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Dedications in alphabetical: .CriMsonxLadY., Aihsire Atha, Alice, Byron Lancaster, cagallifangurl, Dhevz, eternalasucaga, Fii aka Ficchan, hellopanda23, Jodeist, Joker Oak, Katina Uchiha, kamille murasame, KazumiSakura, Litari Hatake, Miyu Nanami, mokonamodoki93, mrs. zala, patzie24, sakurayamato1, SaKuRaYukIe, Sandyx5, Sawagi-chan, The Blue Mask-cara, The Only Love For Soujiro Seta, yuki001,
And last but not least, trulyanimelover06 for your help and ideas.
Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed.
… … …
Previously...
"Really? That's great! I'm so glad you agreed Athrun!" Meer squealed in delight.
"Ok, so keep it down now would you? We're in the library for goodness sake," Athrun said annoyed.
"Sorry! I was just so excited and happy! I'll go now. See you at the dance! Bye!" Meer said less loudly this time. She then walked over to where Cagalli was standing very still, clearly in the state of shock.
"You're too late Hibiki. Athrun's finally agreed to go with me to the dance," Meer hissed. "By the way, I hope you can keep this to yourself. As much as I love the attention, I know Athrun does not." Meer then walked off smirking.
... ... ...
"Oh Cagalli..." Kira stood up and gave his sister a hug. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you too hard."
"It's not your fault Kira," Cagalli said. "I guess it's just not meant to be..."
... ... ...
Chapter 13
Cagalli sat on one of the window sills. She pulled her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She watched the rain fall from her bedroom window. It was quite unusual for it to rain at that time of the season.
Today was the summer dance and Cagalli was not attending. She could not bear to see Athrun dancing around with Meer. No. She was not strong enough.
Just then, Kira knocked on the door and entered.
"Hey sis, what would you like for dinner?" Kira asked.
Cagalli turned to her brother and noticed that he was wearing a plain white shirt and kaki shorts. "Kira, don't you have any idea what time it is? The dance has started and you're not even dressed yet." Cagalli chided.
Kira grinned, "Well that's because I'm not going sis."
"What?" Cagalli said in alarm. "Then what about Lacus?"
"Don't worry. Lacus doesn't mind. In fact, she went to attend some dinner with her father." Kira replied.
"You don't have to do this you know..." Cagalli said quietly. "You should have gone and have a great time with the rest."
"I know," Kira replied gently. "But I want to do this. There is no way I'm leaving you alone here. Besides, what makes you think I can have fun without you around?"
Cagalli was really touched. She really did have the best brother in the world. Turning to window again, Cagalli asked Kira, "I'm weak and pathetic aren't I?"
"Don't say that!" Kira suddenly got mad. "Don't you dare say that because you are not!"
"Then w-why am I like this?" Cagalli was in the brink of tears.
"Because you are only human..." Kira replied gently this time. Walking over to the window where Cagalli was, he wrapped his arm around Cagalli and hugged her. "We are only human..." he said.
Suddenly, the phone rang, interrupting the brother-sister moment.
It was Kira who picked up the phone. "Hello?" Kira answered.
"Kira?" Miriallia spoke. She sounded urgent. "Where's Cagalli? I have to talk to her! NOW!"
"What? Is everything alright? What happened?" Kira asked in alarm.
"Just put her on the phone Kira," Miriallia commanded. "You can put it on loud speaker too if you want."
Meanwhile, at the Zala mansion...
Ding dong! The bell rang. It was Alfred, the old butler who answered the door.
"I need to speak to Athrun Zala. Is he still at home?"
Alfred was about to call for his young master when Athrun walked up behind him.
"Alfred, who's there?" Athrun asked.
"It's me," the visitor replied.
Athrun stared in shock. A drenched Shinn was at his door way. It was pouring heavily. "What's HE doing here? Shouldn't HE be at the dance with Cagalli?" Athrun thought.
"I see you're not dressed yet," Shinn said coldly.
"That's because I'm not going," Athrun replied equally as cold. He then motioned Alfred to leave him and Shinn alone.
"What's the matter? Getting cold feet?" Shinn taunted.
