Chapter 9
Sorry for another late update.
Cagalli chunked a lot of pills into her throat and gulped a whole cup of water with them.
Marna had always advised her not to take all of them at once but her headaches only disappeared faster when she took more than two of the pills at once.
She had had a Cabinet meeting and three conference meetings with the other former overseers of COMPASS to discuss how they were going to announce it's permanent suspension.
Having four stressful meetings and a lot of paper work was a usual thing for her but the lack of sleep had made the stress much worse that she started having persistent headaches again.
There wasn't too much excessive work that she had to stay up late at night but she had stayed up late a lot because of another reason.
Everytime she tried to go to bed and sleep, guilt and sorrow would engulf her.
The desperate look in Athrun's eyes when she broke up with him always flashed through her mind the minute she stopped working. And the pain of not having him around always kept her awake.
So working all the time, even at night helped her to not think about him at all.
She also wanted to distract herself from thinking that she had overreacted when she broke up with him.
The thought had been eating her up but she had made up her mind and nomatter how much it hurt her, she wanted to move on.
Her telephone rang and she picked it up.
"Representetive, the mailman is here and he is saying that he has a mail that is very important such that he needs to give you that mail in person, so he is requesting to come to your office and give it to you directly", Cagalli's secretary said.
"Let him in", she said after thinking for a while, "but tell the guards at my door that they need to thoroughly search him for weapons first".
"Alright, Representative, I will let them know".
After the call ended, confusion gripped Cagalli. What was so important that the mailman had to come directly to her?.
She paced back and forth in anticipation for a while until one of the security details opened the door.
"Representetive, the mailman is here to see you, we have inspected him thoroughly".
"Okay, let him in".
The slim man walked into Cagalli's office, holding an envelope. He had medium grown beard, black hair and blue eyes.
Cagalli couldn't help but notice that something was odd about him.
"You wanted to see me?", Cagalli asked curiously.
"Yes, I need to talk to you".
And with that Cagalli recognised the voice.
"You idiot!, You really scared me, I thought something serious had happened", Cagalli said hitting his shoulder.
Kira laughed.
"I couldn't think of any other way to come and see you", Kira said removing his fake beard and contact lenses.
"You could have simply called me or send me a letter like you did last time", she chuckled.
"I sent a letter to Athrun yesterday, didn't he tell you that I was coming?".
"Oh...Athrun...uh", she stammered, "H-he didn't tell me...m-maybe he forgot", she nervously chuckled to cover up her lie.
"Really?...that's odd", Kira said with a frown.
"Uh, yeah, so what brings you here?...It's not something bad right?, Are Lacus and your parents okay?", she changed the topic.
"Yes, everyone is fine, last week, Athrun told me that you were going to announce the Cancellation of COMPASS...and since you're doing that tomorrow, I want to see how everyone will react".
"Oh, that's reasonable but why couldn't you just watch the News instead of risking someone seeing you out here Kira", she said worriedly.
"Don't worry, nobody can notice me like this".
They both laughed at that.
"I forgot to compliment you on your costume", she said laughing.
"Thanks, it was Lacus' idea anyway".
"She's so brilliant, anyway, how is she? and your parents too?".
"She is fine and my parents are fine too. Speaking of Lacus and I, I have something to tell you...".
"What is it?", Cagalli asked curiously.
Kira smiled.
"Lacus and I...are expecting a baby", Kira said, his eyes lighting up with joy.
Cagalli's jaw dropped.
She couldn't believe it.
"What?!".
"Yes, Lacus is pregnant and in a few months we're going to be parents".
"No way!, that's amazing!, congratulations", she hugged her brother.
"Oh, Haumea, this is so amazing, how far along is she? Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?".
"She is 3 months pregnant and no, we haven't found out the gender yet, the doctor said it's too early for that", Kira said smiling.
"Oh, but have you thought of any names for either gender?".
"For me not really, but Lacus has made a lot of suggestions over the last few days".
"What are they?", Cagalli asked excitedly.
"There are a lot, I've even lost track of what she really wants but I'm sure she'll tell you when you come to our wedding", he smiled.
"Wedding?", Cagalli's eyes widened.
"Yes, that is...another reason why I came here", Kira said awkwadly.
He hadn't meant to drop all this at once.
"Lacus and I are going to get married next month, and I we want to invite you and Athrun to our very small wedding".
"Small wedding?".
