Part 14
Previously-
"A trap?"
"Yes. A trap." Athrun's looked serious now, and he placed his hands firmly on Cagalli's shoulders.
"Cagalli, the only thing I can tell you now is – don't trust anyone. Sometimes, things aren't always what they seem."
With that ominous word of advice lingering in the air, Athrun walked out of the room.
"Do you think I could have some chilli sauce with this?" Cagalli said hopefully during dinner that night. Everything was canned or preserved, and Cagalli cringed inwardly at the prospect of having to eat the same few foods for 2 years straight. I think I'd rather starve…
"Nope." Athrun said, sounding almost too cheerful. "I guess we were so busy planning that we forgot all about them."
"You didn't…" Cagalli growled.
Athrun grinned and shrugged. "Looks like you'll have to live without spicy food until the case is solved."
"You… You… You…"
"Ha, what are you going to do about it?"
At this point, Reyn rolled his eyes.
"Excuse me, Mr. Zala, I hope you don't take offence, but I can't stand another second of your childish behaviour. Your Highness, Mr. Zala is of course, lying. He personally made sure that 1000 packets of chili sauce were transported onto the island. They are currently in the pantry, I'll go get them for you if you like." Reyn said crisply, getting out of his seat.
"No, it's ok, I'll get them myself-" Cagalli started, but Reyn waved her protests aside and walked out of the room.
Cagalli sighed, and then turned to Athrun, who was still wearing an unusually wide grin on his face.
"You seem… rather… cheerful. Any reason for that?" Cagalli asked suspiciously.
"Well. Many."
"Yeah? Like?"
Athrun pretended to think, but when he answered, his voice has lost the teasing tone and he sounded like he absolutely meant his words. "You're sitting next to me, and you're alive and in the pink of health. That's a good reason to be happy, don't you think?"
"That's… That's such a lame reason!" Cagalli sputtered, trying unsuccessfully to keep herself from blushing. Focus girl, you're supposed to ignore him, right? … Not like that's been working very well so far, anyway.
"Huh. That's what I get for being honest." Athrun replied, his tone jesting once more.
"Oh you-" Cagalli stopped mid-sentence when she suddenly realized that there was only the two of them left at the table. "Hey, where did Meyrin and Ryo go?"
"You're sitting next to me, and you're alive and in the pink of health. That's a good reason to be happy, don't you think?"
Meyrin heard the words replaying in her head over and over again, and for some reason, she felt like her heart was breaking yet again. At first, she had just sat silently and wished that their banter would stop, but when it became evident that it wasn't going to, she stood up shakily and ran out of the room.
The worst thing of it was that Athrun hadn't even noticed that she was gone.
Feeling the need for fresh air, she made her way to the fourth floor, where there was a balcony. She flung the double doors open and stepped over the threshold. The view that met her was a sight to behold – she could see the tops of hundreds of trees, stretching out as far as the eye could see. It was fortunate that there was a full moon that night, for if not for its pale glow, she probably wouldn't have been able to make out much of the landscape at all.
She felt someone tap her shoulder and she jumped. For one hopeful moment, she thought that it might be Athrun, but as she turned around, she realized that she was wrong.
"Oh. Ryo. What brings you here? Shouldn't you be having dinner?" Meyrin asked, trying not to her disappointment show.
"I could be asking you the same question. What's wrong, Meyrin?"
"I… I just wanted some fresh air. That's all." Meyrin said, forcing a smile to her face.
"Pretending something isn't there doesn't make it go away." Ryo said dryly.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Whatever you want it to." Ryo leaned against the railing, and then he looking at his hands and flexed his fingers. "Look, I'm not going to force you to tell me, but even if you don't, it's obvious – You're in love with Mr. Zala."
After the words left his mouth, Ryo immediately pressed his eyes shut, preparing for Meyrin to blow up at him or to leave. To his surprise, Meyrin did neither of those things. Instead, she laughed.
