Chapter 7
Please comment what you think and what you want me to add to the story
"What are you talking about Athrun?, what marriage ", Cagalli fumed.
"Just forget about it", Athrun sighed and started the car again.
The car got back into the highway and sped towards the Attha Manor.
"Stop the car", Cagalli said firmly but in a calm way.
"Why?".
"I said stop the car", Cagalli said in a calm way that actually scared Athrun a bit.
"Cagalli, it's too dangerous, I can't stop the car in a highway, if we were in a good neighbourhood, I would have".
Athrun continued focusing on the road until his life flashed through his eyes when Cagalli opened her door while the car was in full speed.
"Cagalli, what the heck are you doing?!", Athrun asked stepping on the brakes and the car came to an abrupt halt.
Cagalli stepped out of the car and started walking. Her dress was pretty heavy so she had to hold it up so she could walk freely.
"Cagalli!", Athrun called while following her.
"Cagalli, stop, what the heck are you doing?".
Cagalli kept walking faster but since her dress was heavy, Athrun quickly caught up with her and grabbed her arm.
"Get your hands off me!", Cagalli yelled.
"Cagalli get back in the car right now!".
"Shut up, I'm not coming with you, so beat it!", she said struggling to shake off his grip on her elbow.
"Cagalli, it's too dangerous here, if you're gonna throw a tantrum better throw it when we get home", Athrun said dragging her back to the car.
"No, let me go, you bastard ", Cagalli said pulling herself in the opposite direction.
"Cagalli, this is not funny, I said get back into the car!".
Cagalli slapped him right across the face but he didn't budge.
"Athrun, let me go you idiot".
She bit him on his arm and dug deep her teeth until she could taste his blood.
"Ahhh!", Athrun groaned in pain and let her go.
Cagalli started walking away again.
Athrun winced holding his bleeding hand. He followed her again.
"Cagalli, come on, please come back ".
"Leave me alone, you idiot!".
If he was alone, Athrun wouldn't have cared but he was worried about her safety. This was a highway and Cagalli would be a risk of getting attacked not only by humans but also animals.
"Cagalli, can you please stop being so stubborn? You'll get hurt. It's okay if you don't want to talk to me, but at least let me take you home safely", Athrun begged.
Cagalli kept marching angrily and stopped when a black SUV stopped right in front of them. Athrun instinctively ran in front of Cagalli to shield her and pulled out his gun.
Athrun pointed his gun at the car and was ready to open fire. The front door opened and a familiar figure came out. It was Sargent Rieke, Cagalli's chief bodyguard.
"Commander Zala, we meet again ", she said with a polite smile and Athrun relaxed, "oh, I'm sorry I meant to say Admiral Zala".
"Sargent Rieke, nice to see you again ", Athrun said awkwardly putting his gun back inside his jacket.
"My pleasure, congratulations for your promotion by the way".
"Thank you", Athrun said, "how did you find us?".
"We were following you the whole time, is everything okay?, did you car breakdown?".
"Uh, no, the Representative had an emergency, that's why we stopped", Athrun nervously chuckled.
"Oh, okay, we'll park here until you guys get back on the road".
"I'm coming with you!", Cagalli said marching towards their car.
Athrun didn't say anything and just gave an acknowledgement nod to Sargent Rieke.
Cagalli got into the car, closing the door angrily and Sargent Rieke followed. They started the car and left Athrun there.
He sighed and got back into his car. He drove to his apartment and treated his wound as soon as he got home.
It was pretty deep, so much so that there were clear teeth marks on his hand.
Athrun felt really bad for how he yelled at her.
'I shouldn't have said all those horrible things to her. I should have found a better way of telling her how I feel about all of this', he thought.
The next morning Athrun went to work. Throughout the day, nomatter how hard he tried he couldn't get the guilt off his chest.
The sorrowful and scared face that showed when he was yelling at her the previous day kept eating up his conscience.
He couldn't believe he had stooped that low to her.
Athrun fidgeted his phone on his hands during lunch. He thought of sending a text but he knew that wouldn't be enough. He then thought of calling her but he knew that that too was not adequate, so he got his car keys and drove to her office.
