
By the time dessert was cleared and the rest of the men had retired to Chairman Zala's office to talk about more politics, Cagalli had been too bored of the political talk and formalities that she had excused herself to catch some fresh air. That was when Chairman Zala called out his son and asked him to accompany her to show her around the Manor.
Needless to say, their first meeting didn't help with their first impressions about each other. Despite Cagalli's talkative attitude, she simply found it very difficult to start a conversation with him. He, on the other hand, was too polite and too careful around her that neither of them could hold a decent or interesting enough conversation for more than two minutes.
It ended up with Athrun eventually asking whether she had, in fact, enjoyed dinner.
'I did. Especially the main course. I've never had anything like that before,' Cagalli replied, while savouring the taste of the dish in her mind.
Athrun unexpectedly chuckled.
'I know a place where they serve the same dish. Our cook just replicated the recipe.'
'Oh, really?' Cagalli raised her eyebrows.
'I can bring you there…the next time you visit.'
Athrun's tone sounded slightly soft, almost shy. But Cagalli simply gave a non-committal response.
'Sounds great.'
As expected, it never happened.
They would not meet again or be in touch until a year later when Cagalli found out that she was adopted, and discovered that she, in fact, had a twin brother named Kira Yamato.
Imagine her surprise when she found out that her twin brother and Athrun Zala were childhood best friends before Athrun left years ago to live in December City.
That was when Cagalli's best friends, Lacus and Milly began meeting up with Kira, Athrun and Dearka once in a while whenever they came for long study programmes at ZAFT bases on Earth.
Cagalli would meet up with them sometimes, and she would act as casually as she could around Athrun. The six of them went out whenever they could, while she and Athrun would meet sometimes during political events and share nothing but small talk. Besides, Cagalli was almost always busy running off somewhere else while he politely stayed during the boring post-dinner conversations.
Three years later, she learned that Athrun has graduated top of his class in the Military Academy, was qualified to train as a Red Coat, and that he was dating the sister of one of his juniors at the Military Academy.
Athrun brought his girlfriend out during lunch once when Cagalli and Lacus visited December City during that summer break from school to say hello to Kira, who has already been dating Lacus for two years at that time.
Athrun's girlfriend was a pretty and sweet yet shy girl, who was two years younger. For the first time since she and Athrun met, she marveled at how thoughtful he could actually be as a boyfriend. And even for just a little bit, she felt her heart constrict when she saw him laugh genuinely when Kira cracked a joke, and then smile at his girlfriend as brightly as the summer sunshine on that day, as he squeezed her hand on top of the table and subtly doted on her.
Cagalli sat back and excused herself as she took out her phone, and announced that she will have to take her leave to meet up with her then-boyfriend. As she waved goodbye and grabbed her bag, she had missed the slight frown on Athrun's face as she ran off excitedly to catch the bus.
Fast-forward to their Graduation Night, Cagalli's mind was hazy. Those tequila shots definitely worked to her advantage – she felt calmer, more relaxed as she sobered up on the leather seat in the dark corner of the crowded Club.
Dearka had brought a drunk Milly home. Kira had brought Lacus home, and Athrun, who has been drinking with them that night offered to drive Cagalli back to her apartment.
The ride back home inside his rental car was filled with uncomfortable silence. Why her smart-ass of a twin brother left her with this guy was beyond her. Maybe he trusted him enough to not do anything funny with her. Besides, Kira was also aware of their mutual disinterest in each other, that the former was probably not worried at all about what an innocent drive home could do to the both of them.
How wrong he turned out to be.
It all began with Cagalli trying to break the silence by asking him casually about how Meyrin was doing, and why he didn't bring her along.
The question hung in the air for a few seconds before he finally replied, 'We broke up too, just recently.'
At that moment, Cagalli did not know what to feel about his response. She felt like she was jolted awake, and suddenly sober.
Cagalli wasn't sure at that moment whether she wanted to say that she was sorry about the breakup, or to be happy that she was not alone. Heck, she did not even know why she felt a twinge of happiness. Misery loves company, she simply dismissed it as such.
But she did not know what came over her when she suddenly said, 'I have half a bottle of good Vodka left. I guess a few more shots would not hurt?'
Misery needed company; that was a fact.
Cagalli was sure that both of them were sober enough to drink more. Or at least, she trusted Athrun and his Coordinator genes to be sober enough for the both of them. By the end of the night, she would realize just how dead wrong her assumption was.
One shot led to another, and within a few rounds of shots, she learned more about Athrun Zala than she had during those dinner parties, lunch and hangout sessions she has been having with him and the rest of their friends over the past few years.