"Yes, we are only going to have our family at the wedding and since my parents already live with us, only you and Athrun would be missing in the family pictures at our small wedding", he smiled.
"Oh, that sounds great but...um", Cagalli stammered awkwardly.
"What?".
"Um...Athrun and I might...um".
"What?, you guys can't come?".
"We...uh...only one of us can make it".
"Are you guys that busy?".
"No...uh...".
"You guys are fighting again, aren't you?", Kira asked with disappointment.
"Uh, actually...we ended things between us".
"Was it the both of you that decided to end things or was it you who broke up with him?".
"What?!".
"You heard me", he chuckled.
"Hey, this isn't funny Kira, why are you laughing?".
"Nothing, I am sorry...but anyway, our wedding is in over a month from now, so let us know when you guys get back together okay?".
"Hey, that's not happening, you idiot!".
"Hey, it's okay, calm down", he laughed, " what did he do this time really pissed you off like this?".
"I don't want to talk about it", she angrily huffed.
"Fair enough, anyway, have you guys tried therapy?".
"Therapy?".
"Yes, Couple's therapy, where you meet a counsellor and-".
"I know what that is but why would I want someone's help with my personal life?".
"Because, you guys need help with your relationship".
"It's not a relationship anymore, we broke up".
"That is why you need therapy, you guys cannot solve your problems, whenever you try to do so, you just make it worse".
"Are you trying to call me 'difficult'?", Cagalli frowned.
"Both of you are difficult and hot-headed too".
"Interesting, huh", she said sarcastically.
Kira put his disguise back on and got ready to leave.
"I am leaving now...I'll see you guys at my wedding".
"I told you that only one of us can come".
"Don't worry, I know you'll be back together by the time my wedding comes", he mischieveously smiled at her.
"You"re so annoying".
Kira laughed.
"I'm leaving now, I'll be staying at Athrun's place, do you perhaps have a message for him, that I can deliver?", he smiled again and it got on Cagalli's nerves.
She just huffed and shrugged.
"I'll take that as a no".
He packed up his fake mail bag and made his way out of the office but he stopped and turned around.
"Cagalli, but please, even if you think it's stupid, you guys should go for therapy".
"Idiot".
Kira laughed at how his sister got annoyed so quickly and left.
It was 5pm and almost everyone had gone home after a busy day at work but Athrun stood by his office window, staring blankly outside and deeply immersed in his thoughts.
It had been three days since he had last seen Cagalli and he was already missing her as if he had last seen her over a year ago.
Although his heart ached from missing her, he needed to concentrate on the most important thing, which was to protect her from the Sahaku family.
He had never met Prime Minister Sahaku, so he had no reason to warn Cagalli about him but he had a horrible gut feeling since he met his son Yama.
Athrun wasn't the one to judge people by the way their family members acted but when it came to his precious little golden flower, he wanted to count every contigency, so everyone would be a suspect.
He had tried to call her the previous day but his calls were ignored, so he had gone to the Attha Manor the previous day but he wasn't allowed to enter, Cagalli had ordered the guards to not let him in.
It was painful for him to be separated from her like that but he wanted to warn her and protect her from the Sahaku family.
He needed a way to contact her and it was so fruastrating tha he couldn't.
A knock echoed from his door.
"Come in".
"Sir", Samantha said after entering with a few files in her hand, "this is the information you requested from Morganroute".
"Thank you, you may go home now", he said while still looking outside of his window.
"Sir, there's also someone here to see you, he says he wants to see you personally but he doesn't have an appointment".
"What's his name?", he frowned.
"He didn't tell me but he said that he wrote you a letter yesterday".
"Oh, let him in please", Athrun said with a smile.
He got excited after realising that it was Kira. Amidst all that darkness and stress, spending some time with his best friend was definitely going to refresh him and most importantly, he was planning to use Kira as his messenger to Cagalli.
The door opened and Kira entered.
Athrun was confused for a moment and then burst out laughing.
"I know I look ridiculous but is that the way to welcome your friend?", he chuckled.
Athrun then stopped laughing.
"I have been waiting for you outside for a long time, anyway, are you done with work yet?, I've been running around the whole day and I need to get some rest".
"Sure, I'm done, I was just distracted and slacked off for a while".
"Distracted, huh", Kira said plainly.
"Yeah, let me just get my keys and we'll leave, I'm so sorry for holding you up".