The building was not busy during lunch at all because most of the Orb Cabinet members went for lunch at the nearby five star restaurant for lunch.
"Good Afternoon ", he approached as he reached Cagalli's secretary's desk.
"Good Afternoon, oh, Comm-, sorry, Admiral Zala, how are you?", the old lady smiled.
She had memorized Athrun's full name and credentials because he was a frequent visitor.
"I'm fine, ma'am, how are you?".
"Very well, she didn't go out for lunch today, but I'll call her first just for protocol or I might end up losing my job", she joked and Athrun chuckled.
"It's okay", Athrun gave her a polite smile.
The lady dialed the telephone.
"Representative Attha, Admiral Zala of the Orb ground forces is here to see you, shall I let him in?".
Athrun saw the lady frown. She kept quiet for a while and then hung up.
"Admiral...I'm sorry but the Representative says she doesn't want to see anyone at the moment...she even gave me an order to not call her if anyone came here without booking an appointment first", the old lady said.
"Anyone?".
"Yes".
Athrun was shocked to here that and his guilt grew even more.
"Oh, alright...may I book an appointment for today, there some militaristic issues that I want to discuss with her", he lied.
"As for today, her schedule is already full, I'll book you for tomorrow".
"That'll be fine, thank you for your time, have a good day".
"You too Admiral ".
Athrun weakly walked out of the building. He was literally dragging his feet on the pavement. He looked back at the window of Cagalli's office.
He knew exactly where it was located, second window from the left pillars of the building. And she was there.
He felt immense pain in his heart, not for getting kicked out by her but for how she must have been feeling at the moment.
His heart ached when he thought that she might have been crying or be sad because of what he said.
He wanted to kick himself in the head so bad for causing her to be sad.
But at the moment there was nothing he could do but just give her time.
Cagalli was laying on the couch in her office, facing upwards. She was staring at the ceiling with no thoughts in her mind at all.
She had no thoughts in her mind but pain in her chest. Her chest felt heavy and still had a sharp pain.
The sharp pain was getting better since it had started the previous night after she got home.
She didn't know if the sharp pain was because she had refrained from crying or it was bound to come after what had happened the previous night.
She was still breathing heavily because of the anger that had welled up in her chest.
A knock sounded on her door.
She couldn't find the strength to say anything so she stood up and went to the door.
"Representative Attha, the Cabinet members are ready for the meeting to commence ", her secretary said.
"Thank you", Cagalli forced herself to talk.
She had never mixed work with her personal life or even her needs, so this was the first day that she had ever gone to work angry.
She was always a principled person who left every personal emotion at home before she would come to work, but this day was different.
Cagalli walked into the conference room full of Ministers and other cabinet members.
"Good Morning ", Cagalli said confidently.
Everyone greeted her back.
"Cagalli-sama, here are the documents you told me to prepare for the meeting ", Toyah said handing her a file.
"Thank you, Toyah", Cagalli gave him a polite smile.
It had taken Cagalli a ten minute walk in the hallway for her to let go of her emotions and concentrate on her job.
"So, today is the day", Cagalli said facing the ministers, "like we agreed in our previous meeting, I hope everyone has come up with alternatives to the Cancellation of COMPASS ".
When she said that the whole room went silent. The ministers started looking at each other.
After about five whole minutes, Cagalli decided to speak up.
"Minister Toshiba, you can pitch your idea first and we will discuss it here", she offered a polite smile.
"Representative ", Minister Toshiba said, "I have no alternative to present but I have studied the documents that you gave us and I can say that I have no objection to your proposal".
"Alright, thank you for your contribution Minister Toshiba", Cagalli said, "but I'm sure everyone here has a different sentiment, so can we have more pitches please?".
The ministers were quiet for a while again.
"Representative Attha, I am still against the cancellation of COMPASS, even though you think it's a threat to our country's reputation right now", Minister Kiou said, "However I have not crafted any proposal because I do not believe in creating more power because as we all know, power always invites conflict, like what happened in the first war".
