Heavy Lies The Crown: Chapter Six

by Starrify

I don't know where I'm going but I don't think I'm coming home.
And I said I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead.
This is the road to ruin and we're starting at the end.

"I'm fine, Kira." The blonde's words resonated resolutely in her small room. She glared at her twin who was sitting at the end of her bed. "Really, can you just give it a rest?"

"No," Kira replied, a small frown etching his face. "You have a fever; you're the one who needs to rest!"

To say that Cagalli was royally pissed was an understatement. "Rest? Excuse you, I have been doing nothing but lie down in this bed for the past three days! I've been trapped in this house for the past month! I've been doing nothing—absolutely nothing—of interest!"

"As opposed to what?" The purple-eyed twin immediately countered. "You doing nothing of interest in the forest? At least here you are safe! At least you are well fed and you have the company of people—your former subjects, your future subjects! It's not true that you've been doing nothing, Cagalli. You have been learning, training—and this is just the beginning of your fight to reclaim Orb."

Cagalli had to admit that Kira's solemn speech was true. She had been living with the rest of the refugees for almost a month now, and during that time, she was reminded of her old lessons about her country and how to supposedly rule it—and having all that old knowledge brought back, and adding at least five books worth of new information, gave her a migraine so terrible that she had to stay in bed for the past few days. Still, her pride would not let her lose their argument, so she still fought back.

"But the constraint is just too much for me to handle," she said quietly, not shouting anymore. "Not just as a supposed ruler, but as a human. I'm just a seventeen year old girl and already I have to bear the burden of a nation at war with itself."

At that, Kira softened and his frown turned into a small grimace. He knew that that, too, was true. He chuckled. "We're both turning eighteen in a few days. Asagi and the others will be preparing a small feast for us—but really, more for you."

She let out a small giggle as well. "What can I say? Their cooking is the best I've had in years. I've lived off of mostly fruits in the forest, so having meat served in every meal I have is still sort of an oddity to me."

"You haven't told me much about your adventures in the forest."

"I'm afraid there isn't really much to tell."

Kira frowned again. "As your brother, I should know."

"You should know what? There really is nothing to know!" Cagalli answered defensively as she pulled her sheet past her shoulders and almost covering her jaw. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she glared some more at her only remaining blood relative. But after a few breaths, she gave in anyway. "Really, Kira, there's nothing much. I was alone, I made a home out of a spacious, abandoned den which I assume foxes used to live in. I had berry bushes nearby so that I'd never have to go hungry; I took Kusanagi out for rides in the forest where you could never get tired of the ever changing view. Sometimes the birds were on branches, other times they weren't. Every day there was a part of the forest to be explored, discovered."

"So did you manage to memorize the whole place?" Kira asked, genuinely curious.

"No, that's impossible when the trees all look the same," Cagalli said, shrugging her shoulders. "I had a compass in the bag Kisaka left me, so I used that."

Kira smiled fondly at his twin. Despite being separated for the last five years and not knowing that they were blood-related, it was comforting for him to know that at least now they were closer than before, and that she trusted him enough to tell her about what she felt. Cagalli was always willing to impose her ideologies on other people, but when it came to her actual feelings, she would keep it in for the longest time.

"Thank you for telling me those," he said, still smiling at his sister.

"It's nothing," Cagalli waived off dismissively and gave her twin a toothy grin. "It's your turn, then. You haven't told me about what you've been up to these past years."

"Well," Kira started, thinking out loud. "I help around in the palace as a secretary. Running around, doing paperwork, chasing signatures. That's what I mostly do, but I'm also technically part of Zaft."

Cagalli narrowed her golden eyes. "As a soldier?"

Kira chuckled. "No, I'm more of a secretary, really. Tons of reports need collecting and filing, so I just hang around with papers all day." At that, he noticed that Cagalli was still holding her breath. "If ever they do go to war, I don't think they'd immediately place me on the field. They're not too keen on having refugees from another country fight for Plant."

"Because there's the fear of betrayal," Cagalli said understandingly. She sat up in her bed and straightened her back against the headboard. "Admittedly, I wouldn't want anyone not from Orb to be involved if we plan to take back the throne somehow. I don't even know how that's possible."

"You have us," Kira reassured her. "And once we're all set, Kisaka will send out word to those who have pledged to help our cause—the refugees here in Plant that Kisaka helped to escape Orb."

"But they don't need to," Cagalli countered with a pout, crossing her arms childishly. "They're living peacefully in Plant now. They have no reason to risk their newfound peace and possibly lose their lives in the process. I won't stand for that."

The brunette couldn't help but sigh. It was very typical of his sister to keep the civilians in mind, but he knew that she knew that Orb was in a civil war. It was inevitable for civilians to be involved. "And you? Would you risk the peace you have here now? You have a new life here; you don't need to get involved—"

"I do!" Cagalli cut him off, her voice cracking slightly. "It's different for me! My father entrusted Orb to me and it is my duty to not let it fall into ruins simply because I found peace elsewhere!"

