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Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny. If I did, Meer would have died a very painful death much earlier on.
Oh, same with Flay.
And Yuna.
And gosh this list is going to get really long if I don't stop right now :P
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ExArchmagus
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crystalleaf
Orb90
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bluebloodblues
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Sparky
Ffionn (it won't be entirely from Shinn's perspective, though for the first few chaps, most of it will be!)
MC Escher
sasuhina4ever
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BTW: Last chapters definition was courtesy of
This chapter's quote is courtesy of Mignon McLaughlin
==.=.=.
'Content'= Thoughts
"Content" = Speech
~ Content ~ = Shooting Machine's voice
""Content"" = The voice narrating Welcome to Absolution and the words that appear on the screens.
I'll update once I get 10 more reviews (29 in total)!
Note: In this fic, the Minerva has artificial gravity everywhere (even in the halls).
WELCOME TO ABSOLUTION
Chapter 3: Invisible Pasts
"The Past Is Strapped To Our Backs,
We Do Not Have To See It,
We Can Always Feel It."
Shinn was not the only one to suspect that the young girl exposed on the screen was Cagalli.
Athrun looked at the Princess in worry, while a select few other eyes were also turning to face her direction in curiosity.
Their stares, however, were quickly diverted back to the screen when they heard the sound of the gun's safety being unlocked. All eyes reverted their attention to the television screens to see the recording device zoom out, so that it was showing both individuals once again.
The man then lowered the gun and offered it to the blonde child.
"Take it, Cagalli."
'There.'
Now, Shinn was one hundred percent certain. It was confirmed. The child was the Princess of Orb. Now everyone on the Minerva was aware of the identity of the little girl currently being offered a loaded gun.
The younger Cagalli fervently shook her head from side to side. As she did so, salty tears started trailing messily down her face.
From the dirtied state of her once (Shinn assumed) pristine white dress, the two had been this training room for a while.
The Commander frowned at the girl's resistance, but then gave her an (obviously forced) attempt at an encouraging smile.
"Now, princess, this is the last time I am going to ask kindly." The Orb Commander's eyes narrowed and Shinn could do nothing to stop the goose bumps that were quickly making their way up his body.
By the postures of everyone else, they were just as uncomfortable as him with the scene before them.
"N-No! Puh-please don't m-mak—"
And then he hit her.
The man had just used the hand holding the gun to hit the crying child across the face. The force behind the attack was enough that the younger Cagalli was sent flying to the side.
By this point, Shinn noticed that Athrun's fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had paled and the taught skin was ripping.
The girl beside him only looked at the scene with a blank expression: The same look she got in her eyes every time she gave that smile: the distant, indescribable one.
The young girl on the television was sobbing now, both hands desperately clutching the side of her face that had been so brutally hit. The man looked irritated.
Then there was a knock, and both looked towards the door of the room.
His voice was still laced with frustration as he called towards the exit, "Bring her in!"
As soon as the words had left the irascible Orb superior's mouth, another figure entered the room.
The officer coming into the room was wearing an Orb uniform. But Shinn's attention wasn't on the soldier, no, it was on the young woman being dragged in by the officer.
The girl, probably around 13, was dressed like a maid of sorts. She looked a bit haggard, but Shinn could only assume that it was because she was gagged, blind-folded, and her hands appeared to be tied behind her back.
The wailing child seemed to recognize the staff worker, as Cagalli's hands immediately came off of her face (showing a recently formed nasty blue and yellow bruise) and her eyes lighted in salvation.
"Hanna!"
The commander gave the officer a signal to ungag the pretty brunette. The lower officer did so, whilst making sure to also remove the blindfold but keep her hands tied. When the gag left her mouth, the young woman coughed for a second before her bright blue eyes focused in on the child in the corner.
"L-Lady Cagalli! Wha-What is going on here?!" She looked around in frenetic horror. When her confused gaze landed on the culprit she gasped in surprise, "What have you done to the Princess?!"
The Commander didn't so much as acknowledge the screeching young woman. Instead, he ordered the officer to bring her to the center of the room. As the officer conceded and brought the protesting maid to the middle of the dingy room, the commander went to yank the Princess from her crouched position.