"No problem at all, I'm sure you were distracted by something really important", Kira smirked.
"Yeah".
"So have you come up with a plan yet?".
"What plan?".
"You know, to get my little sister back?".
Athrun was quiet for a moment.
"Oh, so you've heard about it".
"She told me this afternoon".
"Did you see her?, How is she?, She doesn't look malnourished right?, Does she-", Athrun eagerly asked a lot of questions at once.
"Hey, Hey, hey, calm down, she's fine", Kira interrupted him and laughed, "Wow, you worry too much about her".
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that..." and he couldn't find the words to finish.
"Well then, we've got a lot to catch up on don't we?, let's go to your apartment and talk about it but we have to stop by a liquor store first because this kind of talk requires a lot of alcohol", Kira smiled patting a depressed Athrun's back.
Athrun chuckled and followed Kira's lead out of his office.
Kira couldn't help but notice how depressed Athrun's face was. That is why he wanted to buy some alcohol so that they could relax and cheer up.
Samantha sighed as she opened the door of the black sedan in front of her.
She had received a message that instructed her to drive to the outskirts of Olofat and meet a man.
"I'm really sorry I'm late, I got held up at work", she said as she sat in the passenger seat.
The driver remained silent and just handed her the capsule containing the drug.
"The drugs are already mixed together, all you have to do is put them in his coffee.
The man seemed strange. He wore a black suit and dark sunglasses and has a cold look on his face.
"Okay", she said and took the capsule.
She examined the bottle for a while and opened it. The substance had no smell at all, she figured that it would be perfect since Athrun wouldn't even notice it's presence in his coffee the next day.
Samantha smiled, happy that she was finally going to get a chance to trap Athrun and make him hers.
The driver started the engine and looked at her, signaling her to get out. Samantha stepped out and watched as the driver left.
She couldn't help but wonder why he was so cold and weird.
Athrun and Kira arrived at Athrun's apartment. They carried the bags of alcohol that Kira had bought.
"Are you sure this isn't too much", Athrun asked as he scanned the bottles of alcohol on his dining table.
"Come on, it's not that much, plus, we're coordinators, we can hold our alcohol weigh better, so exceeding the alcohol limit won't hurt us at all", Kira said with a smile.
Athrun just nodded. He wasn't really a drinker but that night he somehow craved alcohol too.
"So, are you gonna tell me what you did to piss Cagalli off?", Kira chuckled and opened his beer bottle.
"Yes, but after I tell you something more important".
"And what's that?".
"I need you to tell Cagalli that she shouldn't trust the Sahaku family".
"Why?, is there something going on?".
Athrun told Kira everything about Yama stalking Cagalli and the photos from their meeting.
He also told Kira about the marriage proposal that Mahina had planned.
"I really want to make sure that she will be safe but since I can't reach her, can you please warn her for me?".
"Of course, I'll tell her everything but I'll need proof, so do you have the pictures?".
"Yes, I'll give you later".
"So, now tell me, what did you do this time for Cagalli to kick you out?", Kira smirked.
Athrun sighed. He didn't know where to start.
"I messed up...I messed up pretty badly", Athrun said with a gloomy face.
"I know, but what exactly did you do this time?".
"I yelled at her and insulted her".
"Oh...what did you say to her?".
"I called her weak".
Kira's eyes widened.
"That's why she ended things between you guys?, Just because you had called her weak?".
Athrun was puzzled by his friend's insensitivity.
"You think that's not bad?".
"No, it's bad but it's not something that can end a relationship that started over 3 years ago", Kira complained, "or maybe there's more to it?".
"Yeah, I've been an asshole to her for along time, without even noticing".
There was silence for a while until Athrun decided to continue.
"Sometimes I think that I don't deserve her at all...every time I yell at her, she always gets this sad and scared look on her face...but somehow, I always ignore that and keep hurting her", Athrun said taking a huge gulp of his beer.
"Yeah, you really messed up", Kira said also taking a sip of his beer.
And Athrun had been doing a lot of self reflection too after their break up. He realised that he was too judgemental and harsh towards the people he loved.
And he had started doubting if he actually deserved them.
"I am sorry", Athrun said.
"For what?", Kira asked in confusion.
"For hiting you".
Kira laughed. His laughter took too long to die down.
"Why are you laughing?".
"Athrun, are you drunk?", Kira continued laughing.