"What the hell does he want? He's already going with Cagalli. Does he want me to watch too?" Athrun thought.
"If you're here just to pick a fight with me, I want you to leave now and get off my property," Athrun replied.
"Why you bastard!" Shinn shouted as he lunged forward. He had just enough of Athrun's heck-care attitude.
With Athrun's quick reflexes, he managed to dodge Shinn's punch. Finally, using Shinn's strength against him, Athrun grabbed hold of Shinn's flying arm and twisted it to Shinn's back, making Shinn curse and swear profanities in pain.
"You son of a bitch!" Shinn yelled in agony. "Do you have any idea what you have done to Cagalli?"
When he heard Cagalli's name, Athrun quickly let go of Shinn but kept a distant just in case Shinn attacked again.
"My whole life, I have never seen Cagalli cry. When we were eight, she fell down the stairs and had eleven stitches. Even then she did not shed a tear no matter how painful it was. It was me and Kira who cried for her!" Shinn was so agitated and emotional. "But thanks to you, she cried real hard. It's the first time I saw her like this. You made her miserable!" Shinn accused.
At Cagalli's and Kira's house...
Cagalli and Kira found out the truth from Miriallia and the gang.
Flashback:
Meer Campbell was eavesdropping on Miriallia's and Cagalli's conversation. Meer found out that Cagalli was going to ask Athrun to the dance that very break.
"I have to do something!" Meer thought. She knew that Athrun wouldn't reject Cagalli. So she had to beat Cagalli to the library for her plan to evil work.
"Athrun! There you are!" Meer had a sigh of relief when she got to Athrun first.
As usual, Athrun ignored her.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to ask you to the dance again. There is only so much rejection a girl can take. My pride can't take it anymore," Meer told Athrun.
"Wow, you have a pride? That's something new," Athrun said sarcastically.
"That's not a very nice thing to say you know..." Meer said flirtatiously.
"Just cut to the point Meer. You are wasting my time," Athrun was getting annoyed.
"Oh right. Well I have to ask you since you're the captain and all," Meer said referring to the baseball team, "I was wondering if I could take a one week break. Being the team manager is actually quite a tedious..."
"Do whatever you want," Athrun cut off. He couldn't believe that Meer looked for him for something so trivial.
"Really? That's great! I'm so glad you agreed Athrun!" Meer squealed in delight.
"Ok, so keep it down now would you? We're in the library for goodness sake," Athrun said annoyed.
"Sorry! I was just so excited and happy! I'll go now. See you at the dance! Bye!" Meer said less loudly this time. She then walked over to where Cagalli was standing very still, clearly in the state of shock.
"You're too late Hibiki. Athrun's finally agreed to go with me to the dance," Meer hissed. "By the way, I hope you can keep this to yourself. As much as I love the attention, I know Athrun does not." Meer then walked off smirking.
End of flashback.
"I can't believe it Kira!" Cagalli said exasperated. "How can I be so stupid?" Meer had tricked her and Cagalli fell for it like a retard.
"It's alright you know. We all do stupid things once in a while," Kira tried to comfort his agitated sister.
"But if you look on the bright side Cags, Athrun never agreed to go with her..." Mir said over the loud speaker.
"But how did you guys manage to get Meer to confess?" Kira asked curious.
"You should be glad that you weren't there Kira!" It was now Dearka who was on loud speaker. "Mir and Shiho were absolutely terrifying!"
Kira and Cagalli heard the tremor in Dearka's voice.
Dearka continued, "They trapped the poor girl in the girl's toilet and terrorised her! They threatened to pluck all her hair and make her bold! You should have seen the poor girl's face!"
"You sound as if you were with them in the girls' toilet," Kira said.
"He was there alright," Mir took over the phone. "That useless pervert did not help us at all. He only went into the toilet to see if there were other girls inside."
"Hold on!" Kira said worried. "Where's Cagalli?"
"What do you mean 'where's Cagalli'? Isn't she beside you?" Mir asked.
Kira's eyes turned towards the window. He saw a flash of blonde running across the road. "Damn it!" Kira said.
"What's the matter Kira?" Miriallia panicked.
