Chapter 3
Sorry for the late update guys
The alarm clock rang loudly, irritatingly piercing into Cagalli's ears. She stirred for a moment and pulled the blanket over her head to reduce the noise. She yawned, feeling too lazy to get out of bed. However, the alarm's noise was still too loud for her to have five more minutes of sleep.
She got out of bed and turned it off.
"Dammit", she cursed as the cold hit her hard. She cursed at herself inwardly for forgetting to turn the air conditioner on the previous night. She took the remote and turned the air conditioner on to heat the room
'I might as well just take a warm shower while this room gets warmed up', she thought.
Downstairs, in the large dining room, the maids were busy serving Cagalli's breakfast on the table.
A lot of dishes were laid out on the table. There were always different varieties of food for the representative to choose from. Cagalli always complained about how the food was too much for one person.
Marna scanned the table to see if the maids had done their job well. Everything was ready as she expected but one dish was missing. The dish she had requested the Chefs to include in the breakfast was not there.
"Girls", Marna called the maids.
"Yes, ma'am?", they answered in unison.
"Where's the dish with rolled cabbage?".
"These are all the dishes the Chefs have made ma'am. There was no rolled cabbage ".
"Oh Haumea, I asked the Chefs to make it for our guest".
"We're sorry, ma'am".
"No need to apologise dears, I go talk to the Chefs".
Marna strode to the kitchen only to find that the Chefs were already done cooking and the dishes were being cleaned now.
"Excuse me Chef, where's the dish I asked you to make for our guest?".
"Which dish?".
"Rolled Cabbage ".
"Oh that one, we're making it for lunch".
"I told you to make it for breakfast".
"But ma'am, according to protocol, dishes for lunch shouldn't be served during breakfast".
"Oh, Haumea, protocol for food?".
"Yes, ma'am, I wish I could change it but I might end up losing my job if I break the slightest of the Royal Protocol. I'm sorry".
"Okay, I'll do it".
Marna started cooking up the rolled cabbage. She knew she was running out of time but she had to make it. She didn't have to follow Royal Protocol since she was Cagalli's nanny.
Meanwhile Cagalli came downstairs already dressed in her work attire.
"Good Morning ", she greeted as she entered the dining room.
"Good Morning, Cagalli-sama".
She looked around the dining hall. It was so empty and silent. The maids were always silent while they stood at the entrance incase she needed anything.
It felt so lonely without Athrun or at least Marna.
"Is Marna awake yet?".
"Yes ma'am, Marna-sama is in the kitchen preparing another dish for the guest".
"The guest?, what guest?".
"We don't know representative".
Just then Marna entered the dining hall with a bowl of rolled cabbage.
"Good Morning Marna, you're finally here, let's have breakfast together ".
"Oh, Lady Cagalli, how are you my dear? did you sleep well?".
"I'm fine, thanks. I heard you were making a dish for a guest, who is the guest? I haven't heard of any guest".
"Our guest...Master Athrun, isn't he awake yet?".
"No Marna, Athrun is not here, he is at his apartment ".
"But I saw his car in the parking lot very late last night".
"Oh, that...he had come to drop me off, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I had called him to pick me up from work, I worked till late last night because of all the things we had to do after the war", she lied.
Cagalli was rarely the type to over explain herself anything to anyone but when it came to Marna she had to or else she would get into trouble with her disciplinary fits.
Cagalli had always been the brave girl that was afraid of absolutely no one. When she had done something mischievous, whether at school or at home, her father would scold her and she would laugh after he had left.
No one was able to tell the Orb princess what to do but when Marna came into her life after her mother died, everything changed. She was the only person the princess was afraid of.
And now Cagalli had to lie about where she was last night because Haumea forbid she said that she was at Athrun's apartment, Marna would go bonkers.
"Oh no, are they forcing you to work late again, dear?".
"No, it was just yesterday...I promise I'll come home early tonight Marna ".
"I hope so, because if not I'm going to come and drag you out of that office by myself, mark my words".
"Don't worry Marna, I won't be late anymore".
"It's a shame Master Athrun isn't here to eat this, I was almost done preparing it".
"But that's not a breakfast dish Marna, it's always meant for lunch or dinner".
"I know, but since he doesn't live here anymore, this was my only chance to make him something he actually likes".