"No, it's not different. You have a reason to fight, and so do they," Kira spoke gently, not matching her shouts of defense with his own. "You're forgetting that their homes were taken away from them. They had friends and family in Orb, too."

Cagalli simply stared at her twin, not knowing what to say next. She had envisioned it all: staying up late at night with the adults to discuss their possible plans, her continued training to get better if ever she has to go into battle, and then somehow getting back on the throne and fixing the damage that had been done. She had also imagined the other possibility where she loses—though that had been the cause of her nightmares every other day.

She continued to think over what Kira had just said, and when she didn't respond for more than a minute, Kira spoke, "Well, it's getting rather late, and I should get back to Plant."

"You're not staying for the night?"

"Nah," he dismissed. "I just need to wake up early tomorrow because I may have put off some paperwork. Why, is my little sister going to miss me?"

The princess glared. "I'm older than you."

Kira chuckled and threw his riding cloak at her direction. Cagalli caught it with one hand and stared at the almost worn fabric. "You can keep that for now if you're going to miss me so much. That's hand-sewn by the royal tailor, a gift from my last birthday. It's nice, isn't it?"

"What am I supposed to do with this? Aisha made me a new one," she said confusedly.

"Keep it until I go back. Which will probably be in a few days," he answered and then made a move to get up from her bed. "Take care of yourself, okay? Don't strain yourself too much or else you'll collapse again."

"I already told you, Kira," Cagalli sighed and slid back into her bed, nuzzling the back of her head onto the soft pillow. "I'm fine."

It was just an hour or so before dawn when Cagalli crept out of her room and snuck into the stables. This was technically the first time she went outside since she had that major headache. Cagalli knew that this was the only time no one guarded the safe house from the outside, and took this opportunity to escape. She had packed the new cloak Aisha had given her, a few provisions, and some other materials she thought she could be able to use for her own little den in the middle of the forest. Cagalli knew that her leaving wasn't in anyone's best interests—except maybe, for herself. She knew she was being selfish, but she just needed to breathe.

Cagalli spotted Kusanagi at the stables and went towards him. She smiled at her oldest companion and ran her hand through the horse's mane while he gave a soft neigh. Cagalli smiled and whispered, "Are you ready for another long trip, Kusanagi?"

She walked to the side and got a saddle, positioning it onto her horse's back. Before she could leap up to ride him, Cagalli heard the door of the stables, swing open.

A womanly chuckle resonated in the small barn. "Going out for a morning stride, I see."

Cagalli didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Erica. What a surprise to see you here."

"Is it surprising, really?" Erica asked, somewhat bemused. "I'm here every morning, feeding these horses, making sure none of them got a fever overnight. But I'm sure you should already know that by now, hm?"

When Cagalli didn't reply, Erica continued, "With a bag like that, though, I'm not sure if you were just planning to go take old Kusanagi for a short walk."

Cagalli grimaced, her honesty and openness getting the better of her. "I just need to get away from this all."

"You mean knowing you have responsibilities to attend to?"

"No, I spent the last five years thinking and knowing of them," Cagalli admitted. "So it's not that. I guess it's just…I can't really handle it right now. People bowing, curtseying to me in the corridor; giving me the special treatment—I remember hating all of that when I was younger, but I only played along because Father insisted. But now…"

"You see no reason to," Erica finished for her with a small smile. "Or at least, you don't see a reason to yet."

"But I do!" Cagalli argued, her hold on Kusanagi's saddle tightening. "I think of all of my people in Orb, of how I have to liberate them, of how useless I am to them right now."

"And you think you'll be helping anyone by returning to the middle of the forest, where it's dangerous for you?"

"I can help myself," Cagalli sighed, finally getting on Kusanagi's back. "I have for the last five years. I'll be back when my head's clearer."

Erica sighed at how persistent the princess was proving herself to be. She had heard stories from Kisaka, and in the month Cagalli spent with the rest of the refugees, Erica noticed the princess's stubborn streak whenever Kisaka wanted her to have some sort of lesson, or whenever Mu was too lazy to train her with sword-fighting. All in all, the princess always wanted to go do things her way, and Erica decided that there was no point in delaying Cagalli further.

"Alright," Erica acquiesced, shocking Cagalli. "If you think you're well enough for it. You've been sick for the past few days, haven't you?"

The blonde nodded.

"I'll let you go," the brunette sighed defeatedly. "But I think you shouldn't take poor old Kusanagi."

Cagalli raised one of her golden eyebrows. "And who do you suggest I take? I'm sure not one of these horses knows the forest as well as Kusanagi or I do."

"Akatsuki might," Erica answered after some thinking. "He's a quick learner, potentially the fastest one from this lot. I think you'll like each other."

"Oh," Cagalli's resolve faltered for a moment, considering everything she had gone through with her horse. Kusanagi was the same horse that carried her and Kisaka away from Orb, the same horse that was her only friend for five long years, somewhat keeping her sanity with his company. She didn't want to leave Kusanagi behind, but then he deserved the rest with Kisaka. She bent her body and reached for the bridge on the horse's face, gently stroking it. "Do you want to be left behind, Kusanagi?"