He relocated the child to stand a few feet away from the teen, who had been re-gagged and tied down to the center of the room.
The lower officer gave a gun to the Commander, and then moved to take his place behind his superior.
The Commander undid the safety of this second gun and pushed it against the side of Cagalli's head.
"Shoot her, or I shoot you."
"N-No!" The girl was horrified. "Hanna's my friend!"
"Friend?" He said in mock surprise before tutting at the child "Now we have had this discussion before, Cagalli. Friends are weaknesses, ones that your enemies will exploit. Now," He pressed the gun harder against the girl's sullied blonde hair and used his unarmed hand to force her to hold her gun towards the young woman "Shoot her."
He said it with such calm, as if he wasn't asking a pre-schooler to commit murder.
And then it was silent.
The young Cagalli, despite the tremors going through her small body, did not pull the trigger.
The Commander gave a sigh, and removed his gun from her temple.
Shinn's uptight shoulders relaxed. 'Thank god, for a second I thought he would actually make her shoot the girl"
His relieved thoughts were brought to a screeching halted as the Commander shot the brunette through the head.
"NO!" The young Cagalli ran to the maid, sobbing profusely and calling to the dead woman. "Hanna! Hanna please wake up! WAKE UP!" The young Cagalli shook the body with her small hands, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "D-Don't leave me".
Shinn felt some unknown feeling stir in his gut. It took him a moment before he identified it as pity. He, Shinn Asuka, couldn't help but feel pity for the girl he swore he hated.
"Stop crying Cagalli."
She didn't listen to the harsh demand from the Commander.
He responded by shooting the young blonde in the arm.
Cagalli wailed even louder.
"Silence, or I'm shooting again."
The excruciating pain that was going through the child was pushed to the side, and she settled for grabbing her injured arm and lowering her head. Her cries receded to soft whimpers.
"Remove the body." The Commander ordered the officer.
The officer looked a bit hesitant as he asked, "What of the girl's death, Commander? Surely her family will notice?"
"That's been taken care of."
"And the Princess' injuries?"
"Also taken care of."
"But, what of her memory? Surely the Princess will tell what has transpired to Lord Uzumi?"
The Commander smiled cruelly at the officer's enquiry. The blonde man gave a cursory glance to the young girl still silently attempting to wake up her recently deceased maid.
"And which will her father believe? The far-fetched stories of his disobedient daughter (the one who has a penchant for getting herself and others into trouble) or word of his long time friend and his loyal Commander of over 30 years. She and I have had this discussion, Officer. She knows to keep our sessions a secret."
'Sessions!'
The officer smiled in realization and relief.
The screen flickered for a moment before returning to the cheerful anchorwoman.
Shinn felt nauseous and wished, in passing, that he had agreed to give Vino his sandwich earlier.
The man has said "sessions". Plural. Shinn was damn sure he wasn't the only one who noticed that.
Everyone in the room was staring at the Princess now.
Some with stunned shock, others with pity, and some eyes were watering so much Shinn couldn't tell what emotion was behind them.
Said girl ignored all of the stares, took her meal, and made her way out of the cafeteria. Athrun came out of whatever daze had held him in place, and quickly trailed after her.
The metal door to the cafeteria closed, and as soon as it did, whispers erupted like wildfire.
Shinn hadn't noticed, but as the horrible scene had progressed, he had unconsciously made his way back over to the table with his friends.
Luna was (shockingly) the first to speak.
"Oh my god! What just happened!"
Nobody at their table had an answer to that.
They didn't have to though, as a frantic Meyrin came running through the cafeteria doors and quickly made her way to the group.
"You guys will never believe what just happened! At the command center, all of the screens went black and then this creepy voice came on and showed this video about the Princess as a kid and she—"
Her rushed explanation was cut off by her older sister.
"We know, we just saw it! And if you did too, that means the whole ship must have seen it! What did the captain say?"
"First she checked and found out that only the Minerva saw what happened. No one in the PLANTS got any weird static or saw the video. Then she just looked confused and told Bart to send a message to the Princess to come and meet her in her quarters but was stopped by the Chairman."