"Yes. Yes, I guess you're right." Meyrin said, sounding utterly miserable. "Deep inside, I knew it was impossible, but… I always hoped… that maybe he would love me instead of… instead of Cagalli…"
"Do you hate the Princess?" Ryo asked suddenly.
Meyrin's eyes widened in surprise, and then after some consideration, she answered his question truthfully.
"Sometimes. But- but not because of how she is, it's more of how Athrun likes her."
"Would you… would you kill her?"
"Of course not!" Meyrin exclaimed, "You aren't suspecting me of trying to do her in, are you?"
"Not at all! I'm sorry if I offended you." Ryo said hastily, "I…I was just… wondering…"
"Wondering?"
"I was just wondering… why people kill…"
Athrun and Cagalli were about to get out to search for Meyrin and Ryo when Reyn returned. In the instant that Athrun reached for the door handle, the door swung open and Reyn entered the room with a few packets of chilli sauce in his hand. He looked at them questionably, his left eyebrow raised.
"Done with dinner already?" He asked in disbelief.
"No, we were going to search for Ryo and Meyrin. They disappeared all of a sudden." Cagalli explained.
"Ah. Those two." Reyn said, his lips almost pursed in displeasure. "You don't need to worry about them. They're safe."
"How… How do you know?" Cagalli asked.
"Well, as I was nearing the dining room, I suddenly saw Miss Hawke run out, followed by Mr. Handel. I chased Mr. Handel down and asked him what was going on. He told me that it was no matter of importance, and that he just wanted to comfort Miss Hawke who seemed to be upset. Before I could reprimand him about forgetting his target and leaving your side, he just ran straight past me." Reyn sighed and shook his head. "Kids these days, they can't even learn to control their hormones for duty's sake."
After that slightly morbid conversation starter, the topic turned back to Meyrin's troubles, and she found herself confiding in Ryo. It was as if all that she had been keeping in herself was let loose, and it felt like a relief to be sharing her thoughts with someone.
"And so you see, I guess I just trapped myself in a hopeless situation by allowing myself to fall for him. I risked all that I had and got him back to Orb, and at that point in time we were just little more than mere acquaintances." Meyrin smiled vaguely into the horizon, and then for once her voice faltered, "Do you- do you think it was… stupid of me?"
"No. I don't think it's stupid." Ryo replied.
"You don't?"
"No, I think… It was lovely of you to do that for someone with no strings attached." Ryo said earnestly, and to his amazement, Meyrin blushed.
"You do understand that Athrun Zala's new procedure has thrown our plans off balance? It's almost impossible to achieve it now without getting caught!"
"Yes, I understand."
"Won't you give it up then? It isn't worth it."
"No, I won't. Zala's actions are smart, but I'm smarter yet. His hiding away the Princess will make my job easier."
"But-"
"I won't give up. I can't give up – not now, when I'm so close to seeing the Princess die."
"But-But…"
"Stop trying to convince me otherwise, it just makes me more determined. Don't you see? I'll never give this up. Never. Not until the Princess drops dead."
There was a pause, and then the conversation started again –
"When are you going to strike?"
"When? I would say… A week from now."
Cagalli woke up at 5 a.m. with an odd feeling of homesickness at the pit of her stomach. It had been just one day, and she was already starting to miss the palace. She crept out of bed and stared out of the window, but all she could see was a mass of green.
Sighing, she lay down again and tried to go back to sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, she gave up. Flinging her comforter off the bed, she put on her sandals and decided to go for a walk on the beach.
It was a pleasant walk, and Cagalli soon found herself on the same spot where Athrun had tied her up and threw her gun into the sea, while she rolled around in the sand, cursing the blue-haired coordinator. She had been thoroughly annoyed at that point – a little frightened; after all, Athrun had almost killed her - but mostly uncomfortable and irritated.