Cagalli learned that he actually secretly enjoyed rock music, and that it helped him focus during his trainings at the firing range. At the same time, he also enjoyed classical music.
As he loosened up, he began to grow more talkative and even openly laughed like a child while sharing about how he and Kira beat Dearka and his best friend Yzak Joule during a game of pool and basketball in most occasions, and that he also enjoyed watching sports.
How Kira had not mentioned any of these to her before was beyond her; but she could not blame her brother, considering her obvious disinterest in anything that involved Athrun.
And like an unexpected turn of events in an already bad novel, the night ended with an innocent kiss that grew more intense while the effects of the alcohol kicked in, until she had lost control of herself and was left to wonder which was more intoxicating – the alcohol, his scent, or his taste.
Cagalli stared and touched his body made up of taut muscles from his years of Military training, the smoothness and warmth of his bare skin, and when she looked up at his face, the intense look in his beautiful emerald eyes were enough to drown her into submission and melt all the remaining logic in her brain.
That night, she could not decide whether it was the alcohol, lust, desperation, anger over her ex-boyfriend, or her growing physical attraction with Athrun that caused her to kiss him. But reason no longer mattered as she allowed herself to be lost in his reciprocated touches, fiery kiss that she never expected him to be capable of giving, and his delicious scent.
Despite her drunken state, her mind was able to process and somehow recall how tenderly he had kissed her, how he had uttered her name many times as they moved together in the dark room, their shadows dancing along the walls from a slow waltz to a fiery frenzy consuming them, until they finally fell into each other's arms and all fell silent, except for their heartbeats and breathing.
Cagalli woke up next to his sleeping form and watched the sunshine filter through the big windows.
She wanted to scream, but her throat was dry from the alcohol.
They were both naked. Their clothes were strewn all over the carpeted floor, and the smell of sweat and sex mingled with alcohol almost sickened her that she bolted upright, grabbed the first piece of clothing she could get and hastily put it on.
Cagalli bolted straight into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and stayed there until she heard him knock on the bathroom door a few minutes later.
She did not reply, pretending not to hear him. She stepped out of the shower and let it run as she pressed her ears against the door, and heard faint noises of plates clinking. After a few moments, she thought she heard him step towards the bathroom door, until the steps grew farther and she heard the front door open and shut gently.
Cagalli released the breath she was not aware she has been holding, and went out into the smell of freshly cooked breakfast plate on her small dining table. She did not know why she felt her heart beating fast, and why she felt a pang of pain stab in her heart as she fought the urge to run after him. But she stayed glued on the spot, unable to move, her eyes never leaving the steaming plate of food he made especially for her.
Suddenly, Cagalli's eyes spotted a paper bag he had left on the bed. She picked it up and pulled out the small card that was tied on the ribbon.
The words written gracefully and read, 'It took a bit of tinkering and I am not sure if I was able to restore the music as close to the original as possible, but I hope it works. Happy Graduation, Cagalli.'
Cagalli immediately tore the tape off the paper bag and opened it, suddenly anxious about its contents. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief – it was a music box that was exactly the same as the one she had mentioned in passing when they were having Sunday brunch with everyone about a few weeks ago. It was a small one, enclosed in a polished wooden box.
That day, she had refused to speak to Kira because he accidentally broke it; it was her favourite and it was a present from her father when she was eight during their first trip to Prague together. It played the song Claire de Lune, one of her favourite classic songs.
After the damage it took, it refused to play again. Athrun had offered to take a look at it, since everyone said that he was good at tinkering things. But she had never expected him to fix it, much less to restore it to its original state.
Cagalli stood there in a daze as she wound up the small key on the side of the box, and the music filled the room. If anything, the music seemed better than before it got broken.
Suddenly, the urge to run after him grew stronger, but she stood there helplessly glued on the spot while the music went on, as if trying to make her feel more guilty.
Athrun returned to the PLANTs that day.
Cagalli sent him a text message saying, 'Thank you for the present.'
But she could not bear to mention about what had happened between them that night.
No one would speak about what happened until weeks later when Cagalli finally learned that she was actually pregnant.
Author's Notes:
Just like Blur, this was initially intended to be a one-shot, but hey, I was having too much fun that I could not stop myself. Now this is gonna be a short multi-chapter fic.
This might feel confusing, all-over-the-place, and a bit too casual, but that's the intention. I think I have been writing too much angsty stuff, so I've decided to try something more within my comfort zone.
Enjoy!