"No, I should be the one asking you that".
"Okay, okay, my bad, I just...why are you apologising for that? you actually knocked some sense into me that day".
"What do you mean?".
"Athrun, Lacus and I had been having problems in our relationship too, for quite sometime, just like you and Cagalli...But our problems were different in nature".
"You and Lacus had problems?", Athrun asked.
Although he had witnessed Kira being an asshole when Lacus was practically kidnapped by the Accords, Athrun had never imagined that Kira and Lacus would have problems, let alone arguments in their relationship.
He had always thought of them as the happy-go-lucky couple.
"Yeah, I won't waste your time by getting into the specifics but the bottom line is that, when you punched me, I started doing a lot of self reflection and realised that I was actaully treating Lacus terribly too".
"Oh, I understand...But I still shouldn't have punched you...I feel like I am weigh too judgemental and nagging towards people, even the people that I love...Sometimes I can't help but think that I'm just like my father-".
"No, you're not, Athrun", Kira abruptly interrupted him as soon as he mentioned his father.
Tears were already streaming down Athrun's face.
"Athrun...you are not like your father at all, and I'm not saying this just to make you feel better...I'm saying this because it's the truth, you're not like your father".
Kira had met Athrun's father a few times growing up and he always found him to be cold, distant and scary and Athrun was nothing like that.
"I scare the people I love away and I only care about my feelings when I get mad, I'm cold and harsh when I mentor people...I'm starting to understand why Shinn didn't want to work with me", Athrun laughed bitterly through his tears.
"Shinn has his own biases...you know that. He says a lot of nonsense...even though he is a good kid".
Athrun chuckled.
"Plus, you're not harsh, you're just strict and that is actually good, sometimes it's hard to get a message through without being strict like you", Kira said, his eyes distant in deep thought, "both my parents tried to talk to me and solve my relationship desputes with Lacus but it didn't work, I still focused on my own feelings and problems without thinking about Lacus' wellbeing at all...even my colleagues tried to tell me to leave work when I finished and be with Lacus...but I kept focusing on my own goals without paying attention to how I was abandoning Lacus".
Athrun kept listening in silence.
"The worst part of it is that, Lacus found out she was pregnant and every night, she prepared my favourite dishes, so that she'd tell me the news through a romantic dinner but I kept focusing on my selfish ambitions and neglected her".
"Lacus is pregnat?", Athrun's eyes widened in shock.
"Yes", Kira smiled.
"Oh my gosh, congratulations, that's amazing", Athrun said with joy.
"Thanks...when the Accords kidnapped her, I was so selfish to accuse her of betraying me...I didn't even think about how she felt, that's why I am saying that your way of mentoring people is not bad, Athrun because if it wasn't for you, no one would have stopped me from hurting Lacus even more than before".
Athrun looked down. He wondered why he was so bad at solving his own relationship problems when he was apparently good at solving others.
"I'm glad to hear that you guys are fine now", Athrun smiled at his best friend.
"Thanks. And you guys will be fine too".
"I doubt that...Cagalli is really fed up with me this time".
"Hey, come on, don't be so pessimistic".
"Do you think that she can ever forgive me?".
"Yes...but it's going to take a lot of work from both of you...have you tried going to couples therapy?".
"Couples therapy?".
"Yeah, I think you guys need it".
"Have you and Lacus tried it?".
"No. When Lacus and I have an argument, we sit down and talk until we've resolved our problems, that's why we don't need therapy".
Athrun laughed.
"So you think that Cagalli and I don't know how to sit down and talk things out like you guys?".
"Well, you wouldn't be separated right now if you were capable of that", Kira said sarcastically, "to be honest, I think you guys need a third-party intervention to help solve your arguments. You guys need serious help because you don't know how to argue with each other".
"We don't know how to argue with each other?, what the heck does that mean, Kira? Are you drunk?", Athrun laughed.
"No, not at all...I really mean this, Athrun.
...I made this observation a long time ago, even when we met at Crète during the second war...When you guys were arguing, both of you just started yelling accusations at each other instead of actually discussing the issue at hand in a calm way...and that is a recipe for disaster...you're both too hot-headed".
"I'm not hot-headed", Athrun said defensively.
"You are".
"No way, I'm not like Yzak or Shinn, so don't call me that".
