Part 6

Previously-

Cagalli Yula Attha, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON why you should be panicking. I mean, it's just a jammed door! What's the big deal? At the most, you'll get bored. That's all! Calm down, you are overreacting. Yup. That's right.

And that was just when she spotted the acrid black smoke filtering into the room from the gap between the door and the floor.

Cagalli screamed as she realized what was happening, and then promptly closed her eyes. Think, girl, think. She chided herself, there's no use losing your head now. She walked round the room to find that it was windowless, and she was dismayed.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

She tried the phones, but as she had suspected, the line had been jammed. Again.

There was only one thing left to do. Clenching her fist, she gritted her teeth and started banging on the door. Then, in the loudest voice she could manage, Cagalli Yula Attha started shouting for help.

Athrun ran towards Lacus' room, feeling rather silly. Cagalli was probably fine. Maybe she just wanted to stay up in the room so that she could avoid going back to the party. He was probably overreacting…

Oh. Well. It wouldn't hurt to check it out.

Walking toward the rooms, he stopped as he saw a man on the floor. Frowning, he walked over and gently shook the man by his shoulders. The man groaned in agony, and then cradling his head, he slowly sat up.

"Agghh…"

"Sir, are you alright?" Athrun asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I… OH. THE PRINCESS." The man exclaimed, and then wincing, he tried to get to his feet.

"What!"

"I have… to get… to the Princess…" The man stumbled and then fell, the large swelling bump on the back of his head getting more and more conspicuous by the second. Athrun felt his heart sinking.

He must be her new bodyguard… Athrun realized, after matching the man's features to Kira's description of him. That means… Damn…

"Where's Cagalli?"

"Miss Lacus' room… I went to check out… a noise… knocked out…" The man managed to choke before blanking out again. Athrun felt his heart sinking as he started running towards Lacus' room once more.

Please be OK Cagalli, please…

Cagalli's knuckles were scraped raw from beating on the door, and her voice was horribly hoarse. She could feel the heat of the flames as she leaned against the door, and she inched away uncomfortably.

The smell of smoke clouded her senses, and she could feel like she was slipping out of consciousness fast. Her head throbbed as she coughed. She crawled to the bed and held the blanket to her nose, trying to filter out the foul grey smoke. Her mind blurred and sharpened, making her feel dizzy.

She was going to die; she just knew it by some strange instinct. Laughing bitterly, she shook her head. Somehow she had never thought that she would be burnt to death, painfully and slowly. But at the rate things were going, she mayn't need to feel it at all… Hell, she could just pass out now and wake up to find herself (hopefully) in Heaven.

Closing her eyes, she started to let go…

"Cagalli!"

Her eyes flew open at the sound of her name. Was she imagining things?

"Cagalli!"

She could have rolled her eyes had she the strength – seriously, she was moments from death and yet her hallucinations wouldn't let her alone. Yet… there was something… very familiar about the voice…

"Cagalli? Are you in there!"

"A… ATHRUN?" Cagalli exclaimed incredulously. "Athrun! What are you doing here?"

"Cagalli, I'm coming in to save you alright. Hold on!"

There was a short pause, and Cagalli could hear Athrun's footsteps growing fainter and fainter. She wanted to cry out to him not to leave her, but she knew he would be back to get her. And not a minute later, she heard the sound of his footsteps approaching heavily.

"Cagalli? Are you there?"

"Duh, of course I am, where else could I be?" She said in near exasperation.

"Right. I'm going to break down the door. Stand back."

"But…but..."

Cagalli squeezed her eyes shut as she heard a loud bang. Athrun had obviously thrown himself against the door. A second time, a third time – and then the door flew open and Athrun collapsed to the floor, a blanket smoldering with flames around him. He got up quickly and trampled on the blanket to put out the flames.

"Wh…Where did you get the blanket?" Cagalli asked.

"The linen closet down the hall." Athrun replied grinning.

"Oh." So that explained why he had walked away.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Athrun removed the bed sheet and then rushed to the toilet, soaking it with water. He did the same with the blanket that Cagalli was holding and wrapped it around her. Then, he wrapped the bed sheet around himself, and then grabbed Cagalli's hand. He tugged at her to start moving, and she near stumbled.

"Are you OK?" Athrun asked, looking concerned.

"Yes." Cagalli snapped back, her eyes flashing, "Of course I am." Then she looked down to the floor and sighed. "I… I'm sorry."

Athrun merely chuckled and squeezed her hand.

"I understand. Let's go, Cagalli."

They started running, Cagalli with her eyes closed and completely depending on Athrun for direction. The hallway was long, and the fire licked at the walls. At first, Cagalli tried to keep her eyes open, but everywhere she looked the amber flames blinded her. Everywhere she stepped there was fire, and she winced as the heat and smoke smothered her.

Then, all of a sudden, she felt a rush of cool air and they came to an abrupt halt. She discarded the thick and heavy blanket that was around her, and knelt onto the carpet, taking in great gulps of air.

I'm alive… Oh God, I'm alive…

She started to cry; sobbing as yet another near-death experience left her feeling frightened. Why was this happening to her?

"Cagalli…" Athrun said softly, and she realized that he had knelt down too so that they were at eye-level.

"Athrun… I'm so afraid… I'm so tired and afraid… When will this end?"