"Cagalli ran off. Probably going to Athrun's. She just ran out in the rain without an umbrella. She's gonna catch a cold! I've got to get her! Talk to you later ok? I have to make sure my sister's alright," Kira said as he hung up and ran after Cagalli with an umbrella.
... ... ...
Cagalli ran and ran. She knew what she had to do now. She had to make everything right with her and Athrun again. Being the impulsive, rash and impatient girl that she was, Cagalli didn't bother waiting for the rain to stop. She didn't even bother to take the umbrella with her. Her mind only thought of one thing, or one person, Athrun.
Suddenly, she stopped. She had no idea where she was running to. She didn't know where Athrun lived. All this time it was he who came to her house. Cagalli looked around lost. She was now in Maple Street. That was what the sign in front of her said.
As she was about to turn back home, Cagalli heard a screech. It was the sound of a car breaking.
"BANG!"
That sound came right after and Cagalli looked towards the road. A van skidded and rammed against a taxi. But the vehicles didn't moving stop upon collision. They were now heading towards her out of control. Cagalli wanted to run but her legs turned wobbly, she just stood at the pedestrian path unable to move.
"Cagalli!" Kira shouted. He saw what was happening and he ran in a speed that could break the world record to save his sister.
It happened too fast for Cagalli's mind to react. She thought she was going to be hit by the vehicles, but she found herself being pulled away and the next thing she knew, Cagalli landed on a soft patch of grass.
"Cagalli!" She heard the voice of her brother. She turned to her right and saw that her brother looking very pale beside her.
Then she heard another voice. It was barely over a whisper but Cagalli heard it loud and clear. She had missed that familiar voice. It was he who had saved her!
"Cagalli," he said.
Amber meets emerald.
Cagalli then found herself in the embrace of a strong pair of arms. Though he was equally as wet as her, Cagalli found comfort and warmth in his arms.
"I'm so sorry," she heard him sob. It surprised her. Cagalli didn't really expect the ice prince to act like that. "Shinn told me everything," Athrun continued. "I'm such a fool..."
"That makes two of us," Cagalli smiled at Athrun.
Athrun then reached out to touch Cagalli's face, hesitantly at first. Athrun started by tracing her jaw lines with his knuckles. Once he was sure Cagalli was not going to move away from his touch, he got serious and caressed the side of her cheek. Athrun inched his face closer to hers and Cagalli closed her eyes preparing for what was to come. His lips was about to meet hers when he abruptly stopped.
Sensing something, Cagalli opened her eyes and stared at Athrun in confusion.
"May I kiss you?" Athrun asked. He wanted her consent first.
Cagalli's frown immediately turned into a smile. She threw her hands around his neck as she pressed her lips onto him. "You don't have to ask," Cagalli replied.
Athrun smiled tenderly back at Cagalli. "Does that mean you're my girlfriend now?" asked Athrun.
"It depends," Cagalli teased. "Is that how you're proposing?"
Looking Cagalli in the eye, Athrun asked seriously, "Will you be my girlfriend Cagalli?"
Cagalli laughed. "Yes! Yes of course!"
Cupping Cagalli's face, Athrun bent down and his lips brushed against hers.
The two were oblivious to the annoyed Kira who stood by watching. He was about to protest and make a fuss when a hand clamped over his mouth. The next thing he knew, he was dragged off to the bushes.
"Kira, I'm swear I'm going to murder you in cold blood if you ruin this perfect moment for them," Lacus threatened, the sweet, angelic and gentle girl Kira knew was suddenly replaced by a frightening one.
"Mfft!" Kira tried to talk but couldn't because Lacus's hand was clamped over his mouth.
"Shh! Quiet!" Shinn tried to hush Kira down. "They might hear you!"
Kira was still struggling. He couldn't believe that Lacus and Shinn had ganged up on him.
... ... ...
Athrun and Cagalli came back to Cagalli's house. Both teens were drenched because they were out in the heavy rain. Athrun had to borrow clothes from Kira though the lad was not at home. They had found a note saying that Kira went off to Lacus's house.
"Food will arrive in half an hour," Cagalli said as she joined Athrun in the living room. She had ordered Chinese delivery.