The horse cried in response, gently shaking his head in understanding.

"But you do need your rest," Cagalli continued softly. "We've been through so much together."

With mixed feelings of apprehension and guilt, Cagalli dismounted off Kusanagi, the horse still continuing to whinny in protest. When Cagalli closed the door to the horse's stable, she could only smile fondly back at the not so pleased horse.

"You be a good boy now for Kisaka, okay?" she said to the horse before turning her back to him.

Cagalli followed Erica further into the stables and stopped in front of a horse with a beautifully trimmed golden mane that was a similar shade to her own hair. The horse was smaller than Kusanagi, and definitely younger. Cagalli estimated the horse to be around two to three years old, showing off its strength with its youth.

"This is Akatsuki," Erica said proudly, looking at the horse. "Mu's the one who trained him, so this horse knows all that it should."

"Okay," Cagalli agreed, walking closer to the horse, saddle in hand.

"Let me, Princess," Erica offered with a smile. Cagalli, seeing no point in wasting time as the sun was bound to be up soon, handed over the saddle to the horse expert.

"Thank you so much," Cagalli replied with a small smile of her own. "For everything you've done for me so far. Truly, I mean it."

Erica shrugged as she secured all of the latches. "It's an honor for me to serve Orb's—"

"P-please, don't—" Cagalli interrupted, stuttering a bit. "I am not royalty. Not anymore."

"You mean you don't think you are, yet." Erica grinned, letting go of the horse. "But you should know that you are. I already told you before that you are the princess—no, the queen of Orb. You always will be. Not only to me, but also to those who know that you are the rightful heir to the throne—though they may not know you're still alive. We all believe in you, Cagalli. I do."

Cagalli, not wanting to display weakness, hugged Erica before any tears fell from her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered again, and the older woman patted the princess's back.

One rooster was heard crowing in the distance, which was Cagalli's signal to go. Pulling back from Erica's hug, she put up the hood of Kira's cloak over her head and jumped onto Akatsuki's back. Breathing in deeply, she pulled at the reins, urging the horse to go out. Once they were out of the stables, they left the vicinity of the safe house as quickly as they could.

When Erica finished feeding all of the horses, which was at least half an hour after she let Cagalli escape the safe house, she went back inside to find everyone worked up and screaming.

Especially Kisaka.

"Where in Haumea's good name is she?" he shouted at the younger boy, Ahmed. The boy quivered in fear and could not even voice a response. Grunting, Kisaka turned to another, older man and asked the same question.

After about five more rounds of his interrogations, Erica decided to speak up.

"There's a horse not in his stable," she said, almost nonchalantly. "I think she might have taken it—"

"Did she take Kusanagi?" he yelled at her, but then paused to apologize. "Did she?"

Mu piped in. "The golden horse? He's a stunner and the fastest one there. If ever she left with him early in the morning, it would probably take us a long while to catch up to her."

Murrue looked up to her fiancé, also concerned for the princess's wellbeing. "If you'll go after her, I'll come with you."

Sighing, Kisaka massaged the bridge of his nose. "There'd be no point. She'd probably just go back to that tree she likes to think of as her home."

"You're not even considering the fact that she might have been abducted?" Erica asked pointedly at the former general.

Kisaka shook his head in response. "No, she would have definitely put up a fight. As opposed to her escaping—Haumea knows she's light on her feet and can escape without detection."

"So you're letting her go?" Mu also asked, crossing his arms. He wasn't pleased with the princess's actions, but then again, no one in the safe house was. "Just like that?"

Kisaka sighed for the umpteenth time. "Just like that."

"Kira's coming back tonight, Kisaka," Murrue pointed out. "I'm sure he's not going to be amused that his sister ran away."

Then, groaning, Kisaka started to pray.

As soon as Athrun woke up, he already found Kira waiting on the other side of his door.

"Kira, what are you doing out there?" Athrun asked sharply, only slightly bothered by the presence of his best friend outside his chambers. "It's barely dawn. We don't have any sort of military drill today, do we?"

"No," Kira said, and Athrun immediately saw the concern laced in his friend's tone. "But I felt something was wrong, so I'm here to ask for the next few days off."

"It's your birthday tomorrow."

"I know, I know. It's also—no, nevermind," Kira stopped, almost mentioning Cagalli's name out loud. Deep down, he could tell that there was something off, and it had been eating him from the inside since he had woken up—which was just an hour ago. He had immediately rushed to Athrun's chambers to personally ask for a leave. One could say it was an instinct of some sort or that magical ability to connect to his twin, but Kira just knew there was something different—something he had also felt a year before.

"Didn't you also ask for a leave on your birthday last year, Kira?" Athrun asked, wondering if it really was a year since Kira had last asked for a leave of this sort with the same kind of anxiety.

Kira tried to cover this up. "Yeah, I guess I'm always sick this time of the year. Must be all the flowers here in Plant. Your harvest is nice and yummy and all, but I think it's doing something to my system."