After such a long and fast retell, Meyrin stopped in order to take few breaths.
"Why would he do that?" Vino asked, baffled.
Rey, of course, was quick to defend the Chairman's decision. "It is obvious why the Chairman stopped her. This…video that we saw, it's obviously something that was not supposed to be revealed. It is something private and the Chairman is respecting her privacy in the matter by not making her answer any questions or —"
"Privacy?! She's covering up a murder!" Shinn exclaimed.
Luna just gaped at him. "That's what you got from the video? Really Shinn! She was shot! Some Orb official was forcing her to kill somebody! And you still think she's the one at fault! You're unbelievable!"
Shinn was saved from having to come up with a response as the red-alert flared throughout the ship. Confused, everyone turned to the screens to see the captain.
"All personnel to your stations. Bogey 1 has been detected and is in pursuit of the Minerva."
Every individual that had been gossiping about the recent video immediately sobered and quickly moved to get to their designated stations.
All the while, Shinn tried to clear his mind and focus. Unfortunately, every time he tried, he became distracted by the appearance of tear stained, wine-coloured eyes.
Back in the Head Representative's quarters, a worried Athrun stroked the hair of a sleeping Cagalli.
She had told them her injury was acting up again, and despite his disbelief he let her sleep it off. Said disbelief was largely due to the fact that she had just been to the infirmary a mere hour ago to get her wound redressed.
The memory quickly flashed through is mind.
Cagalli was resting on the bed after her wound had been cleaned and redressed. Despite her adamant protests, Athrun had finally been able to convince her to take a sedative. She had needed it so that the doctor could remove any remaining foreign materials from her injury without causing her any additional discomfort or pain. Athrun and Doctor Khan were conversing on the other side of the room, so as to not wake her.
"I have to say, her condition is…strange." admitted Doctor Khan.
"How so, Doctor?" asked a worried Athrun.
"Well, defying all reason, her cut just seems to heal rapidly, then stop. Then heal rapidly and stop again. Each time I see her I can't help but question such a weird bodily response to her course, courtesy prevents me from doing so."
Like Doctor Khan, Athrun hadn't asked a single question, even though he desperately wanted answers as to what had transpired in that video clip.
Or, more specifically, Athrun wanted to ask her about the identity of the Commander.
That way, Athrun would know which bastard to hunt down the second they landed in Orb.
But, he acquiesced to her request to sleep. She had wanted to rest, and he had let her. After all, he resolved that he would be able to seek the answers from her later.
His innocent strokes were stopped by a bright red light and a blaring alarm.
As the lights continued to beam around the room, Athrun gazed down at the girl in the bed.
As he did, a montage of memories flitted through his mind.
A blonde girl screaming from beneath him on an uncharted island.
That same girl crying while holding a gun to him, thinking he had murdered one of her closest friends.
Cagalli's blush as he kissed her for the first time.
Her words and the promise in her amber orbs as she convinced him to continue living.
An earlier question Shinn had asked him chose this moment to run through his mind.
"Why are you with them, anyway?"
The girl in front of him is the answer.
She is his savior.
She is his everything.
And Athrun will be damned if he just leaves her safety to the green hands of the pilots on this ship.
So, with one last gentle kiss to the sleeping girl's forehead, he exits the room and makes his way to the command center with resolution and determination shining in his emerald orbs.
"I request permission to pilot one of the unused machines in the hanger."
Captain Gladys looked at the veteran in surprise, before her gaze was directed to her superior.
"Chairman?"
Said long-haired superior maintained his composure as he continued to stare, pleased, at Athrun.
"What is the Princess' opinion on this? The deployment of her only bodyguard on this vessel?"
At his expected question, Athrun replied smoothly.
"She's currently resting, tired from her injury." His green eyes sharpened as he looked at both the Captain and the Chairman. "The best way to protect her and this ship is to send me out. "
The Chairman nodded to the captain.
She sighed in resignation. "The only machine that will be ready to go in time is the Zaku you used earlier."
Resolution still shone in the young man's eyes. He spoke clearly as he responded. "That's fine."