Putting his arms around her, he held her close as she dissolved into sobs once more. Stroking her hair, he tried his best to comfort her.

"It's ok… I'll protect you."

Those words were so nostalgic to her, and she smiled amidst her tears. Hadn't he said them once before? She remembered it so clearly, the day he had kissed her during the first war...

"What we hope for… what we want… and what we must do…are all the same for everyone, isn't it? Athrun… Kira… Lacus… and me too." She had said, trying to explain why she wanted to fight alongside with him.

"Cagalli…" He protested quietly.

"There are things that can't be solved, even if we go to war. But… we have to do it now, don't we? Don't make that kind of expression. You look much more dangerous than I do! I won't just let you die."

"Cagalli…"

"Even that guy, Kira, who may be my younger brother-"

"Younger brother?"

"Mmhm"

"Isn't he your older brother?"

"There is no way. He is the younger one." Cagalli said firmly.

"That might be…" Athrun said, amused. He hugged her and she started blushing. "It's fortunate that I met you, Cagalli."

"Athrun?" She stammered.

"I will protect you."

And then he lowered his lips to hers, and she knew that everything would be all right.

Cagalli woke up the next morning feeling happier than she had been in the past few days. That was until she realized that she was at the hospital, and that the Chief Inspector and Ryo were standing next to her bed, both looking very worried. Then the events of the night before came tumbling back to her, and that cold chill of fear entered her heart once more.

"Your Highness, I am most apologetic about the low level of efficiency that Ryo here displayed last night. I have brought him here to beg for your forgiveness. He will, naturally, be dismissed from his post." Chief Inspector Reyn glared at Ryo expectantly, and Ryo, who had his head bandaged, looked completely pathetic and abashed.

"I'm very, very sorry, Your Highness. I should have known better than to leave you alone." He said rather mournfully.

"That's ok, Ryo, it wasn't your fault."

"No, it is. I'm sorry. You're in the hospital now, and its all my fault…I'm a worthless, good-for-nothing-"

"It's alright! Really! It's just… I'm just exhausted. That's all. No lasting damage." Then she turned to Reyn, "Really, Chief Inspector, is there a need to dismiss him? I was just getting to know him and all."

"His incompetence is beyond belief." Reyn replied, his lips drawn into a thin line.

Cagalli rolled her eyes. "Really, Chief Inspector, I insist that he stay on."

Ryo's eyes brightened as Reyn reluctantly nodded his head.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Ryo said, his voice full of gratitude.

Just then, the door swung open and Athrun entered the room.

"Well, er, hullo. I just thought I'd drop by. The guards outside didn't say that there was anyone in here. But if you're busy, then I'll come by another time then."

"No, not at all, Mr. Zala. In fact, I was just planning to go." Reyn nodded, and then left the room abruptly, muttering to himself about how it was impossible to get competent staff nowadays.

After Reyn left, Athrun nodded toward Ryo.

"Would it be alright if you left us in private for a while?"

"I'm sorry, but no, sir. I am required to stay by the Princess' side always."

"A few minutes won't hurt."

"I-"

"It's OK Ryo, he's a friend." Cagalli said, smiling weakly. "You just go get yourself something to drink and eat. You must be tired."

Reluctantly, Ryo left the room, sneaking glances back at Cagalli as he did. When the door finally swung shut behind him, Athrun sat by Cagalli's bed.

"So… what is it you want to tell me that you had to say it without my security guard present?" Cagalli asked.

"Well, nothing much. I just don't like him."

"Why?" Cagalli asked, genuinely surprised. Athrun usually got along well with everyone, and seeing as the two men had barely met (as far as she knew, last night had been their first meeting), she could not see how Ryo could have offended him.

"I don't trust him."

"Why not?"

"He left you alone last night to check out a sound that only he heard, and then the next thing you know you're locked in and the entire hallway is set on fire. Coincidence? I think not."

"But you saw it yourself, he was knocked out!"

"It could have been a pretence. But… I didn't come here today to talk about what I feel about your security guard. How are you feeling today?"

"Fine. I guess."

"Have you eaten your breakfast?"

"Nope, I just woke up."

"I see."

They sat there for a while, and Cagalli sensed that Athrun had something more to say, though he was hesitating to say it. He twiddled with his thumbs, raked his fingers through his hair, and fidgeted around until Cagalli was ready to burst.

"Athrun?"

"Huh?"

"Athrun, can you go straight to the point?"

"Right… Well… I've decided to assist Chief Inspector Reyn in investigating your assassinations, Cagalli."

"WHAT? Athrun, don't you have better things to do?"

"I can't sit here and watch you get attacked!"

"But, Athrun, you know it's dangerous. Reyn told me he's lost a few men while trying to trace the assassins. Leave these things to the police…"

"I can't."

"Athrun…"

"You once fought in a Gundam along with me because you didn't want to let me just die. I'm doing the same for you."

He took her hand, and then brushed her blond fringe back.

"I once told you that I would protect you. I promised you that a long time ago, and it still stands. I'll always protect you, Cagalli."

Her eyes softened and filled with tears.

"Thank you, then." She replied simply.

A/N:

Ahaha... Looks like Athrun suspects the same thing as some of you reviewers XD But, ah well, you never know. Really sorry for the late (and super crappy) update ..; School's being a real pain in the youknowwhat. I'll try to... come up with something good in the next chapter to make up for it. (!)