Cagalli frowned, trying to process Marna's words and then chuckled.
"Lady Cagalli, are you okay?", Marna asked after seeing the frown on Cagalli's face.
"Um...I was just wondering why you are making a dish for someone, especially Athrun, I've always seen how you are not so keen on having him here, if you remember ", Cagalli asked half teasingly and half serious.
Marna had always been weird towards Athrun or to any guy that became close with Cagalli. When he started living in the Attha Manor as her bodyguard, she was just professional and cordial to him but as time progressed and she saw that there was something more than just a boss and employee relationship between them, Marna acting weird towards him. He would get scary stares and remarks from her from time to time and she would even intetionally ignore him sometimes.
Cagalli was aware of that. That's why it was astonishing for her to see Marna try to make Athrun his favourite dish.
"I know...I know that I've been too hard on him", she said with regret in her eyes, "so I wanted to make this for him, as a...truce".
"A truce?", Cagalli was confused.
Marna sighed. She knew she had to explain further than that.
"When you were born, your father never received any requests for betrothal from any of the five noble families because he wasn't the chief representative yet but when you turned three, suddenly every noble family wanted to betroth their sons to you because they knew you would become representative one day and they wanted that power too. Even the king of Scandinavia proposed a cross nation marriage betrothal for you and his son", Marna spoke calmly.
"I hated seeing you get used as a puppet and your father hated it too. Every time I saw a boy get close to you, I knew they wanted the power you had and I was always right. So I hated every young man that came near you or tried to get close to you. I think I got to a point where my judgment was clouded by my hatred for how people only wanted power from you so much that I ended pushing away the one person who has proven time to time for me that he loves you unconditionally. Yet I never took time to actually get to know him, I only pushed him away from you".
"That's why I'm trying to make amends with Master Athrun. I want to show him how he is appreciated and that I don't hate him and I wish to actually welcome him back here".
Cagalli was beyond shocked by her words.
"Wha-...?! Marna, Athrun and I are only friends, I-".
"There's no need to try and fool me Cagalli dear".
"I-...uh...I'm running late for work...I...have to go", Cagalli stammered getting out of the room.
"But you haven't even touched your breakfast yet dear".
"I'll eat later, thanks Marna!", she answered already running for the car outside.
Cagalli had been ready for anything that could come her way that morning, the rejection of COMPASS' continuation by the Alliance leaders, listening to what Athrun would explain about his "indecent fantasies" and many more things she had to endure that day but one thing she wasn't ready for and totally not expecting was an awkward conversation with Marna.
She had always thought Marna didn't like Athrun because he was a coordinator and also because of his last name but she never once thought Marna knew of their relationship.
She got into the car and started thinking about the upcoming meeting with the other leaders to discuss whether COMPASS' suspension is to be revoked or not.
COMPASS had been helping a lot with world peace and it's presence was more important than people could ever imagine. That's why Cagalli was willing to fight hard to get it back in action.
Orb was saved a lot of time by COMPASS. It gave Orb the protection it needed in difficult times without allying itself with other countries.
Cagalli was also able to help struggling small neutral nations during invasion from Blue Cosmos through COMPASS, thus not involving Orb in interfering in those wars.
So if COMPASS was to not come back. They were doomed.
Athrun opened the door to his office. Everything was a mess. Files were scattered all over his desk and he had to review and sign all of them.
The thought of how many gruesome and tiresome hours that was gonna take was enough to make him tired. He stroded to the table and picked one of them.
It was a report from the logistics department that he had to review and sign. Judging by the thickness of the file, it could have been more than a 100 pages long.
To make matters worse, there were about 20 more of them on his desk.
He sighed, sat on his office chair and started arranging the files according to which department they came from. It seemed his assistant had just thrown the files haphazardly on his table. Could he blame her though?.
'She must have been overwhelmed too', he thought.
A knock sounded on the door.
"Come in", Athrun answered.
"Good Morning, sir", his assistant smiled, "I have brought your coffee".
She placed the coffee cup on his desk.
"Good Morning to you too, Ms Reed, thank you", he said without even looking at her.
The purple haired girl studied his face. He looked tired. She felt so bad for him, his job was so demanding for him that even after going into battle he was expected to come back to work the next morning, as tired as he was.
"By the way, congratulations for your heroic accomplishments during the battle. I heard you and your team singlehandedly defeated the Blacknights", she continued on with the conversation.
"Uh...thanks, but I don't think anyone needs to be congratulated for that", Athrun said awkwardly. He didn't know if she was going overboard with the praise or he was just too awkward with compliments.
"I always give praise when it's needed and you deserve it commander ".
"Thank you, Ms Reed".
"Come on commander, I've told you many times that you can just call me Samantha".
"Okay, what's my schedule today Ms...I'm sorry...Samantha?", Athrun asked still busy looking through his files.
"In an hour, you have a meeting with Admiral Kisaka, after that you have to attend a press briefing by the Representative, after your lunch break you have to brief the logistics department and the IT department, after that, you have to return all the files you have received back to their respective departments and at 4.30 .p.m, there's the ceremony to honor the fallen soldiers and civilians of the war...and then you'll be done for the day".
"Okay, thank you Ms Reed, you may go and continue with your work now".
He did it again. Why was he so formal to her like that?. Why didn't he want to loosen up a bit just like her other previous bosses did. She knew working in the army meant working with serious and tough people but when it came to seriousness, none of her previous bosses or colleagues could measure up to Athrun Zala.
That man was always about work and never loosened up. He didn't even have a sense of humour. His smiles at her jokes always seemed forced out of politeness and she didn't like that one bit.
She hadn't even known him before she started working for him for the past few months but when she met him, she was astonished by how he could be so handsome and yet be so stoic.
She wondered how he could be so socially awkward yet so charming and intriguing. Most of all, she always wondered why he was still single even after his engagement with Miss Lacus Clyne was broken.
At first she had thought he was with Meyrin Hawke, his colleague, judging by how Meyrin always looked at him but she didn't see the affection being reciprocated by Athrun. That's when she realised that Meyrin just had a crush on him but they weren't together at all.
"Okay sir, enjoy your coffee", she said and got out of his office.
He was a hard nut to crack but she knew she was going to try. She wouldn't want to let such a handsome and sexy bachelor slip through her hands.
Cagalli sighed as she got ready for the digital meeting with the other leaders. This was her only chance to get COMPASS back in action or a lot of people would be oppressed and killed around the world without anyone batting an eye towards them.
"Toyah, do we have any response from Kira yet?".
"No, not yet, the message isn't even delivered yet, it seems his phone might be off or he destroyed it so no one could contact or trace his location ".
She let out a frustrated grunt. They had been trying to contact Kira so he could come to the meeting and explain everything in defence of COMPASS but all their calls and messages were unanswered.
"What should we do now, Cagalli-sama?".
Cagalli digested the situation for a moment.
"We should just use the reports from what happened".
"Cagalli-sama?", Toyah's eyes widened.
"Yes, we will do that, we have no choice but to face this without him".
Cagalli knew this was going to be difficult. The other leaders of the alliance, the ones that were responsible for financing COMPASS alongside Orb, were not willing to be involved with it again after Kira's mistake during the war.
Cagalli had tried to tell them about the mind control that was used by the Accords but they had called it bluff.
Now she had the evidence and intelligence, compiled by both ZAFT and Orb, to show them that the Accords fought using mind reading and mind control to fight in the war. But without Kira, who is the key witness in this, it was obviously going to be difficult.
"Madam Representative, they are ready for the meeting", Cagalli's assistant announced.
"Thank you, you can put them through".
After that, Cagalli's computer screen was filled with the other leader's faces.
"Representative Attha, we meet again", president Foster of the Atlantic Federation said.
"President Foster, I hope you're doing well", Cagalli said confidently.
"I was, until I got summoned here", he answered.
"My deepest apologies for inconveniencing you sir", Cagalli said, trying to compose herself as hard as she could.
"I hope you have something concrete for us today, Representative Attha", Walter de Lamend, the PLANT Supreme council chairman said.
"Yes, we have gathered evidence and intelligence from ZAFT and Orb defence forces that shows the mind control and mind reading techniques the black nights used in the battlefield", Cagalli said clicking a few buttons to display the information to everyone in the meeting, " the irrational decision that Commander Yamato made of attacking the Eurasian Federation territory was a result of the Foundation's mind control tactics ".