"Or perhaps it's the excitement of being eighteen years of age," Athrun chuckled, and Kira dared to join him in his light mirth.

"Perhaps. But even so, may I?" Kira asked again.

Athrun didn't even think twice. "Of course. Think of it as your birthday gift—separate from the one I'm actually giving you."

"Thank you!" Kira shouted and immediately dashed out of the hallway, the guards nearby jumping in surprise. Athrun could only assume that he had gone to the stables and rode off to—well, wherever he was planning on going. Kira always did his job and covered well for the prince, so Athrun couldn't not say no when Kira asked for a break.

The young prince closed the door behind him and walked back inside his bedroom chambers, sitting down on the side of his bed and closing his eyes.

It's been around a month—no, more than a month since he had met that blonde girl. What was her name again? Cagalli. Yula. CagalliYula, some sort of refugee, outcast from Orb who lived in the forests. A week after he had met her, he was still in some sort of delusional state, wondering if she was some sort of forest spirit or fairy or some sort of magical creature that he had dreamt up to justify wandering into the forest to temporarily eschew his arranged marriage to Lacus.

Maybe that had been it, but then the next week, he had reread the official report at least thirty times and—no, Cagalli was definitely real.

She had to be, Athrun decided then, because he didn't want to think he had feelings for someone who was simply a figment of his imagination.

The ruby ring was still in the pouch, and it was in the drawer of the small desk he kept beside his bed. Since he got home on that day, he didn't bother to take it out, somewhat afraid to lose it after knowing how it had looked on her hand, how he had the very bizarre urge to keep it there.

Athrun was afraid he had fallen in love with the girl who was hardly a girl.

"Love," Athrun scoffed at himself, deciding to finally open the drawer and pull out the ring from inside the pouch. He laid on his bed as he clutched the ring on his chest, trying to recall the details of Cagalli's face—but he was slowly forgetting them every day that he didn't see her. He wondered if she remembered himas well.

The only thing he truly remembered was her hazel eyes.

He derided himself yet again. "I don't love her—"

"I imagine you do not."

Athrun quickly sat up and saw his childhood friend turned fiancée standing by his door. Clutching the ring even tighter in his grasp, he gathered his composure and began to stand on his feet.

"Lacus," he acknowledged her presence in his room. "The guards let you in?"

She smiled her perpetual smile. "Why, are you surprised that they did?"

Reminding himself that she was his fiancée, he mentally scolded himself. "Right. Of course. Well, Lacus." He paused just to clear his throat. "To what may I owe the pleasure of your company here in my chambers?"

Lacus blushed, slowly catching onto the indecency of his statement. When Athrun saw the slight red tint on her cheeks, he scolded himself yet again.

"I mean, Lacus," he started, but the pink-haired lady had already put a hand up to stop him.

"I was knocking outside for quite a while. I sought you at your office, but when I saw you weren't there, I went to the stables, hoping to catch you there, but there was only Kira and I saw just how distressed he seemed to be, so I had talked to him for a second," she began to explain, still eloquent in her speech, yet at the same time undeniably nervous. "And he told me, Kira did, that there were family matters he needed to attend to. Then, he rode off in his horse without another word."

"Family matters?" Athrun questioned, knowing that Kira was raised in an orphanage. "You mean the caretakers in the orphanage back in Orb?"

Lacus nodded. "I'm not entirely sure of this, but I do not know who else he would consider family."

"You don't think he went to Orb by himself, do you?" Athrun asked Lacus, even though he knew they were thinking the same thing. When Lacus did not respond, he continued, "That—he's crazy! If he thinks he can waltz into Orb when there is a war happening inside it, then he's insane!"

"What do we do now, Athrun?" Lacus queried, her light blue eyes glistening with the slightest tears. "If Kira did go to Orb on his own, then he might as well have taken his life."

"I'll stop him. How long ago was it since he left the stables?"

"I suppose it's been at least half an hour," Lacus said, her tears for his best friend almost threatening to spill over her light lids. "Please, Athrun, if anything were to happen to Kira, I—"

And despite both of their concern for the brown-haired lad, he was able to pull off a slight smile, his right fist still gripping the ring. "I understand how you feel, Lacus."

Athrun got his riding gear from his closet and after sparing a brief glance at the nicely wrapped sword that was supposed to be his gift for his best friend, put them over his clothes. As he tightened the strap of his left glove, Lacus walked up to him and put her own gloved hand over his cheek. Athrun barely registered what she was doing before she tiptoed her way up and placed her lips on the slight crease on his forehead.

"Come back to me safely," Lacus whispered softly,a moment of vulnerability showing the frailty of her being. But it was different from when she asked him to come back to her in the forest. This time, it was Kira she had lost, and as Athrun knew that she loved his best friend so, there was something else in her tone. "Both you and Kira. Please, come back to Plant."

Athrun nodded; Lacus stepped back.