Athrun was admiring the large framed jigsaw picture of her and Kira which hung on the wall above the marble fireplace.
"That was two years ago," Cagalli told Athrun. "We took three weeks to complete it."
"I want to do something like this too..." Athrun mumbled to himself but Cagalli heard it.
"I know what we can do now!" Cagalli exclaimed. Before Athrun could say anything, Cagalli ran up the stairs.
BOOM! CRASH! BANG!
That was what Athrun heard while he waited for Cagalli downstairs in the living room. He was about to run up to see if Cagalli was ok, but she came down unharmed right after with a large rectangular brown box.
"Here we are!" Cagalli smiled as she placed the box on the coffee table and emptied out its contents.
"A jigsaw puzzle?" Athrun verified.
"Yup but its no ordinary one," she replied as she handed a piece of paper to Athrun.
It was a picture of the gang taken during Kira's and Cagalli's birthday.
"Kira and I had it made into a jigsaw puzzle. We're supposed to do it together but we can start off without him." Cagalli said. "It's just too bad that Shinn's not inside."
Athrun was smiling and jumping with joy inside when he noticed that Shinn wasn't in the picture. Even though the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Athrun was still not too fond of Shinn even though he had to thank Shinn for clearing everything up. Yes, Athrun Zala was quite a petty boy.
"How many pieces is it?" Athrun asked.
"Oh it's just five hundred," Cagalli replied matter-of-factly.
Soon, the two started to work on the jigsaw puzzle.
"This one is supposed to go here," Athrun said trying to fit the puzzle piece in.
"No, this one goes there," Cagalli argued replacing the puzzle piece of Athrun. "See?" Cagalli said happily as the one she had chosen fitted perfectly. "Kira and I do this together all the time since we were young. We can practically see a mile away where the pieces go."
"Fine, I admit defeat," Athrun laughed.
... ... ...
It was now the following day and news sure spread fast. The whole school knew that Athrun and Cagalli were now together.
"Athrun is one lucky bastard," the couple heard a boy say when they were on their way to the cafeteria.
"I think they make a cute couple!" a girl squealed.
"But I think I'll make a better couple with Cagalli," said another boy.
"I can't believe it! We're now the talk of the school!" Cagalli complained to Athrun.
"Well, what do you expect? The most popular girl is dating me," Athrun laughed.
"Then what do you call yourself? In case you haven't noticed, you are one popular guy too. Just look at all the death glares those bimbos are sending me!" Cagalli said.
"But if you look on the bright side, we might stand a chance to be prom king and queen," Athrun smiled.
"Great, all the royal treatment," Cagalli said sarcastically.
The couple finally made their way to the cafeteria where their friends were waiting.
"Say Kira, I just realised something," Dearka said. "You two have different surnames. You're a Yamato and Cagalli's a Hibiki."
"Weren't you listening you twit!" Yzac said. "They already told us before that they were both adopted!"
"Wow, I didn't you actually listened too Yzac," Shiho said.
"Shut up woman!" Yzac replied.
"Oh I almost forgot!" Cagalli suddenly stood up. "I left your book in my locker, Lacus."
"It's alright Cagalli, I'm in no hurry to get it back," Lacus replied.
"No I'll get it now, it won't take much time anyway," Cagalli said as she began to walk off.
"I'm coming with you!" Athrun called out as he rushed after Cagalli.
As Cagalli opened her locker, she noticed another piece of paper. Cagalli frowned. "Is this another hate mail?" she thought.
Unfolding the paper, Cagalli read its contents. It said:
I thought I told you to leave. This is my last warning. Leave now or else.
"Is this what bothered you last time that you had to tell Shinn and Kira?" Athrun suddenly spoke, making Cagalli jump. He read the letter too.
Cagalli sighed. She guessed that she has to tell Athrun now. "Yea..." she replied.
Athrun frowned. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," Athrun said determinedly.
To be continued...
Please review! Thank you so much! I'll try to update at least once a week and the worst once in two weeks. I hope you're not bored with this story yet! Tell me if it's getting boring ok? And tell me how I can improve. I'll try my best to do it.