"But power is necessary, Minister Kiou", Cagalli said, "Power is necessary and not having enough power is why our country suffered during the first war, we had the mass driver they wanted to take from us but we didn't have enough power to defend ourselves ".
"Hmmm, that makes sense but making such a drastic change in our military will be really controversial ", a female minister said.
"Yes, that is true, but it is better to be controversial protecting our country than trying to meddle in other countries' conflicts", Cagalli said.
No one spoke for a while.
"What about you, Minister Sahaku?", Cagalli asked.
"I very much agree with your proposal Representative", he smiled.
"Alright ", Cagalli sighed, "I think we will vote now, shall we terminate COMPASS or not?".
After the voting, it showed that more ministers agreed with Cagalli. So she signed the documents detailing the absolute and permanent termination of COMPASS.
"I will be announcing this tomorrow in a press conference ", she said, "I hope you have a nice day".
Cagalli left the conference room and went to her office.
Her head started aching. She always had headaches during or after conference meetings and she wondered when that was going to stop.
She had been the Chief Representative for over four years now and she should have been used to these stressful meetings right?She wondered why she was still getting those post meeting headaches. The headache she felt this day was much more intense. She assumed it was because of the unresolved anger she had had since the previous night.
"Cagalli-sama, I'll leave for my office now, so I can get ready to go home, do you need anything else from me", Toyah asked while they were still in the hallway.
"No, thank you Toyah", Cagalli said in a low voice.
Toyah was concerned.
"Are you okay Cagalli-sama?", Toyah asked.
"Yes, yes I'm fine ", Cagalli pretend to smile even though her head felt like it was about to split apart.
"Representative Attha ", Cagalli heard a voice coming from behind them.
She turned around and saw Mahina Sahaku approaching.
"May I have a conversation with you, in private please, there's a matter that I need to discuss with you", Mahina said.
"Alright, we'll talk in my office", Cagalli nodded.
They both went to Cagalli's office and Cagalli sat down in her chair.
"Please take a seat, Mr. Sahaku ", she said politely.
"No, Representative, I won't be here for long anyway ", the old man said.
Cagalli was really curious as to why Mahina wanted to talk to her. He was one of those ministers she had never actually spoken to directly.
"It's quite impressive, what you did back there in the meeting ", Mahina said faking a smile, "It is high time we focus on protecting our country, the world as we know it might never stop fighting each other whether there's a peacekeeping organisation or not...so it was really brilliant to prioritise our country Representative ".
"Thank you", Cagalli said in a hesitant and low voice.
She couldn't understand why he had called her for a seemingly emergency meeting, Couldn't it wait until tomorrow?.
"You know, when your father passed away, I was really worried for a long time that you wouldn't be able to lead this country well", Mahina said walking around Cagalli's office, "of course, what happened during the second war was the Seirans' fault mostly, they overpowered you because you were alone and young too. I remember all the ministers back then were against you".
Cagalli kept watching the old man as he made slow steps around her office.
"Right now, with the drastic decision you've made, you've won the majority of the ministers' votes...but as you've seen more and more ministers are starting to disagree with you on a lot of issues...I am afraid more ministers might start turning their backs on you and you'll be in the same position like the second war again, where almost everyone disagrees with you".
"Minister Sahaku, I appreciate your concern but I think you should just get to the real issue you wanted to talk to me about. What is it that you actually wanted to discuss with me?", Cagalli said in confusion.
"Ah, I'm sorry for beating around the bush Representative ", Mahina smiled, "I have been worried about the current turn of events and how the ministers have been losing faith in you...I think you've noticed that too".
Cagalli frowned in sorrow. Although she didn't like anyone to have sympathy for her, he was actually telling the truth.
It wasn't only because of Cagalli choosing to terminate COMPASS, the ministers also showed distrust in how Cagalli handled things just a week ago during the war.
They blamed Cagalli for the uproar from the Eurasian Federation because they think she was too linient on Kira's mistakes only because he was her brother.
Cagalli knew that and it made her heart sink even more.