We were complete strangers then… and we had been trying to kill each other. It's funny how he's trying to save my life now. Cagalli smiled at the irony, and then looked up to the calm morning sky. Just then, she felt the presence of someone watching her.
She turned around swiftly, her imagination running wild, and then when she saw who it was, she gave a sigh of relief.
"Was it necessary to stand there without saying anything, Ryo?"
"No… but you seemed to be lost in your thoughts. I didn't think it would be very nice to disturb you." Ryo said. He was already dressed in his customary suit, and he held out a jacket to Cagalli. "Here. The chief inspector will probably kill me if you get a chill."
"Thanks," Cagalli said as she took the jacket, "How did you know I was here?"
"I'm a light-sleeper, and you're just in the room next to mine. I heard you shuffling about, so I followed you here."
"You followed me? What for?"
"I'm still your bodyguard, remember?" Ryo said, and then he grinned sheepishly, "Besides, I don't want to get reprimanded by the chief inspector again."
"Oh, that reminds me of something I've been wanting to ask for some time - are you close to Reyn?"
"Huh?"
"It's just that… he seems rather different when dealing with your affairs. That time during the fire, Reyn looked absolutely furious with you. I rarely see him get mad with subordinates. Then again, maybe it's because there aren't many situations that call for such critical attention…"
"No, you're right. I am close to him." Ryo closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Cagalli was surprised to see that they looked a little wet.
"Remember how I told you that I was sold when I was very young? I worked as a servant for this family, and they didn't … exactly treat me very well." Ryo said, a bitter tone creeping into his voice. "When I was about 8, the cook poisoned the family in attempt to run away with their money, but he was caught. I was to be sent to an orphanage, but the chief inspector took pity on me and took me in."
"Oh." Cagalli answered quietly, "That does sound like something Reyn would do."
Ryo nodded, and for a moment, both of them remained silent, drinking in the picturesque scenery of the sand and sea around them. Then, out of nowhere, Athrun seemed to pop up beside Cagalli.
"Hey, I thought I might find you here. Breakfast is ready." He said to the both of them. Cagalli nearly jumped – what was with guys and walking so quietly? Couldn't they make more noise so that she would be informed that they were there before the very last minute?
"Sheesh, would it hurt to walk with louder footsteps?" Cagalli said irritably.
"Good morning to you too, come on, let's go." Athrun replied breezily as he took her arm. Cagalli shook it off and rolled her eyes.
"There's no need to hold my hand. I can walk by myself, thank you very much." She said, taking great strides towards the bungalow. It was at that moment that her sandal caught onto a rock, and the next thing she knew, she had tripped and was sprawled on the ground. Both Ryo and Athrun tried to keep themselves from sniggering, and Athrun walked forward to help her up.
As he bent down, a necklace with a red stone as a pendant slipped out of his shirt.
All at once, the three of them gave rather curious reactions.
Cagalli blushed and turned away as she took his arm, muttering about how she couldn't believe that Athrun still had the necklace with him.
Athrun smiled and surprisingly blushed too, as he pulled Cagalli to her feet.
For Ryo, it was confusion, and then suddenly there came a comprehension and a very quick wave of fury that passed through his face, contorting his features. In an instant, it was gone, and his face was blank once more.
A/N:
A REALLY random thought: Somehow, I always get teary-eyed every time I watch the part in GSD where Athrun walks away from Cagalli after explaining why he went back to ZAFT ): It makes me want to reach into the screen, shake Athrun by his shoulders, and go "NOOOOOOO!". Heh.
Edit: Oh, and about the stone - I watched Gundam Seed quite a while ago, so I couldn't really remember some of the details. A few sites I visited had said something about how Cagalli had given to Athrun the GREEN stone that Ahmed (or rather his mother, or so the site said) gave her upon his death. Weird. Did Cagalli actually give Athrun TWO stones or are the sites just... screwed up! (Though I highly doubt the former because I remember there only being one stone. Cough.) Thanks for pointing it out anyway (: