Chapter 4
"Athrun?", Cagalli called him again, "what was he talking about?".
He was still frozen. He didn't know what to say at all.
"Athrun ", Cagalli gritted her teeth as her face turned sour.
"Uh...um...about that...um", he stammered.
Cagalli kept looking at him angrily. She had taken a wild guess before. She had no idea what the fantasies were but the only thing she could guess was that maybe he probably recalled the memory from when they first met when she lifted her shirt to get rid of the crabs.
She recalled her left breast peeking out and she also noticed that Athrun had kept looking at her the whole time.
Cagalli always laughed when she remembered how Athrun blushed and fell into a ditch after she had caught him staring at her exposed breast.
"Athrun", Cagalli smiled pretentiously, "you know you can tell me anything, right?".
She was becoming a little scared of what he would say and whether he was going to tell the truth. If he was thinking about her in those indecent fantasies, she would have a small problem with him showing her exposed breast to the enemy pilot.
But if he was thinking about someone else in those fantasies, then she would have a bigger problem with him and by the looks of his face, she felt that she had to brace herself for the worst.
"Athrun!!!", she yelled.
"Uh, Cagalli", he nervously chuckled, "...you know? this new design of your uniform really looks good on you, you look gorgeous in it".
"Don't try to change the topic, you idiot! ", Cagalli hit him on his hand.
"Ouch", Athrun winced, "what did you do that for?".
"You're trying to avoid the question, aren't you?!!".
"Uhm...".
"Athrun, what-were-you-thinking about in that Cockpit?!!".
"Cagalli, I...I, okay, I might as well just say it", he sighed, "I...was thinking about you".
Cagalli sighed in relief. She had been frightened by his stammering. She had thought the stammering was because he didn't want to tell her that he was thinking about someone else.
"So why were you stammering?", she laughed.
"Uhm...nothing ", he nervously chuckled.
He was avoiding her gaze and that rose more suspicion in Cagalli. If he had told her the truth, why was he still acting so nervous, like he was still hiding something?.
"Athrun?".
He jumped in shock.
"Are you still hiding something from me?".
"Uh, no, no, no", he immediately answered.
"You are", Cagalli said sternly.
"What? oh please, stop being ridiculous Cagalli, I'm not hiding anything from you", he nervously laughed.
"You're not gonna fool me Athrun, remember you're not a very good liar".
Athrun's chest pounded, he didn't think she could see how nervous he was. He had always been magnificent in covering up his emotions, thus he didn't understand why he was so jumpy that day. Was it because he didn't want her to ask anything further or because the memory itself was kind of exciting to him?.
"Athrun ", Cagalli asked with a gentle tap on his shoulder, distracting him from his thoughts.
"Y-yes?".
"You know we promised each other that we would be honest and tell each other even the tiniest things", Cagalli said softly, trying to coerce him into telling her more, "you can tell me anything, Athrun. I love you, and I will never judge you, even if you were thinking of another woman at that moment, I won't judge you", she lied.
Of course, if he was thinking about another woman in those 'indecent fantasies', she would be hurt beyond tolerable measures and she would hold that against him. But at the moment, she had to convince him otherwise because she wanted him to tell her the whole truth, whether it would be painful or not.
Athrun digested the words for a moment. She sounded sincere and the look in her eyes was very soft, convincing and so beautiful.
'Jeez, quit looking at her and focus', he told himself internally.
"Really?", he asked her, "you wouldn't judge me if was thinking...wait a minute, did you just say you think I was having thoughts about another...woman?!".
"Uhm...yeah", Cagalli answered in a low voice.
"Put some respect on my name, Cagalli, jeez, how can you think so low of me?!!", Athrun complained.
"Then why are you acting all nervous?!!".
"Because...because ", Athrun wasn't sure if Cagalli would really want to hear the whole truth.
"So my assumption is right, you were thinking of another woman, Athrun, who is she?, you know what? I hope you'll be happy with her", she said angrily standing up to get out of the office.
It was her office but she was too angry to be near him, so she had to leave. She was almost at the door when Athrun's strong hand grabbed her.