After studying the intelligence documents for a while, president Foster was the one to speak up first.
"Well, this looks legitimate but still whether it is mind control or not, Commander Yamato's attack on the Eurasian Federation territory was still a very reckless for an army to make", he paused, "even if he had actually seen, Michael and his forces, it was still not lawful to start opening fire over Eurasian Federation territory".
"I understand president Foster", Cagalli sighed.
"Representative Attha, we really want to continue sponsoring and overseeing COMPASS but Commander Yamato's actions have jeopardised not only COMPASS' reputation but also our countries' reputation too," Walter de Lamend intervened, "this has given the Blue Cosmos. and Eurasian Federation an opportunity to spread propaganda, saying that COMPASS wasn't a peacekeeping organisation but our nations' way of attacking them indirectly without provocation".
"And to make matters worse, Commander Yamato seems to have escaped, which is making him look guilty of the crimes he is being accused of by the Blue Cosmos, and you'll be shocked to know the amount of people starting to believe them right now", President Foster said angrily, " the people aren't going to see this any other way but as a coordinator who just attacked a natural nation on Earth unprovoked and caused a war to breakout".
"But everyone knows that the Foundation Kingdom's leaders detonated those bombs on their land by themselves!", Cagalli argued while on the bring of losing control again.
"Yes, but that is not what the Blue Cosmos and Eurasian Federation telling the world, they're painting Kira as a Coordinator who just attacked the Eurasian Federation unprovoked," president Foster continued, "and that is not only putting COMPASS' at risk of being attacked but our nations as well!!".
Cagalli could not say anything further. He was telling the truth. They had agreed to oversee and fund a peacekeeping organisation so that the Blue Cosmos' terrorist attacks and threats of further damaging the newfound peace between Coordinators and Naturals but things had only gotten worse after the battle with the Foundation.
"I understand your empathy towards the people in the areas of Blue Cosmos's terrorist attacks, we share that empathy too but we cannot continue helping out while risking our own Nations' safety, Representative Attha ", Walter de Lamend said calmly, "So unless Commander Yamato comes out of hiding and clears things up, we cannot do anything to help, COMPASS won't be relieved from it's suspension ".
Both the leaders disappeared from the video calls. Cagalli collapsed her upper body onto the table like she always did when she was exhausted.
She had been the Chief Representative for over three years now, and had had hundreds of stressful meetings but somehow she still hadn't gotten used to how stressful and physically draining they were.
"Cagalli-sama", Toyah hesitated, " what are we going to do now?".
"I'm still thinking", Cagalli replied with her head still glued to the table.
She was running out of ideas. COMPASS was not only there to protect people in need but to protect Orb and other nations from Blue Cosmos' terrorist attacks.
Of course at the moment, it was impossible for the Blue Cosmos to attack powerful nations such as Orb but the more territory and land they got, the more they were likely to gain power and one day, they could start attacking them too.
That is exactly what Cagalli was trying to avoid when she formed COMPASS.
Athrun entered the empty conference room and sat down waiting for Kisaka to arrive.
He looked through the window and saw the beach in a distance. The same beach he took Cagalli the night he helped her escape from her security details.
He smiled at the memory. He had come back to Orb for a short break from his work at Terminal as a spy.
Those days were now over. He was no longer going to leave Orb frequently to gather intelligence around the world. Since he was now chief Commander of Orb ground forces, the work had become so overwhelming for him that he couldn't leave Orb as much.
So he needed someone to take over the spy job.
The door to the conference room opened.
"Commander Zala", Kisaka smiled greeting Athrun.
"Colonel Kisaka", Athrun greeted back, and stood up, showing respect to his superior.
"I hope you're doing well".
"I'm doing very well Colonel Kisaka, how are you?".
"I'm doing well myself, Commander. I trust I am not late".
"Not at all, Colonel ", Athrun politely replied.
A young man had also come with Kisaka. He had green hair and brown eyes, which reminded him of his late friend Nico. He resembled Nicol so much, except the fact that his facial features weren't as soft as Nicol's. He looked very alert and jagged up.
"So..", Kisaka began, " this is your new successor, Luitenant Henery Fraserburgh".
The two young man studied each other for a moment.
"And Luitenant Fraserburgh, this is Commander Athrun Zala, Commander of the Orb ground special forces and the Captain of Terminal", Kisaka said.