Although still slightly hesitant, Captain Gladys told Meyrin to contact the brig.
"Inform the worker personnel that a volunteer will be coming to pilot the remaining Zaku."
Shinn was, once again, being chased down by the Chaos and the Abyss. He grunted in frustration as he dogged another strike from the rabid Chaos.
He was worried.
Luna was facing the Gaia all on her own.
The Minerva was left to its own defenses.
'Fuck!'
He mentally yelled as the reality of the situation dawned on him.
They were going to be obliterated unless he did something. Fast.
But, he realized in pure frustration that he couldn't do anything to help anyone because his focus was fully occupied trying to fend off the attacks of these two unrelenting Gundams.
He was currently in a deadlock with the Abyss. Adjusting his position, he shoots the other Gundam in order to create some distance. As he scans his surroundings after narrowly getting out of the previous impasse and his eyes widen in shock as he sees the Chaos appear behind him.
'I don't have enough time to evade!'
As the Chaos shoots a multi-phase beam from its Callidus Kai cannon, and the bright beam makes its way to the torso of the Impulse, Shinn quickly tries to think of a way to deflect it.
He is spared from doing so, however, as the beam is redirected by another one that pushes it to the side. Both the Impulse and the Chaos turn in surprise.
When they scan the area, their gazes came to rest on the dark green metal of a Zaku not even 400 meters away.
Too immersed in the rigorous battle to question the identity of the pilot who had just saved his life, Shinn just turns to fight the Abyss and leaves the Chaos to the Zaku.
So the battle continues.
Lunamaria persists and tries to hold her own against the Gaia, while the Impulse takes on the Abyss and the Chaos fights the Zaku. In the midst of the three fights, Neo and Rey are also going head to head.
Although Luna and the Impulse seem to be just barely deflecting the attacks of their respective opponents, the Zaku is fairing surprisingly well.
"What the hell is going on! You're a Zaku, dammit!" Auel screeches as he is forced to deflect and backstep once again. This is the first time fighting ZAFT when he isn't in the dominating position.
And he's completely baffled by it.
This pilot he was fighting, how could he possibly be able to fight against his mighty Chaos with a freaking Zaku!
Auel was getting worried,
'Who the hell is this guy!?'
Soon, the Chaos loses its right arm.
Shortly after, it is without any arms at all.
"Captain! The Chaos is in trouble!"
Captain Lee frowned as he heard this. Although he didn't necessarily like the new soldiers, Commander Neo would be furious if he did not try to offer the pilots aid by means of any and all services the Girty Lue had.
"Is there anything that can be done to support the Chaos?"
"C-Captain! The Chaos has been destroyed!"
"Mam, Athrun has just defeated the Chaos!" announced Meyrin with complete awe and wonder.
Bart spoke as well, "Bogey 1 is calling back its remaining Gundams!"
The Chairman smiled, pleased at the information, while the captain just sighed in relief. Unlike the last battle, this one had ended with no causalities from their side.
"Call back our forces as well. All four are probably near power depletion."
Meyrin nodded as she turned to do so.
"It seems like having Athrun fight for us was a…wise choice after all."
The captain could only nod politely at the Chairman's composed words. She was just relieved that they had, somehow, managed to wave off the opposing ship with the limited resources they had for a second time.
Her calm remained temporary though, as Meyrin's worried voice filled the command center.
"C-Captain! Athrun's not heeding the return signal! He's continuing to pursue the Gaia!"
Talia turned sharply upon hearing this. "What! Open up communication with his Zaku immediately!"
After a second of fiddling with the controls, Meyrin spoke again. "I-I can't! All forms of communication with the Zaku have been disabled!"
Talia growled in frustration. 'What does he think he's doing!'
Another bridge member spoke.
"Captain, we have a video request coming from the head mechanic in the deploying center!"
"Open communication."
"Yes, ma'am!"
And, to the shock of the entire bridge crew, it was not only the face of mechanic gracing the screen.
It was Athrun Zala.
The person who was supposed to be piloting the Zaku was sending them a message from inside the ship's deploying area.
"Captain, inform these men that I was given clearance to take a Zaku! None of the personnel here will let me enter one!"
