Chapter 26:
The lights dimmed and somewhere, a piano began to play. Lacus took a step forward, paused, took another and paused again. The sweet, melancholic melody drifted towards her. Then she saw it - the first glitter and she raised her hand, extending a delicate finger towards it. It began to snow as sparkles fell all around her, twinkling like tiny stars within reach. Arms outstretched, face uplifted, she spun around, laughing pleasantly.
She heard the soft, resonating notes of a violin. The music was thrumming through her veins. Pulsing. Her heart was beating with each note. She felt more alive than ever. Her vocal cords were quivering in anticipation and she parted her lips. Then all of a sudden, she was plunged into darkness. The piano stopped abruptly, the violin screeched and a sudden silence enveloped her.
"Hey!" A loud, annoyed exclamation shattered the stillness. "Turn the freaking lights on!"
"Okay, okay! Give me a sec!"
Lacus lowered her arms and stood waiting. She felt a little silly standing in the dark, but a helpless smile tugged at her lips when she heard the muttered curses that broke the silence. It took several seconds for the lights to come back on and when they did, the stage was awash with blinding light. Instinctively, she shielded her eyes against the glare with a hand.
"Jesus, turn it down!" came the same infuriated voice.
"Okay, okay!"
The intensity of the piercing harsh light fell by a notch.
Lacus peeled her hand away from her face. It took some time for her eyes to adjust but eventually she could make out the empty stalls, the vacant seats and the very furious Cagalli Yamato who was pacing the area downstage, brandishing her rolled-up script at the control booth threateningly. "What the hell is your problem?"
"I'm sorry!" The technician poked his head out through the window and shrugged helplessly. "The control system went 'bonkers' on me but don't worry! Don't worry! I can get it fixed!"
Cagalli narrowed her amber eyes at him, "You'd better, or I'll fix you!" She let out her frustration in a loud exasperated sigh and a series of annoyed kicks to one of the audience seats.
Lacus noticed that the pianist and violinist had trooped out from behind the curtains and were peering at Cagalli warily. She caught the grimace that the pianist gave her and returned it with a feeble smile.
Other actors and actresses had gathered onstage, amused expressions apparent on their faces as they watched their director unleash her fury on the vacant seat.
"Man," Her co-actor, a good-looking young man with tousled auburn hair, was standing behind her, arms crossed, shaking his head ruefully. "I'm just glad I'm not that chair," he whispered. Lacus laughed at his comment but stopped hastily when Cagalli whirled back to the stage and pointed her script at them. "Don't think I didn't hear that, Jeremy!" She snapped.
The stage actor put his hands up in mock surrender. "It's just a joke, Director!" He winced, laughing, "Take it easy!"
Cagalli pinned him with her glare, then dropped her arms in a sign of defeat. "Okay fine," she sniffed, "We'll break for tonight. Rehearsals as usual tomorrow. Nine-thirty a.m. I expect everyone to be punctual! No exceptions!"
There was a chorus of agreements as actors and musicians began to disperse.
"Yes, ma'am!" Jeremy gave a mock salute, which Cagalli dismissed with a wave of her script. "I'm watching you," She pointed two fingers at her own amber eyes and turned them around to point at Jeremy. "Gotcha!" The actor laughed as he trooped offstage and into the left wing. He snagged his bag from a chair and turned with a wave. "See you guys tomorrow!" he called out, disappearing from view, his boots echoing loudly on the wooden floorboards.
"Rehearsals over?"
Lacus turned around just in time to see Athrun step out from the shadows in the back of the theatre. He strolled down the aisle towards the stage.
"Why, hello," Lacus greeted, smiling, "I wasn't expecting you."
Athrun shrugged as he neared the stage. "I called home and Siegel told me you were having rehearsals with Cagalli. So I decided to pop by and fetch you home." He smiled gently, "So, how's the production coming along?"
"Terrible!" Cagalli scowled, which only made Athrun laugh. He leaned over the edge of the stage and exchanged an amused glance with Lacus as Cagalli began to voice her grievances, "The flyers came in this morning and they were of the wrong colour! Pink! I can't believe it. It doesn't even match our publicity poster! Besides, this musical is an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast; it's a classic, a bittersweet romance. How does the colour pink convey the idea of darkness, mystery and tragedy?"
She tossed a rolled-up poster at Athrun. He caught it with a hand and unfurled it, using the stage as a table, then winced as he saw the bright rosy background.
"-and one of the actresses went skiing and broke her leg! She went skiing! Just a month before our first performance and she went skiing!" Cagalli gestured wildly. "Now she's got a cast! How can the cook be wearing a cast?"
Athrun glanced at Lacus and his pink-haired companion merely shrugged and smiled helplessly.
"Then the light system decides to shut down and the technician needs time to fix it!" Cagalli continued, unaware of the glances, "The only thing that hasn't gone wrong today is my lead actress!" She finished with a gesture at Lacus and an exasperated sigh.