"Tell my father, King Patrick, that I am out on business in another city, but don't tell him of my actual whereabouts, even if he asks. Tell him I'll be back in a few days, I don't know when—give me at least a day." The prince fastened up the last of his buttons of his red coat and returned the ring to its pouch, protectively keeping it in his pocket. "And if I don't come back by tomorrow, you can tell him where I am."

Lacus merely nodded, taking note of all his instructions.

"Take care while Kira and I aren't here, alright?"

"I will," Lacus answered, slowly raising the sleeve of her dress to wipe at the sides of her eyes.

Athrun, acknowledging her for the last time, opened the heavy wooden doors to his chambers and ran out, only stopping to get a few provisions from the kitchens before rushing to the stables and hastily yet carefully strapping on the saddle to the back of one of his horses, Aegis. He had not felt the same sense of urgency and determination since the events with the blonde brigandine a month ago. And like the ring he was now carrying in his pocket, he was also getting his best friend back from the forest.

It was at least an hour since Kira had left the Zala castle in Plant, when he arrived in front of the safe house. Not even bothering to tie Strike, his horse, in the stables, Kira jumped off and knocked on the front door, his rapping on the heavy wood sounded so pressing that Asagi was dazed when Kira rushed past her when she opened the door just slightly.

"Where is she?" Kira asked rather loudly. The four adults—Kisaka, Erica, Mu, and Murrue—wincing when they heard him. They were all sitting in the parlor, discussing some matter with heavy faces, but when Kira had burst in, they paused to look at the poor brunette. "Where is my sister?"

"We weren't expecting you to come so early, Kira," Mu said with his trademark cheeky grin. "You're about ten hours too early, kid."

"Where is she?" Kira asked again, his heartbeat still quite erratic as his brain was wired to have too much concern for his twin. "Where is Cagalli?"

Kisaka, deciding that it was no good to hide it from Kira, simply said, "You're two hours too late."

"She left?" Kira asked, his purple eyes wide and his fists clenching. "She left? You let the princess of Orb, the only rightful heir to the throne, leave? You let her go from your clutches, just when you got her back?"

"Technically, we have known of her location for a while," Murrue interrupted sternly, not liking the burst of emotions from the teenage boy. "And we all know that she's going back to that little den of hers in the forest. She's not going anywhere else."

Kira turned around and punched the wall nearest to him—strong enough to make a thump, but not hard enough to cause damage to either the wooden surface or his fist. And then he swiveled back to face them, his resolve seen in the dark flecks of his eyes. "I'm going after her."

Before he could step out of the house, Kisaka's loud, low voice resonated around the small room with his firm no.

"No?" Kira dared to face the old general with his own rage. "I don't think you understand. Cagalli's been traumatized since you left her in that forest! She's had no one with her for the past five years other than her horse—how she got near Plant, I don't know, but you shouldn't have let her go! She's probably just scared of all these new people, and it's understandable since she only talked to ghosts for the longest time! You don't let her run away because she's scared! She's going to be the queen, and you let her go for such a petty thing—"

"It's not a petty thing," Erica decided to speak up, also irritated with how brash Kira was being. "Your arguments are reasonable, but in the end, it should be her choice. And if Cagalli is going to be queen like you said—like we all believe—then we have to start respecting her decisions, no matter how much we don't like or agree with them."

"But still," Kira continued to argue, his faith in his reasoning not wavering. "She doesn't deserve to be alone anymore."

This seemed to affect Kisaka the most as he looked as if he was now actually considering going after Cagalli, but Erica was determined to defend the young royal.

"I saw her this morning at the stables. She said she will return when her head is clearer," she finally admitted, and tried to shrug off the surprised looks on the faces of the three other adults. "Don't look at me like that; we already agreed that her decision is the best for herself and it will help her even—"

"Help her what?" Kira immediately cut her off with a harsh glare. "She's been out there for the last five years—that is more than ample time for her to think of whatever she wants! In fact, we should be more than thankful to Haumea for not letting Cagalli lose her sanity out there! To throw her back into the forests! What would that accomplish?"

"Kira." This time it was Murrue addressing him. "We do not have to reiterate our decision and that of the princess's as well. She has gone off but will return—and safely, I'm sure, as she knows the heart of the forest better than any of us."

"And if you go out and chase her now," Mu continued in the place of his fiancée. "Well, we'll have you bound before you can get to your horse."

Damn, Kira thought but didn't curse out loud. He glared at the three adults and instead walked up the stairs—which led to Cagalli's room. His steps were heavy and loud, most likely disturbing the occupants in the other rooms, but Kira did not care at all. He needed a place to calm down or else he would actually attempt to run after her despite the warnings of the adults, and the only place where he could do that was in the room of his twin sister, where he was so sure she could have been secure in when he saw her in the safe house.

But it still wasn't enough for her; he should have known that the little lioness of Orb could not be caged in some house so easily. But if there was the promise that she was going to come back, he would wait.

If Cagalli said she would do anything for Orb, Kira knew that he would do anything for his sister.