Shinn, Luna, and Rey had just returned to the ship and were approaching a fuming Athrun and the head mechanic. As they came closer to the duo, they noticed that they were communicating with the command center.
"…None of the personnel here will let me enter one!"
The three Red's looked bewildered upon hearing the veteran. All three had assumed he had been the one piloting the Zaku.
Luna was the first to alert the duo of the presence of the three Red Coats. As she spoke, confusion laced her words,
"But, if you're not the one piloting the Zaku, then who is!?"
Back in space, Neo and Abyss had already safely retreated. The Gaia, however, hadn't been so lucky.
It was on its way to return when it was ambushed by the Zaku that had taken out the Chaos.
"You!" screeched Stella, "You killed Sting! I'm going to kill you!"
As the two mobile suits fought, it became more and more obvious who was winning.
Stella screamed in anger as the Gaia was hit again.
Then, Neo came onto the screen above her.
"Stella, return to the ship. Your machine is severely damaged. Do not continue to engage the Zaku."
The screen turned dark once again, and Stella just screamed once more in frustration.
However, regardless of her anger, she could not disobey Neo. So, after evading the next attack from the Zaku, she turned her thrusters to full blast and flew away from the dark green mobile suit.
It looked like it was about to give chase, but the colour in its legs started to fade to grey.
"Dammit!" cursed an aggravated Cagalli.
She used the remaining power to return to the Minerva.
Upon learning that someone else had gone out in the Zaku, Athrun automatically knew who was responsible.
His ire had reached ineffable heights by the time said power-depleted Zaku landed in the hanger.
As the pilot made her way down, Athrun stalked up to her.
He, of course, was closely followed by the three Reds, the mechanics, and the Chairman (who had immediately made his way down to the hangar upon learning that Athrun was not the pilot).
As Cagalli removed her helmet, all but Athrun were shocked.
Athrun mentally cursed his inattentiveness. He knew from experience how devious and reckless she could be.
'I can't believe I was stupid enough to convince myself that the ship's damn swaying was enough to knock me out!'
2 hours ago, in the infirmary.
Cagalli was laying down on the spotless infirmary bed after having just gotten her wounds redressed. She kept her eyes closed, so as not to reveal her wakeful state. Opening them slightly once she was certain Athrun and Doctor Khan were far enough away from her, she glanced around looking for the desired item. Her eyes focused in on the nursing tray next to her bed. On it stood a container of new needles and the bottle of sedation pills (still left open from her dose).
Taking a quick glance to ensure that the two men were distracted, Cagalli then quickly snatched one of the needles and swiped a handful of pills. She surreptitiously hid the stolen materials in the inside pocket of her jacket. Checking the two men again, she was relieved to discover that they were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed her actions.
40 minutes ago, right after Athrun had left Cagalli's room.
As soon as Athrun left their room room, Cagalli bolted up from her resting position.
She opened the door cautiously and looked both ways. Athrun was already long gone. Seeing this, she made her way to the military uniform closest (where she had seen Luna enter the day prior). As soon as she entered the small room, she locked the door and then changed into one of the spare ZAFT pilot uniforms.
She looked expectantly for a helmet and was relieved to see a row of them on the shelf.
After all, she would need something to conceal her true identity. No one would ever believe the captain had permitted the Princess of Orb to fight.
30 minutes ago, after Athrun gets permission to fight in the Zaku.
Athrun was making his way through the halls to the hangar. They were empty (due to the other soldiers already being at their posts). As he continued to go through the halls, he noted that the ship was swaying from side to side. It seemed as if Bogey 1 had already started its attack.
Athrun continued to stride through and had just passed a corridor when the ship surprised him by jerking to the side. The force of the hit pushed Athrun into the wall of the hallway.
Unknown the Athrun, the second he hit the wall, Cagalli came from behind the corridor he had just passed and injected a needle (filled with dissolved sedatives) into the back of his neck.
He fell unconscious instantly.
'Sorry, Athrun.' She thought as she pulled him down gently to the floor then quickly made her way to the hangar.
