In The End

For the first time in ages, I was going to see Cagalli.

I was going to see the tomboyish blonde hair.

I was going to see the delightful golden eyes.

And I was going to see the sweet smile that wasn't meant for me but I had managed to convince myself otherwise.

She had invited me to lunch along with Kira, Lacus, Dearka, Miriallia and a few of her other friends from the Archangel. It wasn't the most ideal situation for me to convince her that I still loved her and that our relationship could work out but it was a wonderful opportunity nonetheless.

In my state of excited hopefulness, I decided to bring her some roses. The bouquet which I bought was a wonderful array or rose roses, a simple yet pleasing arrangement.

When I got to the restaurant, Kira and Lacus were already there but the rest weren't.

"Hey Kira, Lacus," I greeted, "where's Cagalli?"

"Well, she called and told me that she might be a little late due to some press issues."

I knew that all too well. When Cagalli and I were together, the press, in one way or another, found a way to hound her with questions regarding the peace treaty, some calamity somewhere and other things.

Cagalli arrived after a few minutes, looking hassled and trying to politely fend off the cameras and microphones being shoved under her nose.

The head of the restaurant acknowledged her presence by bringing a dozen or so waiters to shower her with rose petals and presented her with a bouquet a dozen times larger than the one I had brought.

"Welcome back, Princess Cagalli!" the man bellowed and clapped. Everyone clapped after him, Cagalli looking enchanting with rose petals in her hair and a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

I looked at her, rose petals and all, with the splendid bouquet in her hands. I looked at myself, a pitiful wreck on the inside, holding a small bouquet that could hardly be compared to that which she held.

Why did I feel the need to give her roses when there were already so many who did?

I excused myself and went to the bathroom to wash my face and dump the roses in the trash can. While I washed my face, a little voice in my head said "Maybe you were hoping that she would think yours was special." Maybe I did but then again, maybe I was getting too hopeful. In any case, if she didn't want the roses, I could use them to brighten up the apartment. No need to throw away something so nice.

When I went out, everyone had arrived and I took my seat at the far end of the table, beside Dearka and as far away from Cagalli as possible. I pretended not to notice the empty seat beside Kira who was beside the Princess.

Unfortunately, I was good at pretending not to notice things but Kira wasn't.

"Hey Athrun, have a seat over here!"

A smiled as much as I could and sat down beside Kira who was listening to Cagalli talk about Alex.

I didn't pay much attention and stared at my plate until the food arrived.

It wasn't until the end of the meal that Cagalli had the guts to finally speak to me. By that time, most of the guests were gone and only Kira, Lacus, Cagalli and I remained.

"So, Athrun, how are things going?" she said in a voice which was a little nervous and not business-like, in contrast to how most of her colleagues saw her.

"Its fine, really. I just moved to a bigger apartment and I got myself a job," I said, as frank as I could make it. There was really no need to prolong this conversation.

"I see, are you going out with anyone?"

Ah, I knew things would come to this and I had a ready answer.

"No, no one as of yet. I'm trying to get myself settled down first."

Yeah, the same thing I had said to Kira six months ago. Some things never change. You might think I had settled down quite nicely but apparently, not enough.

"Excuse me, Miss Attha, your meeting starts in half an hour," one of her bodyguards said, conveniently ruining the moment.

"Right, well, I'll be seeing you guys and it was nice seeing all of you again," she said and she flashed her sweet smile which wasn't meant for me but I had managed to, once more, convince myself otherwise.

"Cagalli," I managed to call out her name before she left.

"What is it, Athrun?" she asked unhurriedly, as if she didn't care all that much about her meeting.

"I...got you some roses," I managed to blurt out and held out the ones meant for my dining table.

"Thanks Athrun," she said as she smiled a smile meant for me this time and took the roses.

I didn't know if it was just me or if she left the giant bouquet under the table anyway.

I had to stop by the hardware store before I went home because the pipe under the sink had started to leak. All it took was a screwdriver and some screws, nothing I couldn't fix myself but of screws and screwdrivers, I had none.

By the time I had gone home, there were a couple of messages waiting for me on my phone. One was from Dearka, excitedly telling me that he was going to propose to Miriallia and was inviting me in advance to his wedding. He said something about Yzak already being best man but I had a special seat reserved up front.

Another message was from Kira, he was telling me about how much Cagalli liked the roses I gave her. You might think that if she had something to say to me, she didn't need Kira as her mediator. Nevertheless, I looked at the giant vase of roses which I took from the restaurant as a little souvenir.

The last message was from Cagalli. She said that she was sorry that things turned out this way and that they could still be friends if he wanted to. She also asked him to call her back and maybe they could go to the movies or something.

Typical Cagalli, always ruining things but always fixing them in the end. That was one of the things which I loved her for.

I picked up the phone and dialed her number.

"Hello, Cagalli Yula Attha speaking."

"Hey Cagalli."

"Athrun! Hey, what's up?"

"I got your message," I said as if that was the only news I had after two hours. I had other news, such as my broken sink but I didn't think that was interesting.

"Really? So, what do you say?"

"What time do I pick you up?"

"That's great, Athrun, oh just a sec."

I waited as Cagalli was being tickled by Alex. You could hear their giggles from a mile away, which was the distance I estimated between her house and mine.

"Hey, Athrun, I'm back," Cagalli said, a little out-of-breath.

"So, when do I see you?"

"Well, my schedule's a little busy for the next couple of days. How's Saturday?"

Saturday was a good three days away.

"Sure, Saturday's great," I replied

"Well, I'll call you back, Athrun, I have things to attend to. Thanks for calling; it was nice to hear your voice."

"The pleasure was mine," I said as gentlemanly as I could, making her giggle.

"See ya," she said and she put down the phone.

I put down the phone as well and I wondered if things would brighten up. Maybe fate was on my side. I sure wished it was.

But then again, who knew?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam or, with the allusion to the title, Linkin Park.

Author's note: Aren't things looking brighter for Athrun? Thanks for the reviews, you guys!