Cagalli decided to exit the forest and enter the trade route around an hour after she left the safe house. She thought that if they ever chased her, it would take them longer since they would assume that she passed through the forest completely. About two hours after that, she stopped for about fifteen minutes to catch up her breath and drink some water.

Still on the horse's back, Cagalli agreed with Erica about how fast Akatsuki was. She estimated that she had at least a five mile lead if they chased after her right away, but they didn't, so she slowed down at least forty miles away from the safe house, and went into a comfortable pace.

Relaxing her very tense shoulders and massaging her sore arms, she jumped off Akatsuki and went to sit under the shade of one tall tree. Grabbing a few berries from a nearby bush, she popped two into her mouth at the same time and bit into them, the juices spreading out into her mouth.

"Mmhm," Cagalli hummed, noting the sweetness of the berries. And then, she sighed. "I haven't been this physically tired since—"

Since she was running from Athrun.

He was the prince of his kingdom—and soon, the king with that pink-haired lady in the carriage standing by him as his queen. Once upon a time, it might have been plausible for her to encourage such thoughts of marrying another royal from another kingdom. After all, her mother, Queen Via, was the daughter of some unknown viscount from the The Alliance , and her father was the prince of Orb. It always happened—nobles marrying nobles, so naturally Cagalli thought that she was going to marry someone of royal blood as well.

But that surely wasn't going to happen in the future. Or at least Cagalli saw herself dying in the name or Orb before having a family of her own.

It was this kind of scary thinking that Cagalli was trying to avoid—and that's why she ran away.

Laying there under the tree with no one else around for miles, the blonde princess decided to rest for just a while longer. She extended her limbs and planted herself comfortably on the ground, closing her eyes as another wave of wind passed by and pulled at her tresses.

She was only around twenty miles from the middle of the route between Orb and Plant, and just a few more minutes of rest was what she needed.

Two and a half hours after riding at full speed, Athrun still had no sight of Kira. His mind began wondering if it was just Lacus's and his paranoia that made them think that Kira went to Orb. Would he really have done that? Athrun knew for sure that he was well aware of the civil war going on inside of Orb—after all, he was also present during important meetings as Athrun's aide, and thus Kira knew everything Athrun also knew about the happenings in Orb.

But would he really have risked his own life to deal with some family issues more than a hundred miles away from Plant?

Maybe, because they both knew Kira could be an emotional wreck when it came to it, but he seemed to be stable enough when he came to Athrun that morning.

He should have caught up to Kira by now—but where the hell was he? Athrun was almost at the middle of the trade route, but there was not even a sign of anyone around for miles. Athrun was starting to seriously consider that it was really just his fear of losing his closest friend that was feeding his paranoia.

He could almost laugh at himself. Why did he think Kira would do that? He would never do something so drastic without informing his best friend. He just wouldn't.

But Lacus wouldn't have been so scared without reason—other than her obvious affections for Kira, of course. Athrun feels even worse now, knowing that he had let Kira go this morning without even asking where he was going or what he was planning to do with the leave he gave him. But still, no—Athrun kept thinking of possibilities that could justify Kira's abrupt leave.

Could it really have been the excitement of turning eighteen?

At this point, Athrun got off the back of Aegis and stretched out his legs; the horse did the same. He loosened the top buttons of his coat, the small beads of sweat lining his collarbone glistening in the morning sun. He breathed deeply, his head reeling from the long ride.

He looked ahead of him and it was a good fifty meters before a sharp curve on the road, the mountainside blocking the view of the continuing path. He took in another deep breath. After taking out some rope and using it to tie his horse to a tree, he lay down in a separate tree as Aegis ate some grass.

Athrun closed his eyes. His mind drifted to the short conversation he had with Kira this morning.

"Didn't you also ask for a leave on your birthday last year, Kira?"

"Yeah…"

Kira had no other family Athrun knew of other than the others in the orphanage somewhere in Heliopolis. Athrun had met the other children when they visited Copernicus—Tolle, Miriallia, and Sai, among others. He also remembered the caretaker of those children, Aunt Caridad, the one Kira fondly called Mother in his many stories. Other than those people, he couldn't think of anyone else. Kira didn't involve himself in any orphanage while in Plant. The closest family to adopt him was the Clynes—and even then, Lacus didn't know where Kira was heading to.

"Love… I don't love her—"

"I imagine you do not."

What did Lacus mean by that? Athrun wondered at this. Did she think he was referring to her? Or did she know that there was someone else—

Cagalli wasn't really someone else. She was…she was someone.

He groaned, his eyes still closed. Athrun didn't know what to make of all these thoughts.

When Cagalli opened her eyes, she didn't expect fifteen minutes of rest turn into one hour, but she was tired, and the throbbing in her head was worse as she was struggling to keep her eyes open. There was another kind of pain she was feeling, and it didn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

She stood up—or at least, she tried to. Cagalli's ankles felt weak and before she could fall, Akatsuki galloped the short distance to support her. She thanked the horse silently and started to hoist herself up to Akatsuki's back, her foot missing the stirrup twice before she could sit properly. The horse was more than reluctant to move, sensing the condition Cagalli was in, but still the princess kept tugging at the reins, insisting that they get a move on.