"Let go of me, you bastard!!", she yelled.
"Wait, Cagalli, why are you assuming such derogatory things about me?, I would never do that to you!!".
"Then why don't you want to say anything Athrun?, why do you keep stammering?".
"Because I was thinking about you!".
"Then why is it so hard to tell me what exactly about me, that you were thinking about?".
"Because you'll get mad at me if I tell you the details!!".
"Tell me!!!, or I will walk out of this door and I'll never want to see you again!!".
Athrun sighed in defeat. He had no choice but to tell her everything or he would lose her to the assumptions she was already making in her head.
"Okay, calm down, Cagalli, I'll tell you everything, every detail ", he started, "...but on one condition".
"What condition ?".
"Promise me you won't get mad".
"What?!!!".
"Just promise me you won't get mad, Cagalli or try to hit me".
Cagalli was puzzled. What was so bad that he was afraid to tell her?.
"Okay", she gave in.
"I...was thinking about you", he hesitated, "with less clothes and my ring was on your finger not on your neck".
"With a...little less clothes?".
"Yeah".
"You were imagining me with less clothes?".
"I already said that, Cagalli, you don't need to repeat it", he said with embarrassment.
Cagalli laughed.
"Athrun Zala, were you imagining me in a bikini?", she laughed, "You're so naughty, maybe I actually need to buy one and wear it to make you happy, you naughty boy".
"Uh...no, it wasn't that".
"Then, what was it, just a normal pair of bra and panties?".
"Something...less than that".
"Something less than that?...then you thought of me with only panties on?", she blushed heavily.
"A...little less than that too", he stammered in a low voice. He now looked like a scared little puppy.
Cagalli tried to digest the information. If it was less than her regular panties, was he imagining her in those G-strings that she saw in magazines?. She tried to think of more possibilities until it hit her!
"You...were...thinking...about, my completely...naked body?!!!".
"Uhmm,.. yeah." Athrun confirmed in a low voice, his cheeks bright red.
"Athrun!, you little pervert!!", she yelled hitting him.
"Ouch, ouch, but you promised you wouldn't get mad!", he complained.
"You showed my naked body to that idiot, how dare you embarass me like that?!!", she said continuing to hit him.
"I needed to distract him", he defended himself , "it isn't your real body. anyway, I was just imagining what it would look like!".
He caught most of her fists before they could hit him but the ones that hit were kind of painful for him.
"Cagalli, stop it!".
"I won't-", a knock on the door interrupted her hissy fit.
She stopped and went to open it.
"Representative Attha, the memorial ceremony is left with only 3 minutes to start", her assistant told her.
"Oh, okay, thanks for letting me know, I'll out in a minute ", he nervously chuckled.
"Okay, Ms Attha ".
Cagalli closed the door and went back to her table. She hurriedly collected her stuff and gave a sharp look to Athrun.
"The memorial ceremony is only left with 3 minutes to start, we have to go...but this isn't over yet".
He sighed in relief. He at least had to rest for an hour before being attacked by the violent princess in front of him.
The crowd placed their flowers onto the tombstones at the memorial park of Orb.
A moment of silence was held for the fallen soldiers and civilians that had lost their lives not only during the recent war but also the two previous wars.
Cagalli silently prayed and hoped for world peace. A world where people as young as her have to join the battlefield. A world where people lived together in harmony and looked past their differences.
That kind of world already existed in Orb. There had never been any conflict between the civilians because of their genetic differences.
She only hoped for the whole world to live like that. She knew that the civilians around the world didn't just hate each other because of their genetics but because of the false ideologies spread by their respective leaders. The false ideologies that corrupt people's brains with hatred.
After the moment of silence, everyone took their seats.
"We're gathered here, to mourn the souls that were lost in this war, not only the souls lost on Orb's soil but also the souls lost around the whole world...", Cagalli held her speech.
Athrun was seated beside Kisaka. Ceremonies like this always brought sad memories to him. He always remembers his mother's funeral ceremonies like these are held.
After seeing the footage of Junius Seven being destroyed, he went numb for days. He couldn't eat, sleep or concentrate in school.