"Pleasure to meet you, sir", Henery stretched out his hand to Athrun, "I've heard a lot about you".
Athrun shook hands with him.
"The pleasure is mine", Athrun smiled.
"Luitenant Fraserburgh has been in my division for the past two wars and has been remarkable in his intelligence gathering skills", Kisaka said as he sat down on one of the chairs.
Athrun and Henery also sat down.
The three gentlemen discussed everything that needed to be discussed everything that needed to be discussed in order to hand over Athrun's former job to Henery Fraserburgh.
After what seemed like three hours of discussing, handling and explaining all intelligence records, the meeting finally came to an end.
"Well, that was a lot", Kisaka sighed.
"Yes, so will you be okay with having your first mission be a tough one like this?", Athrun asked Luitenant Fraserburgh.
"Of course sir, I am confident that I can handle this", Henery said and stood up to leave, "Colonel Kisaka, I'll see you when I return from the mission and Commander Zala, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope working under you would be a great experience too".
"I hope so too, Luitenant Fraserburgh", Athrun said.
Henery left after saluting his two superiors.
"Do you think I did the right thing?", Athrun frowned.
"What do you mean Athrun?", Kisaka asked.
"I quit my job at the worst time to do so", Athrun started, "his first mission is going to be really tough and dangerous that usual. I should have given him the job after this mission. It's too dangerous ".
"Don't worry, he will be fine, he is a soldier and is meant for this job".
"But going into Blue Cosmos territory is going to be too hard.
"I know but he is qualified enough for that and I trust he will come back safe", Kisaka reassured him, " anyway, you have to stay here and do your job now. I'm very certain you will also get promoted very soon by the council, so you work will make it even harder to leave Orb frequently ".
"Promoted?", Athrun's emerald eyes widened.
"Yes, it's been long since you've been Commander and you've done your job exceptionally well. I doubt you wouldn't get a promotion after your efforts during the last war".
"Oh, I understand ".
"How is Cagalli by the way?, I haven't spoken her in a long time".
"Um...uh, I-... haven't seen her too", Athrun stammered.
"Oh, that's strange, why haven't you, you've been here since you came back from the war yesterday haven't you?", Kisaka frowned.
"Uh.., yes...I..have been here but I didn't get to see her and actually talk to her".
"How strange, did she break up with you because of what you did yesterday?", Kisaka smiled mischievously.
Athrun never thought someone as serious as Kisaka would actually be mischievously prying into other people's private lives.
"Break up?!!!, no no no, Colonel, this is not what you think it is, Cagalli and I are just friends", Athrun said quickly.
"Athrun, we're both experienced soldiers with high attention to detail capabilities, so please don't try to insult my intelligence ", Kisaka chuckled.
"Eh?... Uh...um...well", Athrun stammered again.
"Relax, I don't hold it against you, that you and Cagalli are together, I have known this for a long time".
"A long time?".
"Yes, since before the second war".
"So you don't hate me at all?".
"No, not at all, the only thing I don't like so far...or rather something I would like to advise you against is Public Display of Affection, like the one you did yesterday ".
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that sir".
"I know how sometimes when you're in love, you get carried away sometimes ", Kisaka warned, " but do not forget Cagalli's position and the scrutiny she will receive if it would be publicly known that she is in a relationship with someone who isn't within the five noble families of Orb, so please be careful when you're together in public ".
"I understand, sir".
"That's good to hear , Commander, I'll leave you to your work".
Kisaka stood up, gathered his files and walked to the door. As he reached the door, Athrun's voice stopped him.
"Colonel Kisaka", Athrun stood up, "you are like an uncle to Cagalli, right?"
"Yes, I've have been her bodyguard since she was in middle school".
"I'm sorry to say this, but I still don't understand why you're not affected by our...situation".
"Why?, what do you mean?".
"I just simply don't understand why, sir...if that's okay to ask".
Kisaka chuckled.
"You know?, you remind me a lot of Lord Uzumi ".
Athrun's eyebrows rose in .
"He was always calm, rational and objective, even under pressure. I think you also witnessed that side of him during the first war when Muta Azrael threatened to invade Orb".
"Yes...I remember that".