"Being hot-headed isn't only about being loud mouthed...it's also about being unable to listen to the other person when you're in an argument...and that's a common personality trait between you an Cagalli".
Athrun sighed.
"I guess you're right".
"That's good, at least you're starting to see what you guys' major problem is", Kira said patting Athrun's back.
After a while of drinking, chatting and laughing, Athrun decided that it was time to go to sleep. He offered for Kira to sleep in his bed and he on the couch but Kira declined.
"Okay, so then I'll get you some blankets from my bedroom", Athrun said.
"By the way, I want to invite you and Cagalli to our wedding".
"Wedding?".
"Yes, we're getting married but it's only going to be a small intimate family ceremony, and you guys are our family, so we want you there, both of you".
"I don't know if Cagalli would want me there".
"Come on, I'm sure by that time, you guys would have already gotten back together".
"When is it?".
"Next month".
"Okay, I'll come".
"You can bring the blankets, I'm getting sleepy now", Kira said in a whiny way that reminded Athrun of how he was in their childhood.
"Sleepy or drunk?", Athrun joked.
"Drunk?, I told you I can handle my alcohol well", Kira said, "Just look at this".
Kira tried to stand up and fell embarrassingly, making Athrun laugh like an absolute moron.
Athrun was not as drunk as Kira. He enjoyed watching Kira's drunk rants and unfunny jokes until he decided to finally go to sleep.
Wednesday, the day that everyone had been waiting for had finally came. Everyone was busy trying to finish their work before noon.
The whole nation of Orb was asked to listen or attend the press conference that the Chief Representative was going to address at 2p.m.
Everyone in the country was informed through the news that it would be a very important, however no one besides high ranking officials knew what the Representative was going to announce.
So everyone was just waiting to hear what she would announce.
Meanwhile Cagalli was in her office, running over her upcoming speech.
"Please make sure that you also include the Atlantic Federation and PLANTs' statements too", Toyah said.
"Alright, I understand...I just hope that this won't cause too much turmoil", Cagalli said worriedly.
"Don't worry, everything is going to workout fine, Cagalli-sama", Toyah said.
Cagalli just nodded.
She had been so confident and waiting for the day she would announce that Orb was no longer overseeing COMPASS but now that the day had finally come, she was starting to get really nervous.
The thought of how the citizens of Orb would react send her nerves into a relay of fear.
She tried to calm down and focus but failed.
She had a bad feeling. Her intuition made her feel like something bad was about to happen.
She wondered why she had that feeling.
She had prepared tirelessly for her speech and new proposal on how Orb should defend itself and she had the support of a lot of people in that decision, so why was she feeling that way?.
She was so sure that everything was going to go well with the announcement but she still had this horrible feeling that something bad was going to happen that day.
'What if someone noticed that Kira is here in Orb and they try to kill him?', She gasped as that thought came into her mind.
She retrieved her phone from her pocket but then remembered that Kira didn't have a phone for privacy reasons.
So then in order to know if Kira was okay, she had to call Athrun, since Kira was living at his apartment.
"Damn it", Cagalli cursed out loud.
"Are you okay, Cagalli-sama?", Toyah asked with concern.
"Uh...yeah, I just...got carried away, I'm sorry".
"It's okay, Cagalli-onee-sama, don't be scared, nothing is gonna go wrong in your speech", Toyah said and left her office.
Unbeknownst to Toyah that Cagalli's bad feeling had nothing to do with her upcoming press conference.
Cagalli decided not to check on Kira and have faith that he was okay because she didn't want to have to call Athrun given their circumstances.
It was almost time for every high ranking Orb military or parliament to gather in the Press conference hall and Athrun desperately tried to finish his work in the last few minutes.
He looked at the few documents left for him to review. He had already reviewed the majority of the documents but he felt like he no longer had the energy and will power to finish up the few left on his desk.
He was really tired and since he usually used one method to work when he was tired, he dialed his Secretary's office phone.
"Hello, sir", Samantha answered.
"Ms. Reed, can you please bring me another coffee".
"Uh,...I'm sorry sir but our coffee machine just broke, I just sent it for repairs".
"Oh, so can you please order a cup of coffee from any coffee shop nearby?".
"I'm sorry sir but the nearest coffee shop is closed right now, it's already 3pm and they close by 2.30pm".
Athrun sighed in defeat.
"Alright, thank you for your time Ms.Reed", Athrun said and hung up.