But really, Cagalli didn't feel well at all—she knew this, but couldn't see a reason why. Was her migraine coming back? No, this was something else entirely.

"Come on, Akatsuki," she whispered softly to the horse, her voice straining more with every word that passed through her lips. "We need to get out of here."

The horse grunted and stomped its hind legs as if protesting, but Cagalli wouldn't have that. At least fifteen minutes at full speed and she could be back in her comfy den where none of her royal worries could bother her. The princess grit her teeth and determinedly clutched onto the reins. She shouted once, and Akatsuki understood and began to run.

Cagalli struggled to stay on the saddle, her grip on the reins loosening and her legs numbing. Her eyes threatened to close almost every second, and her headache was getting worse and worse. But still, Cagalli held on, clinging to the hope that she could escape once more.

Athrun's eyes opened as soon as he heard a gruff shout from the other side of the curve on the road. He sprang up to his feet and ran to Aegis and jumped on to the horse's back skillfully, commanding him to start running. At the thought that it could be Kira on the other side, Athrun rode the horse at full speed—and when he did turn the corner, he couldn't believe his luck.

"Kira!" he yelled out, but he wasn't sure if Kira did hear him. So again, he shouted his friend's name. "Kira, stop!"

Despite his callings, Kira wouldn't turn around to face him—but Athrun was sure that it was indeed his best friend because that was his riding cloak. Aegis kept at his speed, but understood his master's request to go faster and attempted to catch up to the other golden horse ahead of them.

But once Athrun and Aegis were fifteen meters behind them, the other rider slipped off the saddle and fell right to the ground, his body rolling over a couple of time.

Athrun gasped and halted his horse, jumping off hastily and running to his friend. "No, Kira!" he shouted again as he knelt down. He was reluctant to move the body, not knowing the physical trauma the impact could have caused. Instead, the body rolled from its side and the hood fell down, revealing golden tresses instead of brown ones, and hazel eyes instead of purple orbs.

It was Cagalli. His heart leapt from his chest and before he could even express his happiness over finding her again, she was convulsing on the ground.

She wasn't the same lively blonde he had met in the forest last month. No, instead she was a more fragile creature—red drops of blood oozing over her right temple, her lips trembling, her eyes getting hazy, and her face losing most of its color and matching the natural paleness of Lacus's skin.

"Cagalli?" he whispered her name, wiping away the mixed sweat and blood away from her forehead with his cloak. Athrun relished in the fact that he was saying her name again after almost a month of keeping it to himself, and that she was actually with him again. But when he brushed the cloth over her forehead, he felt the heat of her face. "You have a fever—what were you thinking riding like that when you're obviously not well?"

If she found it difficult to keep her eyes open a while ago, now it was almost impossible to keep herself awake. Cagalli thought she was delusional, seeing Athrun in the middle of the trade route. It was Athrun, the prince of Plant! What were the chances of him being there right when she was—or more importantly, right when she needed someone there?

"Athrun?" she asked, blinking once—then twice, the hazy figure of the blue-haired prince still there after she had closed and opened her eyes multiple times. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" Athrun started dumbly, almost forgetting why he was out in the forest in the first place. It was for Kira, his best friend who he thought had gone to Orb on his own, but who he thought was Kira was actually Cagalli, who was wearing Kira's cloak—or at least, a cloak that resembled the one that he had given Kira, but his brown-haired friend didn't carry it on him earlier when he had gone to him, so where was the sense in all of this?

When Athrun looked back down to Cagalli, her eyes were already closed and his head went to panic mode immediately. He didn't have that much training in first aid, but he did know that after the fall Cagalli went through, the greatest she could suffer from were broken bones and some form of internal bleeding, and that if a doctor didn't see to her soon, she'd be as good as dead.

Dead. His heart clenched at the image of the once lively blonde becoming lifeless in his arms.

It would take him three hours to get back to Aprilius City. At full speed he could have saved thirty minutes or so, but his horse was already exhausted as is. She had a better chance at surviving if he brought her back to Plant. And because he was...rather attached to her, he was going to take her with him. He was willing to face whatever consequence that would be thrown his way—whether it be Cagalli's or his father's wrath.

He lifted her head as carefully as he could and heard a small hiss pass through her lips. He asked, "Does it hurt?"

She raised a hand to her side and took in a sharp breath as she put a little force on the area. "A broken rib, maybe," she coughed out. He nodded in acknowledgement and made her sit up.

"I'm bringing you back to Aprilius," he told her as he was gently pulling her up to her feet. "There must be someone can treat you there. There are a few clinics around the area, and if they can't do anything for you, the royal doctors will see to you—I'll make sure of that. Three hours; can you stay awake for that long?"

Cagalli was feeling more and more lightheaded as he talked, so she barely understood what he was saying. All she knew was that Athrun was there with her—for whatever reason he may have for being there in the forest.

"You're here," she whispered as he began to mount her on his horse. "Athrun..."