It took him a long time to actually let it sink in that his mother was gone.
During the search for her body that his father had paid for, he hoped that they couldn't find it, meaning that she had already left Junius Seven when it got destroyed. Everytime a car pulled up into their estate, he would run to the window, hoping to see his mother come out of the car, alive and well.
He would sometimes dream about her. He would see her sitting in her favourite spot in their house. She always sat at the corner window where sunshine hit all day in their large lounge, holding a mug of coffee and staring at her liliac garden outside.
In those dreams, she would always look at him and smile but didn't say anything.
He would try to run to her and hug her but he always woke up before getting to her. This would always frustrate him and pain him a lot.
When her body finally arrived at their home for her wake. He wept for two days straight.
His chest would physically hurt and felt heavy from the pain. It finally hit him hard that his mother was actually gone, that he would never see her again. That he would never have someone to hold him when he is sad and tell him that everything was going to be fine.
Of course, his father was still alive but he was always not around.
Athrun had spent most of his upbringing with his mother. His father was always at work and travelled a lot for work, together with Siegel Clyne. And during the few times he came home, he would mostly be in his study, looking over documents. He grew up thinking his father was really obsessed with his work.
When he was at home and not busy, a young Athrun would try to ask him to teach him some things that fathers teach their sons, like riding a bike, swimming but his father would always promised to teach him later because he was tired.
Athrun remembers being taught a lot of father-son activities by Kira's father, Mr. Yamato. He was also a very busy man but when he was home and not occupied by anything, Athrun could see how tired he was by the look on his face, with dark circles around his eyes. But Mr. Yamato always had time for his son, Kira and Athrun.
Mr. Yamato taught Kira and Athrun bike riding swimming and a lot more activities. He even took them on camping and fishing trips on his own. They would always have fun with Kira's dad.
Athrun actually felt closer to Mr. Yamato than his own father. His father refused to be referred to as 'dad' at work, even when they were alone.
After joining, ZAFT, instead of feeling closer to his father because they would meet more frequently than before, Athrun actually felt more distant from his father.
The very day his mother was laid to rest, Athrun knew he basically had no one left for him in this world.
But that changed when he met Cagalli. After their first kiss, she had been his rock and the only person that could make him laugh and see the bright side of life again. She made him feel the warmth he always had when he still had his mother. The sense of belonging came over him again when she came into his life.
Just seeing her would always brighten up his day and elevate his mood.
After the ceremony, everyone started to depart but Cagalli still had to talk to some officials, so she was quite busy.
Marna walked around the venue, trying to search for Colonel Kisaka.
She knew she couldn't reach Cagalli since she was busy at that moment but it was urgent. So she needed to get Colonel Kisaka to talk to her.
She scanned the croud and couldn't find the Colonel anywhere, maybe he had already left.
She almost gave up but then spotted Athrun alone standing at a corner.
"Master Athrun ", she called as she quickened her pace towards him.
Athrun turned to see a worried Marna hurriedly walking towards him. Had something happed?.
"Ms. Marna, what a surprise, how are you?", Athrun said politely.
"Master Athrun, thank Haumea I found you", she let out a heavy breath because she was tired of the running.
"What happened?, is something wrong?", Athrun asked with concern.
"I need you to deliver this to Lady Cagalli, I cannot reach her right now".
Marna pulled out a small envelope from her pocket.
"But please read it first, it is directed to her but I think he wanted to direct it to both of you".
Athrun looked at the envelope and was puzzled.
"But it is directed to you...from your brother, why should I read it?".
"Yes, on the surface it is but on the inside it's different ".
Athrun made sure no one was near him before he opened the letter.
The letter said:
"Ms. Marna, it's been a long time since we spoke. I have been well and I hope you are too.
It's me, the brunette with a lavender field for a spirit".
"Kira", Athrun whispered to himself.
"I hope my sister is doing well too. I have heard her from afar. I wish I could be there with her now, in the orange sky and the red night too. Francisco's time is running out but I can go fishing anyway. I cannot keep sleeping forever".
Athrun folded the letter and put it in his pocket.
"Do you understand what he is saying?".
