Chapter 28:

She was there.

That little girl, with blonde hair and amber eyes. She reached out a small hand towards him and touched his cheek. She knitted her eyebrows in a frown and that was when he realised that there were tears on his face. She brushed at the wet trail with her delicate little fingers and flashed him a sweet reassuring smile, exposing small pearly teeth. Her puffy cheeks, tinted with a rosy hue, puffed up as she smiled.

He covered her hand with his and drew it away from his face. With his other, he ran gentle fingers through her shoulder-length locks. The smooth blonde hair slipped through his fingers like silk. When he removed his hand, he was surprised to feel wetness on his palm and he turned his hand over.

Blood.

Horrified, his eyes rushed up to scan the little girl's face. She was staring at his palm, her golden eyes wide with terror. She reached a tentative hand to her brow and her small fingers came away covered in blood. There was a gash on her forehead and blood was streaming from it, flowing down her face in rivulets.

He delved into his pockets, searching desperately for a handkerchief or something. Anything to stem the bleeding. But even as he turned his pockets inside-out, he found nothing, and all he could do was put his hands on her little head and watch as the blood streamed through his fingers, like the tears flowing down his cheeks.

She opened her eyes slowly, then shut them again hurriedly, blocking out the piercing light.

"Dearka, turn the lights down. Meyrin, get the doctor."

She heard his voice and tried to open her eyes again but it seemed as if they were glued shut this time. She was too tired and the simple effort of opening her eyes was sapping the energy away from her.

"Cagalli? Are you awake? Can you open your eyes?"

His voice again. Gentle. Soothing. Encouraging.

She cracked open an eye and winced. Even though the lights had been dimmed, the rays were still overwhelming and her head was throbbing unpleasantly. Slowly, she opened her other eye and met concerned green ones.

"Hey," she rasped. She realised her lips were parched and the single word that escaped them scraped painfully against her dry and sore throat.

"Hey yourself." The worried emerald eyes softened a little. "How're you feeling?" A soft gentle smile, coupled with his tender voice.

"Like crap?" she whispered, a slight smile touching her lips.

Relief flooded the emerald eyes. "Welcome back, Cagalli."

"I think he's waking up…"

"He's still running a fever. What should we do?"

"Have you given him the pills yet?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if we can. Will it have adverse effects on his body?"

"I don't think so."

"We're so full of these shitty chemicals. How'd you know there'll be no effect?"

"Just calm down, guys."

"I'm calm! She's the one who needs calming."

Voices. All he could hear were voices. Rising. Ebbing. Like the tide. He opened his eyes but all he could see were blurry shapes, moving, changing and waning. He closed his eyes again and let the darkness swallow him in its depths.

Cagalli winced at the bright light and fought the urge to shut her eyes against it.

"Your pupil reflexes are normal." The light was switched off and the doctor pocketed his torch, straightening up and smiling down at her. "How are you feeling, Miss Yamato? Any headache? Dizziness? Nausea?"

She shook her head, then grimaced as a throbbing pain assaulted her. "Just a headache," she corrected. She glanced at Athrun, who was leaning against the wall, biting the tip of his thumb. There was a disturbed expression on his face and he was peering at her anxiously. As though he wanted to ask her a question but didn't know how to phrase it. She pushed aside the thought as the doctor nodded and said, "That's natural, considering the blow you had. Do you remember how you got injured?"

At that, Cagalli noticed that Athrun had bolted upright from his position and was staring at her.

She frowned. She hadn't thought about that yet. Indeed, how in the world did she end up in the hospital? She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She recalled the rehearsal and the auditions for a supporting actress to replace one of the injured cast. She remembered overhearing Jeremy and Chloe's conversation as he recounted the prank that he was going to play on Lacus and-

"Lacus!" She blurted out loud.

"Yes, Cagalli." That same soothing, reassuring voice.

She opened her eyes. "Oh my god, Athrun," she stammered, grasping his arm, "they took her! I couldn't stop them. I watched as they took her away!"

"Kira! Kira, wake up!"

He opened his eyes slowly and saw her. She was peering down at him, shoulder-length blonde hair framing her face and curious amber eyes watching him.

"Kira, wake up!" she laughed. She reached out a hand towards him and he took it in his. It was warm and small.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" she cried, chortling excitedly. She pulled him to his feet and started to run, tugging at him. He tried to slow her down so that he could take a look at his surroundings but she was hauling him along and he had to run to keep pace.

"Where're you taking me?" he asked, panting. She turned and laughed, amber eyes twinkling with amusement, blonde hair streaming backwards. "You'll see!"

They ran on and on. Twice he stumbled, but she just pulled him up again and went on. And then of a sudden, he tripped and found himself falling. Endlessly. He heard her scream and her small hand slipped from his. He was falling through an empty void, the wind gushing past him. Fear blossomed in his stomach. Was he going to die? Was there an end to this? He squeezed his eyes shut and let himself fall freely.

A sudden hard impact shocked him into opening his eyes. Winded, the breath in him escaped and water gushed into his mouth. He took in a lungful of it and ended up gasping and spluttering. Panicked, he realised that he had fallen into water and was rapidly sinking. He tried to swim upwards, kicking out with his legs and pulling back with his arms. But it was as if he was being sucked downwards and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape.

"I need you to calm down, Cagalli. Calm down."

She tried, concentrating only on the gentle hand rubbing her back and the soft shushing noises that Athrun was making.

"They took her-" She began but he interrupted her with a finger to the lips. "I know," he said gently, "I know they took her and you're the only one who saw them. I need you to help me, but to do that, you need to calm down, okay?"

She nodded and took in a deep breath. "I-I can do that," she nodded again. Her voice was shaky and she took in another deep breath, trying to still her trembling hands and calm her nerves.