"Well, I know that and it's unfortunate ", Cagalli said softly.
"You need to have people who respect and support you unconditionally...we both know what happens when ministers start diverting from the leader, Representative. Look at what happened when your father got betrayed by the ministers, they went and secretly helped the Earth Alliance built weapons that started a war...and look at what happened when your ministers betrayed you during the second war".
Cagalli kept quiet not knowing what to say. The man was right.
"The Citizens are going to be angry and scared too if you announce the cancellation of COMPASS...so now more than ever you need to have people that support you by your side".
"What do you suggest?", Cagalli asked in confusion. She wondered what this old man was trying to say.
"My son...he is very loyal to your ideals and leadership. He has never opposed any of your actions...".
"So you want me to give him a seat in the Cabinet?, you know I cannot do that, that's not in my power-".
"No, Representative, I'm talking about something that would divert the country's attention from the COMPASS issue...Marriage", the old man said.
"What?!!", Cagalli exclaimed in shock, with her eyes wide open.
Athrun parked his car in the Orb Parliament building parking lot.
He had driven straight to her workplace after his work was done. Athrun watched as ministers in maroon suits walked out of the building to their respective cars but Cagalli wasn't anywhere to be seen.
He knew that her meeting was over and she should have been going home by that time. He comforted himself by holding on to the thought that she might have been finishing up a few things after such an important meeting.
He waited another half an hour and Cagalli still didn't come out. This worried him because he knew that she probably hadn't eaten anything or gotten some rest since the previous night.
"Damn it, why did I have to be such a jerk?", Athrun said.
He felt really bad for what he had done the previous night, not because she was seemingly punishing him but because he hated the idea of Cagalli being in pain, whether physically or emotionally.
The memory of her sad and scared face from the previous night made Athrun's heart ache.
He never wanted to see her sad but he ended up making her sad. He felt so ashamed of himself for doing that.
"Oh my gosh, what if she is staying in her office because she is crying?", Athrun asked sadly.
He moaned in sadness. He had never meant to yell all those awful words to her the previous night and now she was probably heartbroken by that.
Athrun got out of his car and headed for her office. He no longer cared about following protocol. His priority was her wellbeing at that moment, even if he was going to get into trouble for that.
"No, I will not go through with something like that!...never again!", Cagalli protested.
"I'm sorry if I offended you, it was just a suggestion ", Mahina said.
"I know but with all due respect, I don't want to ever hear any suggestions of marriage again, Minister ".
"I know this might be a difficult topic for you since your fiancé passed away...when my first wife died, I struggled to move on too but sometimes duty must come before our personal feelings Representative ".
"What are you talking about?", Cagalli frowned.
"Remember, our ideals as a nation don't only rely on being a neutral nation during conflicts but also in the preservation of our Nobles", Mahina said, "it is every noble's duty to marry into another noble family. And it is your duty too, Representative, that's why you see the news is still speculating on your marriage, they want to know more-".
"Minister Sahaku, I'm sorry to interrupt you but I'm not interested in getting betrothed to anyone ".
"Representative Attha, I see that you might not have a real grip of how severe and drastic these changes will be, ceasing COMPASS is basically sending a message that we agree that Commander Yamato is guilty ".
Cagalli gasps.
"This whole issue is going to send major shock waves in the international media, Neutron Jammer cancellers in our Mobile Suits, a cyclops system and permanently suspending a peace keeping organisation?...this is a really big issue that is going to cause unrest even amongst our citizens...showing that you still respect Orb's ideals would be a huge relief for our citizens...a royal marriage is always fulfilling for them".
"Minister, I understand your worries but I'm not going to get married and that's my final decision ".
"Well, it's alright, I just wanted to let you know before you would get bombarded by the question by the ministers in our next meeting ".
"What?".
"It has been a discussion amongst the ministers for a while now. With our citizens increasingly losing faith in us, it's high time you got married and made them realise that we're still patriotic and care for the future of our County ".
Athrun sneaked into the hallway leading to Cagalli's office without being seen by Cagalli's secretary.
He ran and then abruptly stopped before he opened Cagalli's door. He could hear her talk to someone inside the office.