Athrun remembed admiring Cagalli's father's calmness during the invasion. By that time, it was already clear that Orb had no chance against the Earth Alliance fleet but Lord Uzumi kept very calm and collected. Athrun admired this trait, the trait he had never seen in his father, who would always go berserk and make horrible and selfish decisions when he was under pressure.
"Lord Uzumi was always a rational leader and father too", Kisaka said, " when I came here after defecting from my own homeland, he welcomed me with open arms when everyone was objecting his decision. He didn't want to judge me by my past but by what I was going to do to prove myself worthy of serving his country".
"You had defected from your country too?", Athrun asked in shock.
He had never gotten a chance to have a personal conversation with Colonel Kisaka. He never assumed that someone like him could defect just like he did from ZAFT.
"Yes, I fled after my father was killed. He was the leader of the rebels and I never wanted to fight for terrorism but I was too afraid to escape when he was still alive".
"But you were fighting for your country, not against it, that's not terrorism ".
"The rebel group my father had was not in any way similar to the Desert Dawn, in fact, we were fighting against the Desert Dawn. My father was also a Blue Cosmos sympathiser. He believed in everything they said", Kisaka said regretfully, " at that time, the Blue Cosmos had interests in ruling our land and my father believed it was the best thing for our land, so that coordinators wouldn't infiltrate it or attack us. So we were funded by the Blue Cosmos ".
"I'm..really sorry about that, sir", Athrun apologised, feeling guilty for possibly leading Kisaka to relive his painful past through his unending questions. He felt like a jerk.
"No, no, it's no problem at all", Kisaka smiled in reassurance, "I don't get affected by it anymore because I've moved on from it and I'm working hard to protect peace unlike my father".
"Yea-".
"And you should too".
"Huh?".
"I see how your face changes everytime your father's name comes up. You have to stop blaming yourself for your father's actions. You're not him, you're his son but you're not him. Never forget that".
"Uh...yes sir".
"And if you were thinking that Lord Uzumi would hate you because of your father, that is not true at all. Infact, I always wonder how proud he is right now, wherever he is, to have a son-in-law like you".
"Son-in-law?!".
"Yes, I'm afraid that title might be impossible to make official because of the rules that Cagalli has to abide to but I'm sure if Lord Uzumi was still alive, he would have supported your relationship with Cagalli. Because you have proven yourself to be trustworthy and loyal to justice and peace more than any other potential suitor of Cagalli has".
Athrun didn't know what to say at all.
"Alright, that's about all of it, I'm going to take my leave for lunch, would you like to join me?".
"Uh...I... I am sorry but I still have some stuff to do, enjoy your lunch sir", Athrun said.
"Alright, just don't starve yourself...and also, public displays of Affection, like the one you did yesterday should be minimised", Kisaka softly warned, "You have no idea the amount of damage control I had to do to everyone that witnessed it".
"I understand that, sir, I promise I won't disappoint".
"Good".
With that, Kisaka left the room.
After the press conference, Cagalli tiredly walked back to her office. She was almost done for the day.
She entered the office and collapsed on her chair. The only task left on her schedule was the upcoming Memorial Ceremony for the fallen soldiers and civilians.
She knew the ceremony was going to be only one hour but she was already exhausted and her head was throbbing painfully.
Her office phone rang.
"Representative Attha", her assistant's voice sounded through the speaker, " Commander Zala of the Orb ground forces would like to see you but he didn't book an appointment, should I let him in?".
"Yes, please let him in", Cagalli grinned from ear to ear.
She quickly fixed her collar and brushed her hair a little.
The door opened and a tall familiar figure entered.
Cagalli ran to him and jumped onto him. He almost fell down because of the impact but he stood firm.
"Happy to see me aren't you?", he laughed.
He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. She responded a few moments later. She opened her mouth from time to time, to deepen the kiss but Athrun's moves were faster and hungrier than hers.
She moaned when his tongue reached the top o
He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. She responded a few moments later. She opened her mouth from time to time, to deepen the kiss but Athrun's moves were faster and hungrier than hers.
She moaned when his tongue reached the top of her mouth, sending shivers down her spine. She was drowned in bliss and pleasure in that m
He walked to the couch, still carrying her in his arms.
"I missed you so much", Cagalli complained, pouting into his neck.