As soon as she entered the large open area filled with machines, she walked up to the head mechanic. She tapped on his shoulder to get his attention.
When he turned and saw the figure dressed in pilot attire his eyes lit up in relief.
"The volunteer! Okay, listen up. You'll be flying the Zaku over here." They walked and talked as she made her way up the suit.
As soon as the cock pit shut closed, Meyrin appeared on the screen.
"Okay Athrun, ready to go?"
She only gave a sharp nod in response.
As Meyrin counted down the launch, Cagalli made note of the machine's set up and OS. The first thing she was going to do when she got out there was cut off the communication links.
10 minutes ago, when Athrun woke up
Athrun groggily opened his eyes. As he did, memories of what he had been doing flooded into his mind. He got up fast, and remembering the hit from Bogey 1 that had jarred the ship, assumed that he had been knocked out when the force of the ship's movement had pushed him against the wall.
Present time
As the group made approached Cagalli, the Chairman was the first to speak.
"Regardless of my many thanks, I do have to question your actions Princess? Earth officials may view your munificent deed to protect a ZAFT ship as a declaration of an alliance."
Cagalli mirrored the Chairman's cool and collected tone as she responded. "If anyone asks, Chairman, I'll claim that Athrun was the one who piloted the Zaku. And before you ask, if any of you" At this point, she gave a serious look to all the members of the growing group as she continued "were to say anything to the contrary it would be your words against ours. You'd have no proof. I froze all of the security cameras on the ship last night. They will remain locked until the end of the day."
At the surprised silence of the group, she continued "None of what I did is caught on any record. And I'd think twice before putting your reputation on the line to say that the leader of Orb was piloting a ZAFT machine."
Nodding his head in understanding, the Chairman then changed his direction of questioning towards Athrun.
"And would I be correct in assuming that you would support her in this story, Athrun."
Athrun, obviously still upset, answered through grit teeth. "Yes…You'd be correct, Sir."
The Chairman smiled at his response. "Well, since I am sure you will not admit to this good deed once the day is over and the surveillance reboots, let me be the first to thank you." He then turned to face the group of ZAFT personnel "In payment for the Representative's actions, I think it would be in the best interest of everyone on this ship to never bring up the subject to Lady Cagalli or any individual outside of the Minerva? Likewise, with the…video that was shown earlier."
As he finished speaking, he looked at the group and the crew that had gathered to identify the mysterious pilot. Upon noticing his stare, the crew nodded and saluted in accordance.
"Yes Sir!"
"I'll be certain to inform the captain to ensure that all the personnel are aware of how we intend to repay your kindness."
Cagalli initially seemed a bit skeptical at the Chairman's declaration, but ultimately responded with a swift "Thank you" before walking by the group and leaving the hangar.
An irate Athrun made to follow her, but was stopped by Shinn.
"You weren't the one who set the shooting record."
It was spoken as a statement, not a question.
In accordance, Athrun didn't grace it with an answer and just continued to walk past the younger pilot.
Upon entering their room, Athrun was furious.
He looked around and immediately spotted Cagalli laying akimbo on the bed, with her eyes closed.
Despite her pretense, they both knew he wouldn't fall for it again.
Red hot anger coursed through his body as he stomped over to the "sleeping" girl. He swiftly grabbed her out of the bed and pulled her so that she was standing right in front of him. His hands held her arms to her sides tightly while he firmly pressed her to his front, physically conveying that he had just about had it with her suicidal schemes.
When he looked down to her face, he only became more infuriated to see that she wasn't even bothering to look at him in the eye.
"What in the hell were you thinking!"
Athrun never swore. He never even yelled at her. Sure he raised his voice, but he never yelled. For him to be doing so meant that he was long past furious.
"That was absolutely the stupidest thing you could have ever done! Not only did you put your life in danger but you put Orb's reputation on the line as well! If the EA had found out that you were fighting for ZAFT…oh god, if ORB had found out you were fighting for ZAFT!"
Finally deciding that she'd had enough of Athrun's rebukes, she used her hands to roughly loosen the bruising grip he had on her arms. Then, with a voice as calm as he had ever heard it, she explained herself and her actions.
