Chapter 12

With every ounce of light entering my vision, my head pounds. It's blurry at first, but as I slowly widen my eyes I notice a fan dangling from a pink ceiling. I carefully sit up from where I lie; my head regrets leaving the comfort of the silky pillow. A silky pink blanket is covering the lower half of my body; the top of me is bare. Where has my shirt gone? I lift the blanket and I am thankful that I am still wearing boxers because, even though this bed seems familiar, I know it isn't Cagalli's.

I look around this brightly lit room. A vanity, pink walls, and stuff animals, magazines and makeup lined up on the shelves. I've definitely been here before. And when the door opens, with a long haired female stepping inside, I know exactly whose room it is.

"I see you're awake," she says smiling.

I look her up in down. She's scarcely dressed—-wearing a small tee and boxer shorts—-but at least she's dressed. She makes her way to the bed a sits on the edge of it. I want to speak, but I can't get my words together with this annoying pain.

"Meer…" I manage to muster. "What in the world…?"

She puts her hand up.

"I know you're exhausted," she winks. "You did party hard and long last night."

"What happened last night, and what time is?" I rub my temple.

"I just told you, you partied hard," she chuckles a little. "Oh, and it's eleven a.m."

"You know what I mean, Meer," I grunt, "enough with your little games. Can you please—-"

She stands up.

"I'm not playing any games, Athrun, but if you really want to know what happened, you got drunk off of your ass."

I turn away from her. Last night is barely rememerable. I remember meeting Dearka and Yzak early in the evening and that's when we made our way to the club. It was Dearka's idea of cheering me up. Meer had already been there when we arrived. Me and her danced, drank, danced drank...but then...I hiss at the throbbing pain in my head. I feel something cold hit my lap; it's a ice in a sack.

"Thank you," I say.

Meer doesn't say anything.

"What am I doing here?" I ask, placing the ice bag on my head.

"You got too wasted, Athrun," she says, now sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair. "Your friends were too wasted—-I was too, but I can hold my own—-so I decided to take care of you."

"Thank you for that."

"No need to thank me," she says. "You were really upset...you even snapped on what's her face."

"Cagalli?!"

Meer's face shifts into a nasty frown at the mention of Cagalli's name.

"Yeah, her," she hisses. "I noticed you two have something going on—-"

"Meer, that's none of your—-"

"Even knocked the little bitch up."

My heart sinks. I stare wide eyed at Meer as she glares daggers into my soul. I croak, but manage nothing else.

"I heard you two talking," she says. "So, she's pregnant and it's yours. I never liked her, and, to think, now she has you. Oh! Not to mention that her damn brother was the one to harm Lacus, but now she's dead."

I stay silent. I can't even look at her. Her eyes are glossed with developing tears. It was a matter of time before Meer found out about Lacus' death, but how she found out I do not know. Was it me who told her? How much, and what, did I say last night?

"I'm sorry," is all I manage to whisper.

"Don't be," she seems calm. "Soon most of the country will know that the President's kids are nothing but a pregnant teen and a murderous beast."

My father is standing in silence, staring out of the large window, hands folded behind his back. He's been that way for a few minutes now and it's making me nervous. He seems so far from me. Though the table I'm sitting at is only a few feet away from his location. This table—-our private dining table—-and this room seem out of balance without Kira in it. This is the room where Kira, Father and I would come dine in whenever he wasn't swamped with political business. We'd sit together, laugh, talk about our day, our future plans, and enjoy something delicious Myrna would whip up. It was always delicious when she cooked—-she's the best caregiver we ever had—-and we'd always have a tasty dessert to finish it.

Those days seem so far away now. I haven't been in this room since before Kira confessed to me he was marked. Thinking about it, knowing that it's been several months since I've seen my brother; several months since I sat and laughed with him, or talked with him, or...or...my heart squeezes into a ball and I feel like I am losing air. I feel my body begin to tremble, and my eyes start to sting. It is when my father calls out my name that I am saved from my breakdown.

"It's so hard for me to believe you are pregnant…" he says. "You're a child."

"Father, I'm 18."

"You are a teenager!"

I jump. He faces me with fierceness in his manner. His stare causes my heart to pound and I quiver in my seat. His look soon softens and he slowly takes a seat next to me, placing a hand a top of mine.

"I'm sorry," he says, "but now there's information going around, including leaks that the cursed one is Kira. Then you say you murdered the changed one. Nothing will happen to you considering the fact no one knows it was you, and the rules regarding cursed ones, but still you were that close to one...close to..."

"It was Lacus," I blurt out, trying to avoid another reprimand on that incident.

Hurt sweeps across his face, but he doesn't say anything. He sits up straight and clears his throat.

"Why did you put yourself in that predicament, Cagalli?"

"Because, in order to end it all—-this cursed year—-I have to sacrifice myself!" I slam my hands on the table, rattling it. I notice my father flinch. "It's the only way now. It's too late to do the other options. And the only other way, besides my sacrifice, is to have someone sacrifice their child to him. No one is going to do that! I wouldn't even dare to ask."

The air is being sucked out of me again. My eyes are wet now. Dammit! I try to hold it all in, but my body trembles to release it. It doesn't help that Father pats and rubs my shoulder. He's trying to comfort me, but it's weakening. Feeling the warm liquid slide down my cheek, I know I can no longer fight it. So I wail, and I continue to do so for a long time.

My head is buried in my arms when I eventually stop. I slowly lift my head to look up. My father brings his finger up to wipe a tear from my eye. He smiles.

"I am sorry," I croak, "but I'll do anything to get everything back to normal. That way our people can live in peace for the next fifty years."

"You know I won't allow you to do anything to harm yourself, or my future grandchild."

Never stopped me before, I think.

"Who provided you with this information, Cagalli?" he asks.

"An old woman. She's a descendant of the witch."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because of the records. Athrun and I did the research awhile back to see if there was anyone who lived through the cursed years. She lived through two. We digged some more and found out that she came from a long line of 'witches.' When I spoke to her, she revealed to me that she was related to the woman who plagued us."

"Cagalli, just because this woman claims all of those things doesn't make it true," he stands up. "She's telling you to kill yourself, Cagalli—-"

"I believe her. Father, I may be a lot of things, but I don't have bad judgement. She even knew I was pregnant before I did. That counts for something."

"I want proof," he says. "I want to talk to this woman."

Father will leave tomorrow, so I'll be alone for a couple of days. It hurts, but I guess I'll have to deal with it. I haven't spoken to Athrun since our run in at that club. I'll give him space. I can't expect him to forgive me for what I have done. Can I even forgive myself?

I plop down on my messy bed and bury my face in my huge pillow. The softness of the fabric satisfies me. It's like I'm laying on a cloud. After that delicious dinner I could sleep for the rest of the night. I feel my eyes getting heavy, but before I can escape to dream world I hear a tapping sound.

I sit up and look around my room. It's empty and I know we don't have mice. I hear it again. It happens every few seconds. It sounds like someone is knocking on my window. I go to my window, pull back the curtain and look out of it. Below, I see Athrun throwing rocks at it. Quickly I lift my window and hang out of it.

He stops immediately. Our eyes meet and we stare at each other in silence before he says:

"Can I come in?"

Sorry it is such a short chapter, but I'll keep uploading as long as ya'll keep reading. REVIEW. SHARE. PM.