He plugged his ear to the door so he could hear everything clearly.
Their voices came through as muffled sound but he could effectively hear what they were talking about.
"The citizens of Orb need a capable leader, who will protect them from the horrors of war and also keep their economy and society blooming, not some stupid fairytale wedding!", Cagalli yelled.
"But Representative..".
Athrun's heart rejoiced when he heard her say that. He felt an indescribable amount of relief when she clearly rejected a marriage betrothal proposal.
But he wondered who the man that was talking to her was. He didn't sound like that idiot Yama at all.
'So who is he?', Athrun wondered.
"Okay, if you say so, I'll be taking my leave. Thank you for your time Representative ", the man said.
Athrun backed away from the door. The old man opened the door and came out of the room.
Athrun noticed that he looked angry, and even worse, Athrun remembered who that man was.
"Oh, Admiral Zala, good to see you here", Mahina Sahaku faked a smile.
"Good evening, Minister Sahaku ", Athrun said.
"Good evening to you too", Mahina said and walked away.
Athrun entered Cagalli's office and closed the door behind him. He walked down the small hallway and reached her desk.
She was standing by the window and staring outside. She looked so distracted that Athrun didn't think that she heard him enter.
"Cagalli ", Athrun said, slowly inching closer.
She didn't respond. She was stationery.
"Cagalli ", Athrun said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She didn't move either but she took a deep breath.
"Please leave my office, Athrun ", Cagalli said in a low voice.
Athrun froze and removed his hand from her shoulder.
The was silence for a while until he decided to speak.
"Cagalli-".
"Just leave, please", Cagalli cut him off.
Athrun hesitated for a while and then spoke again.
"I'm sorry for what I said last night", Athrun said looking down like a sad puppy, " I shouldn't have said all those awful things to you and I didn't mean it. I let my anger and jealousy get the best of me".
Cagalli kept quiet.
Athrun kept waiting for a response from her but got none.
"It's okay if you are too mad to talk to me...I deserve it. All I ask from you is that you don't take those things to heart please, I didn't even mean to say them and I wouldn't want you to get hurt over things that actually aren't true...please", Athrun said.
Cagalli let out another heavy breath.
"What are you still doing here?", she said holding back angry tears.
"I...I want to make sure that you're alright ", Athrun said.
"I am weak, how can I be okay?", she said sarcastically.
"Cagalli, I didn't mean what I said last night, I don't think you're weak at all".
"But I bend to anyone's wishes so easily, right?, how can I not be weak?".
"Cagalli, please-".
"Just leave please, Athrun, I need to be alone".
He kept quiet for a while.
"Alright, I'll leave but please don't take what I said seriously...I'll come back when you're ready-".
"Don't come back", Cagalli said.
"What do you mean?".
"I said leave me alone and don't come back, I don't want you here...not anymore".
A shock wave transmitted throughout Athrun's body and his eyes widened.
Mahina entered his son's office and found him smiling over his phone.
"You useless piece of garbage, concentrate on things that matter for once in your life!", Mahina yelled and took Yama's phone away.
"Father?!".
"You will never change will you?, you'll always be a useless man!".
"I'm sorry, Father, I was just-".
"Stop giving me stupid excuses...I am ashamed to have a son like you!".
Yama looked down in submission and sadness. It has always been like this. His father always saw himm as a failure even during his childhood.
"She rejected our proposal ".
"What?".
"Do I need to repeat myself?", the old man said angrily.
Yama kept quiet.
"Since you're useless, I had to go fulfill yoour responsibility by myself and she yelled at me as if I was her equal ".
"But she is the Chief Representative though-".
"Shut up!...you're the most empty headed idiot...instead of sitting there and rotting in your laziness, why don't you go and try to court her. You might actually fall for each other and it won't have to be an arranged marriage at all".
"She won't fall for me and I don't like her either".
"It doesn't matter whether you like her or not!, you have to do this or you won't get any inheritance from me!".
"Father?!", Yama gasped in shock.