"They won't find out. I already told everyone why they won't. And I would think that why I did what I did is pretty obvious. It was to protect Orb. We wanted those machines gone when we arrived on Armory One, and now, one of them is."
Athrun shook his head in disbelief. "And you couldn't have trusted me to do it?"
She didn't even hesitate before answering. "In a Zaku? No. I doubt even Kira would have been able to defeat one of their machines in that pathetic excuse for a mobile suit."
He sighed in resignation. No matter how much he hated it, she was right.
Deciding that this was a losing argument, he chose instead to try and stop her from pulling a stunt like this again.
"It's a miracle…that you were able to control it."
She looked to the side. "I know."
He gently took her chin in his hand and turned her face so that her eyes were once more locked with his.
"Miracles only happen once."
His subtext was clear: Never again.
She conceded. "I promise."
With that he gently nudged her back towards the bed.
At her hesitation, he realized that she was still worried that he was upset with her. In order to quell her worries, he gave her a gentle kiss on her lips.
When they pulled away from each other, Athrun came to another frustrating conclusion.
He wanted more.
He knew he wanted more.
He knew she did too.
But they couldn't risk anyone on the ship finding out.
So, instead of pulling her onto the bed with him (as every primal instinct was yelling at him to do), he settled for pressing his forehead against hers and looking directly into her fiery orbs—the same bright eyes that reminded him every day why he had to prevent another war from breaking out.
Involuntarily, the glazed amber pools looking at him now reminded him of the younger ones he had seen earlier that morning.
He spoke to her once more, in a soft whisper.
"I won't pry into your memories. They are yours and you deserve to keep them private. But, just know…that if you need to talk about it, any of it…I'm here and I always will be."
With his words, her eyes fluttered closed and she fell into his arms, unconscious. She had lasted longer than he had expected her too.
If Athrun had not known better, he would have been worried.
So, he tucked her in and lightly kissed her forehead.
All while cursing the fact that the cruelest of fortunes were always dealt out to the kindest of people.
After a few minutes, Athrun's vivid green eyes glanced at the bright red numbers showing on the clock in their room. His eyes then traced their way back to the lioness knocked out on the bed.
He then decided that it would be a good idea to bring her something to eat when she woke up. He didn't want her to have to face the prying eyes of the others on the ship.
So, he exited the room and made his way to the cafeteria. However, as he was passing the soldier's lounge area, he was stopped.
The television in the room had taken on a familiar static.
Athrun could feel the anxiety rushing through his body. As much as he knew he shouldn't watch it, there was that undeniable part of him that just needed to.
Apparently, the rest of the Minerva also shared that feeling as their eyes were once more glued onto the screens in which ever room they resided in.
The static gave way to a video.
This time, it showed a room devoid of any inhabitants.
The room itself was large and expensively furnished, with deep reds and golds. Athrun recognized the room and his brain told him that he had been in it before, but he couldn't place where the room was.
He didn't have time to ponder on that train of thought though, as one of the large double doors to the room was slammed open.
Two girls, no older than 10, ran into the room. Both were dressed in luxurious dresses. The blonde girl in light blue turned quickly and shut the door behind them.
Said girl turned back around to face her friend, and by doing so made her face visible to the camera. He definitely recognized that face. And when he did, his Athrun's anxiety doubled.
'Dammit. It's Cagalli again.'
Disbelief soon joined anxiety as the camera zoomed in to identify the second girl in the room.
'Lacus!'
A/N: Can someone please tell me the correct terminology for the command center (where the captain and bridge crew are) and the deploying area/hangar (where they keep the gundams and the mechanics work on them)
Also, I lied in the previous coming soon section, sorry! I had originally intended to put Patrick's scene in here, but it'll work so much better in a later part of the story!
I have to reiterate that this isNOT for sure asucaga! I'll be doing afew asucaga/shinncaga/AND kiracaga scenesjust so you guys can see all of their interactions before you cast your vote for who you think the final pairing in this story should be.
Next time, you guys will be seeing the beginnings of Shinncaga! : D
12 more reviews (32 in total) and I'll post the next chapter :D
(P.S. Told you they were getting longer ! )