"Yes, thank you Marna, I'll show it to Cagalli ".
"You're welcome Master Athrun".
The old lady left the venue and went back home.
"Yes, I'll see what we can do about that", Cagalli nodded, talking to her assistant.
Athrun approached.
"Cagalli, may I have a word with you?", he asked gently.
"I'll see you tomorrow Representative Attha, excuse me", Cagalli's assistant excused herself.
"Yeah?, what is it?", Cagalli raised her eyebrows.
"We need to talk, in private".
"About your 'thoughts' during the battle?", she frowned angrily, "if it's about that then please spare me-".
"No, it's about something else, something really urgent ".
She saw the seriousness in his face, she obliged and followed him to his car. After they got inside, Athrun started the car.
"Uh...what are you doing?".
"We're going to meet Kira".
"Eh?!!", Cagalli was puzzled.
"Yes, he wrote a letter to you".
"Why did he do that?, someone has probably already checked it if it was sent to me , for security reasons ".
"Don't worry, the letter was disguised as a letter from Marna's brother to her. And the contents of the letter were coded such that only I could understand what he was saying in it".
"Only you?, hey, I'm not dump, I could have understood it too you know!", Cagalli snorted.
Athrun laughed. He always found it funny when she would get worked up over very small things.
"What's so funny about what I said?!".
"Nothing, it's just that you get so worked up over nothing sometimes and it's so funny", he laughed.
"Hey, stop it", she smaked him on his shoulder and it just made things worse.
Athrun was always a serious person and an overthinker. He rarely cheered up because his head was always filled with thoughts and plans but everyday, since the day she came into his life, Cagalli would occasionally and unintentionally make him laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop", Athrun surrendered, suppressing the laugh that was about to escape from his chest, "we have to focus here".
There was silence for a few minutes as Athrun drove.
"Where are we meeting him?".
"At a deserted cliff near the beach".
"I don't know of any deserted places in Orb".
"I called it deserted because it is beyond the farmlands, so basically no one lives there ".
"Beyond the farmlands?!, you mean that we're have to drive over 100 miles to meet him?".
"Yes, don't worry about it, we will be there in no time. The letter says that you have tried to contact him, is it because of the COMPASS situation or you were just worried about him?".
"Both", Cagalli said calmly, "where's the letter?".
"It's in my pocket".
Cagalli reached for it and started reading it.
"You were telling the truth when you said only you could understand it", Cagalli shrugged , "is this a coordinator thing or a friendship thing?. I mean about your understanding of his codes".
"Friendship thing, Francisco was a cartoon we used to watch as kids everyday at 5pm, that means that's when he wants us to meet...".
Athrun explained everything and Cagalli just listened quietly.
"I wonder what he'll say", Cagalli sighed.
"About COMPASS?".
"Yes... our co-overseers want him to come back and clear his name so that COMPASS' reputation will be saved. They wanted to revoke the suspension but they fear the things being said about it right now".
"We'll have to hear what he says first," Athrun sighed too.
He had been worried about Kira, too. They had last seen each other during the battle. The last he had heard of him was that he and Lacus were being searched for by Eurasian Federation and some remaining fractions of the Blue Cosmos. They wanted him to answer for what he did during the battle, when he attacked on their land for no reason.
They didn't know that it was the Accords' mind control that caused that but at least now they had enough proof to prove Kira's innocence and shut their mouths forever.
But right now, all they had to do was be patient and hear what Kira had to say.
Athrun parked his car near a beach. The sunset looked very beautiful. They got out of the car and walked downhill to their rendezvous spot.
The cliff was the perfect spot to enjoy the sunset. Cagalli closed her eyes and gave in to the comfort this place gave. It was so silent and peaceful unlike her everyday life back in the city.
Athrun looked around to check if there was no one around. He knew that even though no one had followed them on the road, someone could have followed them another way.
Their attention was caught buy a screeching sound coming from behind the sloppy cliff and a familiar figure emerged.
"Kira", they both said in shock.
"Athrun, Cagalli ", Kira tipped his head in greetings.
"Where's Lacus?, is she okay?", Cagalli asked, worry plastered all over her face.