"Yes, I am serious ", Mahina said angrily, "I am sick and tired of your uselessness, other noble sons are getting seats in the Cabinet because of their accomplishments...Yuna Roma Seiran was actually younger than you but he worked his way into the Cabinet...Toyah Mashima is now iin training to become the next Chief Representative of Orb...and you?...just look at yourself ".
"I'm sorry Father ", Yama said in a low voice.
His father calmed down and composed himself.
"We're not going to give up on this, you are going to court Cagalli Yula Attha...make me proud, for once in your life, Yama".
"Father, courting her won't work only doing something that'll force her to marry me is the only way".
"Can you stop with that nonsense?, every woman wants to be courted and I don't see any problem if you try to be a gentleman to her".
"Every woman likes that, I know but Cagalli already has a man in her life".
"Who?, that little boy Toyah Mashima?", Mahina laughed, "he is not half the man you are".
"No father, it's not Toyah".
"There's no other noble around her age besides you and Toyah".
"He is not a noble...she's with that pesky coordinator, Athrun Zala", Yama said with annoyance.
"Coordinator?!!!, Athrun...the son of Patrick Zala?", Mahina gasped in deep shock.
"Yes, it's been happening for a while now ".
"That's why...".
"Father?, that's why what?".
"That's why I saw him enter her office after I left...these aren't working hours and that means he isn't here for a meeting, my Haumea, how didn't I notice that?".
"He is in her office?, right now?!!!".
"Yes".
"Excuse me", Yama said as he stormed out of the office.
"Cagalli ", Athrun said with his eyes wide in shock, "what do you mean?, I-".
"I said what I said, Athrun, leave me alone...go live your life in peace".
"But Cagalli, I apologised for what I said and I didn't even mean to say all those awful words to you", Athrun pleaded with her.
"And I accepted your apology but you need to leave, Athrun...I don't want you here anymore".
"So you haven't forgiven me yet. It's okay if you're angry with me, Cagalli. It's okay if you want to stay angry with me for the rest of your life but please-".
"Angry for the rest of my life?, like how you are with me for things that aren't in my power?".
"Cagalli I didn't mean to say that, I'm sorry".
There was silence between them for a while.
"You're never going to forgive me for this, are you?", Athrun sadly asked.
"Have you forgiven me for almost getting married to Yuna?".
Athrun kept quiet for a while.
"Can I be honest?".
"Yes".
"Yes, I have forgiven you, but...it still hurts. It still hurts and scares me at the same time...that I might lose you in that way again ".
Athrun knew that Cagalli wouldn't want to hear that but he loved her too much to lie to her.
"And you think it's my fault ".
"N-no", Athrun said hesitantly.
"You do. If you didn't think it's my fault you would've forgiven me and understood that I was only doing it for Orb...like you promised back in the Archangel infirmary after defecting from ZAFT".
"But Cagalli, I didn't say I haven't forgiven you, I only said that it hurts ", Athrun pleaded with her.
"Isn't it the same thing?".
"N-no, it's not-".
"It is, Athrun ", Cagalli abruptly cut him off and turned to look at him.
Athrun saw anger and despair on Cagalli's face which really broke his heart. He had really hurt her.
"Okay, okay...can we both calm down a little bit?...I know I've hurt you sweetheart but I'm here to apologise and it's okay if you don't want to forgive me...it's okay if you want to punish me or hit me...it's okay to do anything you want but please stop assuming things that'll end up hurting you emotionally...things that aren't even true for that matter".
Cagalli kept quiet for a while and then spoke in a low angry voice.
"Don't ever call me that again".
Athrun was puzzled.
"Cagalli ".
"I can't do this anymore ", Cagalli said, taking his ring from the drawer and giving it to him.
Athrun gasped in shock at the realisation that Cagalli hadn't worn the ring on her necklace like she always did every day.
"I wish you happiness, Admiral ".
Athrun couldn't breathe. Was he dreaming? Did Cagalli just break up with him?
And at that moment, Yama came into the office.
"Representative Attha, good evening, may I escort you home?".
"No", Cagalli said as she exited the office in a hurry.