"Yes," he replied and jumped onto the back of Aegis and sat behind her. "I'm right here, Cagalli."

She craned her head to face him and saw those green eyes that stirred feelings in her that she couldn't decipher. It was a weird feeling, and it was like something was jumping in her stomach and hammering her chest. Then, he smiled and the feeling got worse—as if it was a sort of ache added to the pain in her side. Cagalli shook her head and looked past him, seeing the golden horse that was also staring at her like the lost animal that it was.

"Akatsuki," she shouted weakly as it was painful to speak. "Go home!"

And Cagalli closed her eyes as Athrun snapped the reins of his horse.

The whole room was silent as the last words of the King echoed throughout the room.

"King Zala," one finally spoke. It was Yuri Amalfi, a council member that oversaw national defense. "To use our forces on a kingdom that is known for being a strong military power would badly wound our economy and could potentially reduce our men by the thousands in the first attack. Intelligence have said that not even the numerous attempts in the past five years made by the Alliance could get through the soldiers of Orb guarding their borders."

"It's called damage control, Yuri," Ezalia Joule pointed out as a council member who was also part of the defense committee. In front of her were papers where her source of information was written on. "Intelligence have also said that Orb was taken over by a former subject of the king of the alliance, King Azrael. Note the word former—it means that he's been formally exiled and is not acknowledged as a representative of the Alliance. They're afraid that if the people of Orb think that it was purposely their doing, they would target the Alliance as soon as they get out of the hold of this Djibiril."

"But they should know that they're not being annexed by the Alliance," Louise Leitner commented. "Because otherwise they should be free to go to the other states of their kingdom."

"Occupation is not the same as annexation," Ezalia said again with a mild tone of droll. "As Yuri had said, Orb is a strong military power. And for a mad man to have taken over the entire nation? It simply doesn't add up."

The council were in murmurs as they went through their own folders to review their information. They were seated around a large round table, the only distinct piece of furniture in the room. Even though it was noon and bright outside, the room was located deeper into the castle and only had one large window covered by thick curtains, so the room was lit dimly by chandeliers dangling from the high ceiling, creating the too grave mood in the room.

The knight who was guarding the room swung open the large wooden doors and stepped into view. "Announcing the presence of Lady Lacus Clyne, daughter of Sir Siegel Clyne!"

He went back to his post as Lacus walked into the dreary room. She had always hated going into this room, but was often there as his father's secretary in meetings. But now as she looked around the council chambers, she saw no one sitting at the back where the secretaries were usually seated, so she assumed that this meeting concerned too private matters.

She curtsied, pulling the sides of her long dress. "You asked for me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, I did," Patrick Zala answered, shifting in his chair. "Lacus, dear, take a seat beside your father."

After Lacus was seated in a chair of her own, the silence in the chambers was back.

"Lacus," the king called and the pink-haired noble looked up in attention. "I am aware that you were in Copernicus a month ago and personally met with their king along with my son. I have read the reports your secretary sent in, but I would like you to recount the main points you tackled over in the Alliance, with the rest of the Supreme Council."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Lacus answered, keep her cool facade around all the adults. "My father, Siegel Clyne, is a member of the diplomatic committee so it is, as you all know, part of his duty to maintain relations with other kingdoms. Last month, I went to Copernicus in Alliance territory to meet with the honorable King Allster as my father's proxy. We mostly reiterated the different agreements in the Treaty of Junius and the involvement of the Alliance with the current condition of Orb."

"And what of their involvement with the state of Orb?"

"King Allster claims that the Alliance has no real involvement and that they have made numerous attempts in the last five years to free Orb, but the nation is currently under lockdown. He said that the usurper of the throne is from another noble family of Orb, the Seirans, and that they were able to overthrow the former king by gathering a sizable army—which they accomplished through the help of a former subject of the king, a man named Djibiril. King Allster said that even in his court, he was a shady character who opposed him often—though not openly, as that would be treason. It was more of a loyalty to the former king of the Alliance, the late King Azrael."

The chamber was silent once more after Lacus said the name of the one who led the war against Plant and burned down Junius city, where the late Queen Lenore died. The air was tense, Lacus could tell from her seat, even though she did not know what exactly the Supreme Council was talking about earlier. She assumed by the king's question that it concerned Orb.

"See, Patrick," Siegel said. Lacus turned to her father and he offered her a small smile before facing the king again. "Orb's siege wasn't the doing of the Alliance. They're hardly involved."

"If what George Allster says about Djibiril being a loyal follower of Azrael is right, then we do have something to fear," Ezalia pointed out. Patrick's eyebrows were furrowed as he thought some more. "If he's a loyal follower, he must have the same belief as Azrael did."

Then, the King stood from his chair and the other council members followed. Everyone in the room was standing except Lacus, who looked bewildered at the adults staring intently at the highest figure of authority in their kingdom.

"We must prepare for war," King Patrick Zala announced and the soft gasps were heard in the room. "A war against Orb."

End of Chapter Six

Song of the Chapter: Alone Together by Fall Out Boy

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