"Okay?" Athrun looked at her, his emerald eyes concerned but reassuring.

"Yes."

"Okay, we're going to go slow, Cagalli, because you've just had five stitches to the head. Okay?"

She nodded again.

"Okay. Tell me what happened, Cagalli? When did they enter the theatre?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. Sometime past 7.30p.m."

"Were you the only ones there?"

"Yes," she nodded earnestly, and felt the start of another headache but she pushed it aside. "Yes. The rest of them went home already. The last was Jeremy."

"Okay. What happened then?"

"Lacus and I were leaving. I went out to take my things. She was-" Cagalli paused and tried to recollect her thoughts, "-she was removing the lint from her costume when I left the dressing room. When I came back, I saw her struggling with a man. He was, I don't know, gagging her? No, I think he was trying to knock her out. He was holding a handkerchief. I tried to stop him but someone hit me from behind. And then… I think I lost consciousness…" She frowned.

"Did you see their faces?"

"I-" she hesitated, her head cocked to the side. Images were flashing through her mind but she couldn't quite piece them together. "I think I saw the man who grabbed Lacus, but there's not much to tell. He was all in black garb – black shirt, black pants, black skullcap. There was a black handkerchief over his face too. The only thing I saw were his eyes… and, I don't know, Athrun. I feel like I've seen those eyes before. They're purple, dark purple."

"Wait," she added suddenly, holding up a hand, "I don't think I lost consciousness immediately. I remember seeing one of them carrying Lacus out the door, and the other man, the one whom I saw struggling with Lacus, the one with purple eyes, he collapsed."

Athrun frowned. "What?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cagalli said quickly, "I don't really know what happened but I saw him collapse. He looked like he was in pain and then he just collapsed. And… then I don't remember anything else. How was I found? Who sent me here?"

"Lacus' chauffeur," Athrun explained, "he waited for fifteen minutes and when he didn't see either of you, he went into the theatre and found you knocked out on the floor. He called an ambulance and notified me. But he didn't find Lacus, or any of the two men you mentioned."

"So Lacus is still missing?"

Athrun paused before replying. He didn't want to agitate her in her condition but he wouldn't be able to hide it from her either, so he simply said, "I'm searching for her."

"But why?" Cagalli demanded, "Why would they take her?"

"I don't know," Athrun replied, but it was a lie. He had a pretty good idea, but he was hoping – praying - that it wouldn't be true.

She was standing there, several paces away from him.

He ran towards her and crashed painfully into a glass wall. Sinking to his knees so that he was level to her, he put both hands on the glass. It was cold and hard. He banged a fist on it but the glass didn't yield.

She raised her small hands and laid them on the glass too, her palms in line with his. If only the glass would melt between them like ice.

He saw that she was crying, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Don't cry," he whispered, "Ssh, it's alright." He didn't know if she could hear him but she appeared to understand his words. The shaking of her shoulders stopped and she gazed back at him through teary, earnest eyes.

His eyes were drawn upwards by a dark shadow that grew behind her. Rising. Changing. And he saw that it was a man with a raised gun. He tried to scream, to warn her, but he was too late and he watched as the gun descended hard on her head.

She didn't move, didn't collapse, but her amber eyes widened. A trickle of blood appeared in her hairline and streamed down her brow, then her cheek. Another trickle followed. And then another.

He stood and smashed his fists into the glass but it didn't break. He tried again, retreating a few steps back, and ran forward, slamming his heel into the wall. She stood unmoving on the other side of the glass, gazing up at him as he tried desperately to shatter the barrier between them.

Then he saw the hand rise again and he flung himself to his knees, banging his fists against the glass repeatedly. "Run!" he yelled at her, "run!" But she didn't move and he screamed when he saw the raised arm descend. This time, it clubbed her in the side of her head and she stumbled, falling to the ground. "God, no, please," he scrambled towards her, pressing himself against the glass, trying to get to her. She laid on the other side, motionless, vacant eyes gazing up at him. The tears streamed down her cheeks.

Then she began to change. The little girl's body began to morph. Her legs lengthened. Her shoulder-length hair grew a little and spilled over her broadening shoulders. Her body began to take the shape of a slender young woman. And as Kira stared on in horror, he realised that he knew this woman – this woman with blonde hair and bright amber eyes.

Cagalli Yamato.

Why? How? He caught sight of the moving shadow behind her still body and he glanced up. Fear paralysed him when he caught the sly glint in the man's eyes. The man's dark purple eyes. Oh god, what was happening? His eyes roamed over the familiar face – the messy brown hair, the boyish grin. It was him. He was looking at himself… He stared in horror as the smile changed. The corners of the lips turned down and the upper lip curled up to bare his teeth. It became a sneer, filled with malicious intent. His reflection, his doppelganger, his clone, whatever it was – he didn't know – raised his arm and held the gun to his head, the gun barrel pressed tight to his skull. And then he began to laugh. A soundless, silent laugh. From across the glass, he couldn't hear a thing, but he could see the crazy laughter in the dark eyes, the wild twisted mouth. And then a sudden spray of blood and he watched himself collapse. He landed right beside the woman, right beside Cagalli Yamato, their bodies parallel to each other and both their heads turned towards him. Blood streamed down the side of their skulls and pooled under their heads.

Kira scrambled backwards, staring at the vacant eyes of the dead woman and himself. What was happening? How? Why? His vision began to blur. For a moment he thought that he was losing consciousness but then he realised that it was just tears.

Author's note: Okay, here's the next chapter. Whew! Too much Cagalli and Kira interaction in this uber long chapter. What do you think? Like it? Don't like it? Remember to review, review, review! Kira should be waking up in the next chappie! Wheeee!