Samantha sighed in relief. She was so relieved that her boss believed her lie.
The coffee machine wasn't broken at all, she had lied because she didn't want to give him another cup of coffee, since Yama told her not to give him more coffee since an overdose of coffee might not make the substance work.
She had also taken advantage of her boss' naivety when she lied about the coffee shop being closed. She took advantage of the fact that Athrun is from a high ranking rich family, meaning that he had never gone grocery shopping or even to mundane everyday shops like coffee shops, so she knew that he would believe that coffee shops close at 2pm.
"Don't worry, Admiral Zala, tonight you're going to be mine", she said to herself.
Meanwhile, Athrun was still seated in his office, feeling really tired.
He wondered why he felt so tired like that. Of course he had worked a lot that day but he was mostly sitting down.
He had never felt that tired even after a mobile suit combat. His muscles were sore too and he couldn't understand why.
Anyway, his alarm clock rang and he knew that it was time to go attend the press conference.
It was almost time for every high ranking Orb military or parliament to gather in the Press conference hall and Athrun desperately tried to finish his work in the last few minutes.
He looked at the few documents left for him to review. He had already reviewed the majority of the documents but he felt like he no longer had the energy and will power to finish up the few left on his desk.
He was really tired and since he usually used one method to work when he was tired, he dialed his Secretary's office phone.
"Hello, sir", Samantha answered.
"Ms. Reed, can you please bring me another coffee".
"Uh,...I'm sorry sir but our coffee machine just broke, I just sent it for repairs".
"Oh, so can you please order a cup of coffee from any coffee shop nearby?".
"I'm sorry sir but the nearest coffee shop is closed right now, it's already 3pm and they close by 2.30pm".
Athrun sighed in defeat.
"Alright, thank you for your time Ms.Reed", Athrun said and hung up.
Samantha sighed in relief. She was so relieved that her boss believed her lie.
The coffee machine wasn't broken at all, she had lied because she didn't want to give him another cup of coffee, since Yama told her not to give him more coffee since an overdose of coffee might not make the substance work.
She had also taken advantage of her boss' naivety when she lied about the coffee shop being closed. She took advantage of the fact that Athrun is from a high ranking rich family, meaning that he had never gone grocery shopping or even to mundane everyday shops like coffee shops, so she knew that he would believe that coffee shops close at 2pm.
"Don't worry, Admiral Zala, tonight you're going to be mine", she said to herself.
Meanwhile, Athrun was still seated in his office, feeling really tired.
He wondered why he felt so tired like that. Of course he had worked a lot that day but he was mostly sitting down.
He had never felt that tired even after a mobile suit combat. His muscles were sore too and he couldn't understand why.
Anyway, his alarm clock rang and he knew that it was time to go attend the press conference.
The press conference hall was quickly getting filled by military officials, members of Orb Cabinet and jounalists.
No one was seated yet, people were chatting and laughing with each other.
Athrun hoped those happy faces will still be the same after Cagalli's announcement.
He knew that very few people knew that Cagalli was going to announce the permanent suspension of COMPASS and he feared the Orb residents' response.
He desperately hoped that the response would be positive because he feared that a negative response would take a toll on Cagalli's wellbeing.
He worried about her a lot. Since their break up, he would occasionally have sleepless nights thinking about her. Was she eating enough?, Was she happy?, Was she scared?.
He always worried about her a lot especially when they were apart.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Representative Attha will commence her speech now", a woman announced.
The crowd took their seats and Athrun did so too.
Cagalli stood at the stand filled with microphones from different news agents and Athrun's heart raced.
She looked really beautiful and radiant. Her golden hair and eyes were just as he remembered.
It had been a few days since he last saw her. Of course he would often look at her photo by his bedside. But he had longed to see her in person again and there she was.
He felt tears well up his eyes and he quickly subsided them. He had missed her so much and seeing her again made him very emotional but he managed to control himself.
Even though this moment was wholesome, Cagalli had ended things with him, so his feelings were hurt again.
He really wanted to believe Kira and try to get Cagalli back, but how was he going to do that?.
He worried about that.
Cagalli commenced her speech.
"I stand here before you, with a very important message. A message that will drive our country into a new phase...".
Her speech was long and everyone remained quiet, listening to her.
The only sound in the hall was of clicking cameras.
"...that as the Orb leadership commity, we've collectively agreed to cease overseeing COMPASS", when Cagalli said that there was a lot of noise in the hall as people gasped, murmured to each other.