"I missed you too", Athrun replied, letting her go so that they could sit on the couch together.
"Would you like anything to drink?", Cagalli smiled.
"No, I'm here to see you and I don't want to waste even one minute on the little time we have before the ceremony starts.
He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. She responded a few moments later. She opened her mouth from time to time, to deepen the kiss but Athrun's moves were faster and hungrier than hers.
She moaned when his tongue reached the top of her mouth, sending shivers down her spine. She was drowned in bliss and pleasure in that moment but she refused to be dominated. She pushed her tongue into his mouth too to make him feel the pleasure too.
Their tongues battled for dominance until Athrun won and Cagalli just gave in into the pleasure.
After what felt like forever, they pulled out of the kiss for air.
"That was intense", Cagalli laughed trying to catch her breath.
Athrun laughed too at how things had gotten so intense in such a short time.
"You were amazing out there", he smiled softly at her, admiring her beautiful golden eyes.
He had attended her press conference briefing as obligated by his schedule. He didn't really listen to most of the things she was saying because he was too busy admiring how beautiful she looked that day. She looked so cute and her innocent smile always warmed his heart up.
"Thanks", Cagalli said looking down.
"What's wrong?", Athrun asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.
"It's about what one of the reporters asked".
"What did they ask about?", Athrun inquired with a pang of guilt in his heart. He felt guilty for not paying enough attention to her press conference and now he hadn't noticed that something hurt her during that press conference.
"About COMPASS", Cagalli started, " the reporter asked if COMPASS had really been a tool for Orb, the Atlantic Federation and the Plants to attack the Eurasian Federation unprovoked. He was obviously asking because of the mistake Kira made when he was under mind control ".
"But everyone now has the evidence of what happened there".
"Yes, but, it just bugs me that I try so hard to protect my country and other people in need but it mostly ends up in a mess".
"Hey", Athrun said in a soothing voice, pulling a strand of hair from her face to put it behind her ear, "it's okay for that to happen Cagalli. That's part of being a leader, you're gonna get criticism even when all you're doing is just trying to help people.
He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. She responded a few moments later. She opened her mouth from time to time, to deepen the kiss but Athrun's moves were faster and hungrier than hers.
She moaned when his tongue reached the top of her mouth, sending shivers down her spine. She was drowned in bliss and pleasure in that moment but she refused to be dominated. She pushed her tongue into his mouth too to make him feel the pleasure too.
Their tongues battled for dominance until Athrun won and Cagalli just gave in into the pleasure.
After what felt like forever, they pulled out of the kiss for air.
"That was intense", Cagalli laughed trying to catch her breath.
Athrun laughed too at how things had gotten so intense in such a short time.
"You were amazing out there", he smiled softly at her, admiring her beautiful golden eyes.
He had attended her press conference briefing as obligated by his schedule. He didn't really listen to most of the things she was saying because he was too busy admiring how beautiful she looked that day. She looked so cute and her innocent smile always warmed his heart up.
"Thanks", Cagalli said looking down.
"What's wrong?", Athrun asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.
"It's about what one of the reporters asked".
"What did they ask about?", Athrun inquired with a pang of guilt in his heart. He felt guilty for not paying enough attention to her press conference and now he hadn't noticed that something hurt her during that press conference.
"About COMPASS", Cagalli started, " the reporter asked if COMPASS had really been a tool for Orb, the Atlantic Federation and the Plants to attack the Eurasian Federation unprovoked. He was obviously asking because of the mistake Kira made when he was under mind control ".
"But everyone now has the evidence of what happened there".
"Yes, but, it just bugs me that I try so hard to protect my country and other people in need but it mostly ends up in a mess".
"Hey", Athrun said in a soothing voice, pulling a strand of hair from her face to put it behind her ear, "it's okay for that to happen Cagalli. That's part of being a leader, you're gonna get criticism even when all you're doing is just trying to help people".
"But-".
"Cagalli, you're starting to doubt yourself again, I am not saying that you should forget the citizens' concern but when you're protecting your country, there will always be mistakes. If you hadn't formed COMPASS, imagine how powerful the Blue Cosmos terrorist could have gotten now...you've done the right thing and the majority of Orb citizens are still voting in favor of what you're doing...you need to stop focusing on the very few people who criticise you, because you cannot make every single person happy Cagalli...Orb citizens are also holding protests against the Blue Cosmos terrorism.", Athrun said softly with a lot of patience.