"Let me give you a lift home too." Athrun laughed, changing the subject quickly, "You look like you need it."
"Well, I won't say no to that," the blonde winked, "give me a second. I'll go grab my stuff." Athrun gave her a boost up onto the stage and they watched her scramble to her feet and hurry towards the right wing. Sitting at the edge of the stage and taking the hand Athrun offered her, Lacus slipped off and headed towards the audience seats. Her coat was draped over one of the chairs.
"Lacus, I need you to come down to the headquarters tomorrow." Athrun said, coming up behind her.
She pulled on her coat and turned around, watching him closely. He looked tired and worn-out, and a little bowed, as though the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. There was a distracted look in his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm hoping you could help me identify some people."
"Is this related to the infiltration?"
"Yes, and the recent murder."
"Oh." Lacus glanced into the intense emerald eyes. She had read about the recent murder in the newspapers. It had made it to the headlines, simply because two of the victims were police officers. She knew it was a hard blow to Athrun. And so soon after the death of Officer Zachary Jones too.
"Are you alright?" She asked quietly
Athrun didn't bother to lie. "No," he replied simply.
Lacus parted her lips but he interrupted her smoothly with a raised hand. "I'm not alright," he repeated, shrugging, "but I'm not going off the deep end, so don't worry about me."
She didn't know what else she could offer as comfort so she just nodded. She picked up gloves and tugged them on before slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Rehearsals start at nine-thirty tomorrow," she said gently, "but Cagalli'll understand. I'll just let her know that I have to stop by the police headquarters first. Would nine be okay?"
Athrun nodded. "I'll come over and give you a lift," he offered, an appreciative smile lightening the tension on his face just a little, but Lacus could see that the smile didn't reach his deep green eyes.
7:35 p.m.
The night was setting in, and with it came a still, frigid frostiness.
He blew on the palms of his hands and rubbed them to keep warm. Leaning against the lamp post, he tucked both hands into the pockets of his jacket and gazed across the street at the National Theatre.
The National Theatre was situated in the middle of the city along one of the busiest and classiest avenues. The roads were filled with vehicles and the sidewalks with people. High-end retail shops, cafes, diners, bistros and restaurants lined the streets, and the National Theatre was an impressive structure amidst the bustle. Designed like a small baroque palace complete with colonnades, the theatre stood out among the modern, stylistic buildings.
Decorating the front of the building, was an enormous, three-storey length publicity poster. The title of the upcoming musical was written in bold, curvy letters – Beauty & the Beast – over a dark, inky background covered in falling rose petals. But what drew the most attention was the female lead. Dressed in an elegant black dress, her luscious pink hair flowing over her bare shoulders, she was sitting in a burgundy plush chair, head half-turned towards camera, soft grey eyes gazing past, as if looking for something. As if someone had called out to her.
Just like the Polaroid photograph that he had in his back pocket.
Then he saw her emerge from the theatre entrance, just as she had done every night for the past week without failure. People were creatures of habit. He had observed and followed enough people to know that.
"She's out," the voice came through his earpiece, faint and nearly inaudible in the hubbub all around him.
He trailed her with his sharp amethyst eyes, watching as she paused on the sidewalk to pull her fur-lined coat tighter around her. She stamped her feet and rubbed her gloved hands together, turning back to the theatre. He knew she was waiting for her female companion. He waited until he saw the blonde woman descend the front steps and stand beside her.
Cagalli Yamato. He knew who she was. She was the director. He had done his homework and he knew the two women had been friends since they were young. They had gone to the same school and entered the same university. While Lacus took lessons in singing and acting, Cagalli had taken a course in directing, and they had reunited in a host of musicals and productions.
He glanced at his watch. 7:45 p.m.
Exactly on time. As usual.
Then he saw another person emerge from the theatre entrance. A man with navy blue hair. Athrun Zala. Chief of the Special Unit.
Kira retreated, stepping back into the shadows, away from the light cast by the street lamp. This was an unusual break in the trend. Over the week, his team had been watching Lacus. He knew everything she did – what time she arrived for rehearsals, when the actors broke for lunch, what time they dispersed at night – and for the past five days, Lacus had always taken a cab with Cagalli. He even knew that it was Lacus who alighted first. Every time.
But tonight, things were different.
"Stay hidden," he whispered and heard the chorus of agreements from his teammates through his earpiece.
He watched as Athrun Zala trooped down the steps and guided the two women to a black convertible parked alongside the road. The same convertible he had seen in the Polaroid photo that Rau had passed him. He waited until the detective and the ladies had entered the vehicle and the car pulled out of its lot into the traffic, before he stepped back and melted into the shadows again.
Author's note: Finally, an insight into what Lacus and Cagalli does for a living. I thought for quite a long time about Cagalli's occupation. It's tough to find her a suitable job, considering how she was such a politician in GS! But I decided that it was better to give her a job that would explain how she's such good friends with Lacus, and Athrun. So yup, hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to review, review, review!