She waited for the noise to calm down and then continued.
After her speech everyone was shell shocked but Cagalli left the hall and went straight home, avoiding the journalists' many questions.
Athrun felt a faint tap on his shoulder.
He didn't wake up. A few more taps on his shoulder and he jerked awake.
"Colonel Kisaka, I'm sorry...I must've drifted off to sleep", Athrun said standing up.
"No problem, I understand that you could be tired", Kisaka offered him a polite smile.
"Is the conference already over?", Athrun asked with shocked wide eyes.
"Yes, it wasn't that long anyway", Kisaka said.
Athrun and Kisaka walked out of the hall.
Athrun was shocked that he had slept through the whole press conference.
"So how did everyone receive the news?", Athrun asked with deep concern.
"They were pretty shocked for sure, that was obviously bound to happen. The public had accepted and taken COMPASS as their saviour but I'm sure that they'll come to understand that if Orb is going to uphold it's neutrality, it has to be independent as far as military power is concerned".
"That's true. So did she talk about the military plan in detail?".
"No. Obviously it has to be a classified project".
"Yes. I'm glad she decided to keep it classified".
Athrun almost collapsed before they reached the parking lot.
"Are you okay?", Kisaka asked with concern.
Athrun regained his composure.
"Yes,...I'm fine, I just-", Athrun couldn't finish his sentence as he started feeling dizzy and light-headed.
He didn't stumble again but he just held his head in his hands.
"I think I should give you a ride to your apartment, I don't think you're in a condition to drive yourself, Athrun".
"You're right, I don't know what's gotten into me today".
"I'll drive him home, Colonel Kisaka, I live downtown, so I'll just drop him off on my way home".
"And who are you?", Kisaka asked as a young lady with purple hair approached them.
"I'm Samantha Reed, his secretary", she said holding out her free hand for greeting while her other hand was holding a cup of coffee.
Athrun opened his eyes and saw his secretary standing there.
"Ms. Reed, why are you here?", Athrun asked.
He was shocked to see her there.
"I wanted to bring you your coffee sir, the coffee machine was finally returned from the repairer", Samantha covered up her lie with a polite smile, "are you okay Admiral Zala, you look pale".
"I'm fine...but if you live downtown, it's better if you are the one who gives me a ride because Colonel Kisaka will be going too far from his home if he gives me the ride".
"Alright, just make sure that he takes the elevator instead of the stairs otherwise he might fall", Kisaka told the young lady.
"Okay, sir, I'll make sure of it".
Athrun got into Samantha's car, feeling dizzer than ever.
The whole ride home, he had his eyes closed because the moment he did, his head would piercingly ache.
His chest had started feeling heavy too.
It was almost 6pm and Samantha helped a weak Athrun out of her car.
Athrun was confused and scared because he had never been this weak and ill out of nowhere.
On the other hand, Samantha was smiling as she knew that the substance was now kicking in.
She knew that Athrun was going to be hers that night.
"I can take the elavator to my apartment, you can go home now Ms. Reed, thanks for the ride".
"No, Admiral, I'm going to make sure that you get to your apartment safely".
Athrun didn't protest. He knew that he could need someone to call an ambulance if he were to collapse, which was highly likely for him given how he was feeling.
They boarded the elevator and the movement of the elevator started to make Athrun feel nauseous on top of all other symptoms he was having.
He tried to swallow a lot, in order to avoid throwing up but it only worked for a few minutes.
The elevator stopped and opened and they got out. His apartment door was just a few feet away but he collapsed before reaching it.
"Admiral!", Samantha panicked because she didn't think she was strong enough to carry him into the apartment.
Athrun struggled with all his power to at least kneel on his knees and used his hand to support him on the floor too.
"Where are you apartment keys, I need them so I can open the door and help you in".
"I don't have...them...my ...frie...nd ...has...them", Athrun struggled to speak through his pain.
"Your friend?", Samantha asked in confusion.
She had thought that her plan was going to work out but what she had not known was that Athrun was staying with Kira in his apartment, so her plan to frame Athrun of taking advantage of her would never work.
Kira opened the door. He had heard a thud and a scream from Samantha, so he wanted check what it was.
His eyes widened in shock to the scene in front of him.
"Athrun, what happened?".