"There are a lot of refugees from those terrorised places here in Orb and they have also shown massive gratitude towards COMPASS. Did any other reporter say anything negative about COMPASS?", he asked.
"No, just that it might ruin our reputation as a neutral country but most of them actually wanted it's suspension to be revoked".
"You see?...You have a tendency to focus on one bad thing and ignore everything else that is good. You need to stop that if you want to make rational decisions with a clear mind, you need to stop focusing on small things, sweetheart...remember how you made the terrible decision of joining the Earth Alliance during the second war?...you didn't want to make that decision but you gave into the ministers' pressure because you were still thinking about what Shinn said".
"How do you always know exactly what to say at every moment? ", Cagalli asked with her eyes wide open in shock.
It truly amazed her how Athrun always was able to think rationaly even under pressure. He was the only person who could simultaneously comfort her and knock some sense into her.
"Do I?".
"Yes!", she grinned from ear to ear, "thank you for always being there for me, I wonder what I did to deserve someone like you".
"You tried to shoot and kill me twice", he joked, referring to the day they first met at the island.
Cagalli laughed and placed a kiss on his lips.
"I'm glad I didn't succeed", Cagalli said placing her arms around his neck.
He held her tight in response.
"I love you", they said in unison.
"So how have you been?", Cagalli asked Athrun.
"Fine, I guess", he sighed, "just wishing I could see your face more often".
"Me too, you don't know how much I miss having you at the house".
"I have an idea...", Athrun started.
"What?", Cagalli asked, further nuzzling herself into the warn of his neck.
"I can sneak in tonight".
"What?", Cagalli asked in shock and let go of him.
She wanted to look into his face and see if he was joking but surprisingly he wasn't at all.
"I can sneak into your bedroom tonight and we can spent the night together, we need this Cagalli ".
"You don't need to sneak in, Athrun ", she laughed, "you can just come".
Athrun was really confused. The scary looks he got from the staff at the Attha Manor when he used to live there were uncomfortable for him. He knew he was an eyesore to most of them.
"Cagalli, you know how your staff feels about me being near you...especially your nanny, Marna, I don't really want to agitate anyone".
"Well, you will be surprised with what I'm about to tell you".
"What?".
"Marna made your favourite meal today".
"Huh?!".
"I was actually shocked too, she rarely cooks but since she saw your car at the house late last night, she thought you had slept over and she went out of her way to make you rolled cabbage ".
"Rolled cabbage for breakfast?".
"I asked her that too but she was so certain that you would eat it even for breakfast because you liked it so much".
"She was right though, I could've eaten it", Athrun shrugged, "but how did she know what my favourite meal is. She never talked to me unless the topic was you".
"Um...", Cagalli stammered, not sure whether it was okay to tell Athrun how Marna found out about his favourite food or not.
"Yes?".
"Well...there's one day that I asked her to teach me how to make it, during that week I was off from work, before the second war... DON'T WORRY, I didn't disclose our relationship status, I just told her that I needed to cheer you up as a friend ".
"Oh my-... that's why she started giving me weird stares after that week, you gave her a clue of what was really going on between us, Cagalli ".
"I'm sorry, I was just so desperate to try and make you your favourite meal".
"Why?", he asked softly. He was genuinely confused.
"That was your birthday, you idiot, I wanted to surprise you, but then I burnt it and-".
"You then took me to a restaurant that specialised in cabbage meals", he smiled, reminiscing on the fond memory.
"Yes".
"I still don't think it's a good idea to come to your house while everyone is watching. We need to keep a low profile so no one can suspect anything ".
"Stop being so difficult, Zala", Cagalli nudged him and he laughed.
"I'm not being difficult, I'm just trying to protect us", he laughed.
"Protect us from what? We're not doing anything wrong...unless you're planning doing something other than just seeing each other".
"Something like what?".
That is when Cagalli got the question back in her head. The question she had been wanting to ask since the previous day.
"By the way, what was the enemy pilot talking about when he said 'indecent fantasies'?", she frowned.
"Eh?...", Athrun froze, not knowing what to say
Thanks for reading.
Please let me know how you feel about this chapter.