Athrun couldn't answer. He now had jolts of intense and sharp pain shooting through his whole body, as if he was being stabbed.
"He just collapsed here, he had said that he was feeling weak and dizzy after the press conference".
"Athrun, come on", Kira said as he tried to help him up but he was astonished by how weak and wobly Athrun's body was.
Just as Kira finshed helping him stand up, Athrun threw up blood, pure blood with nothing else.
"Athrun!", they both exclaimed in horror.
His white and blue Admiral uniform now had blood stains all over it.
To both their horror, Athrun's nose started bleeding too.
Samantha's panic was now very intense because Yama had told her that the substance was supposed tomake him sleep but now he was bleeding from his mouth and nose.
"Call an ambulance!", Kira barked the order at her.
Samantha searched for her phone in her bag with shaking hands.
In a few minutes, the ambulance had arrived and Athrun was taken to the hospital.
Only Kira got into the ambulance with Athrun. Samantha told Kira that she had to got and cancel his schedule for the following day but in reality, she was scared that she would get questioned and caught.
She drove home, contemplating whether she should flee from Orb or not because obviously the police would come for her since she is the only one who would feed Athrun besides himself, so she would automatically be the first suspect.
Cagalli got out of the bathroom, drying her hair. She had taken a long bath not only to clean up but to also relax herself but she failed.
She wondered why after all that effort she coudn't relax. The mysterious bad feeling still had a grip on her.
The press conference just ended like any other, meaning that there wasn't much backlash to her announcement, so why was her intuition telling her that something terrible was about to happen.
She heard a knock on the door and she immediately put her bathrobe on.
"Come in", she yelled.
Myrna got in in a rush, panting as if she had just ran a marathon.
"Myrna, are you okay?".
"Lady Cagalli!,...oh dear, something terrible has happened.
"What happened?".
"It's master Athrun".
Cagalli's heart dropped when she heard Athrun's name. She desperately hoped that nothing had happened to him.
"Athrun?", she asked weakly.
"Yes, Master Kira tried to call you through Master Athrun's phone but it didn't go through, so he called me and told me that Master Athrun is very ill, he is vomiting blood,...i-it seems like he has been poisoned...he says that they've taken him to the military hospital".
"Oh my", Cagalli weakly said dropping the bottle of lotion that she was holding in her hand.
So this was why she was having that intense warning from her intuition.
"I'm gonna go to the hospital now", Cagalli said walking out of the room.
"But Lady Cagalli, you're not dressed yet", Myrna complained.
Cagalli only had a bath rob on. Although it covered her whole body and was actually long and too big for her, it wasn't suitable for her to wear while out at the hospital.
But Cagalli didn't care. Her brain had gone numb as soon as she heard that Athrun was hurt.
"I don't have time to change Myrna, I'm sorry".
Myrna tried to catch up with the young girl but Cagalli was in her car and driving off to the hospital in the blink of an eye.
Samantha arrived at the door of her apartment and she nervously took out her door keys.
She tried to unlock the door but surprisingly, it was already unlocked. The most surprising part was that there was no sign of forced entry.
'Did I forget to lock before I went to work?', she asked herself.
She entered her apartment and locked the door.
Now she needed to think about what she was going to do.
"Good evening", she heard a familiar male voice and jumped in shock.
The mysterious guard that delivered the substance to her the previous day was sitting in her dinning room.
"What...are...you...doing...here?", Samantha asked, desperately trying to hold her breath while her heart raced in fear.
"Mr. Sahaku wants me to pay you for your work".
"We never talked about money and why did the substance make the Admiral bleed from his mouth and nose, you only told me that it was a sedative?!!".
"It was a change of plans".
"Why?!, do you know that the police will be involved in this?".
"Yes, that's why we need to keep your mouth shut", he said.
"W-what...d-do...you mean?", Samantha asked in fear.
The man took a gun from his pocket and shot Samantha in her head and she fell onto the floor, already dead.
The guard had cleaned Samantha's apartment and packed up her body in a suitcase.
He had used a gun with a silencer, so no one heard the gun shot.
He loaded the suitcase into his car's trunk.
"Is it done?", Yama asked.
He was sitting in the backseat.
"Yes, sir".
"What a pity. She was so young", Yama smiled sinisterly.
"What about the Admiral, should I go finish him off?".
"No, he will be dead in a few hours, the poison has already done it's job".
And they drove off.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.