"She's fine, don't worry", Kira smiled, "I just didn't want to risk bringing her with me".
Athrun and Cagalli couldn't believe how much Kira had changed in just two days. His smile looked more cheerful and he looked genuinely happy, despite everything that was happening.
Athrun could see the Kira he knew during his childhood again. The cheerful, happy go lucky and mischievous Kira from his childhood was back. But how could have changed so drastically in only two days.
Cagalli had never seen that version of Kira. She had only known her brother to be stoic and sad.
"So, you have seen my messages?", Cagalli asked.
"Yes".
"I guess, you now know what's going on?", Cagalli looked down sadly.
"Yes, I am aware of that", Kira smiled again, "but that doesn't matter".
Cagalli and Athrun were shocked by that statement.
"Kira?-", Athrun gasped.
"It's okay, Athrun. They can say whatever they want but it doesn't matter to me anymore ".
"Why?", Cagalli asked.
"I don't want to be part of COMPASS anymore nor do I want to fight anyone anymore".
There was a momentary silence among them. Cagalli didn't know what to say. She didn't want him to suffer the pain of forcing himself into battlefields but none of them were in this mess willingly but they were still fighting.
"Kira, you know how COMPASS is important in keeping peace around the world, the Blue Cosmos will start doing whatever they want to poor countries around the world", Cagalli complained, "...I understand that you are tired of fighting...and I really want you to get the peace and rest you deserve but there are a lot of people in need now, plus COMPASS will save Orb and the PLANTS from unnecessary conflicts. If you don't want to fight anymore, it's okay, but can you please at least come and prove your innocence and save COMPASS...I promise I'll look for someone to replace you...we just need you to come back and show yourself, your hiding only paints you as a guilty person".
"No, I won't. I want peace and I'm really sorry to disappoint you but, I just can't do this anymore".
"Kira, it's just a small hearing. We've already gathered evidence that proves everything about the mind control used by the Accords", Cagalli said, "..all we need is you. You just need to be present and give your statement as a witness. You'll just be confirming everything that's already on display".
"What if they find me guilty?", Kira asked sternly with a serious face.
"They won't, we already have evidence that has been proven around the whole world, everyone in the universe is now aware of the Accords' mind reading and mind control techniques, haven't you been watching the news, Kira?", Cagalli complained.
"Uh...no, I haven't watched or listened to anything pertaining to war, since we came back to Earth", Kira said in a low voice, "I was tired of being stressed out, I wanted to relax and not think about anything negative and it worked. I have never felt so normal in 5 years...Every single day for the past 5 years, I was either in the battlefield or in a ship, thinking and preparing for the next battle. And when each war would end, I would be depressed every day, thinking about when and if the next war would begin, thinking about when I will be forced to kill people again. Neither Lacus nor I want anything to do with politics anymore".
Cagalli felt pain in her chest. Her brother had been suffering and she was never able to help him.
"I don't want that anymore. I have fought enough, I want to live, not survive. I am tired of being depressed and killing people ", Kira lowered his head sadly, "I'm tired of seeing people die right in front of me".
Cagalli felt more guilt welling up inside her. She knows what it feels like to be depressed, to feel like there's no light at the end of the dark tunnel you are walking in. Now that Kira had found his light at the end of the dark tunnel, it would only be selfish of her to deprive him of the basic need of a human being...sanity.
"I understand", Cagalli sighed in defeat, "I'm sorry for trying to force you into this again. I'm really happy that you're no longer depressed".
"It's okay, I know you must be under a lot of pressure right now but COMPASS isn't the only thing that can save Orb Cagalli, Orb can save Orb too", Kira smiled at his sister, "I know you think that power invites conflict but power also protects people of Orb during merciless unprovoked attacks. Focus on improving Orb's military Cagalli".
"But...", Cagalli started but she didn't know how to argue that point.
Kira kept smiling and he turned to Athrun, who had been quiet the whole time. He seemed to be in deep thoughts about the situation too.
"And you? Aren't you gonna punch me for this?", Kira joked.
Both Athrun and Kira laughed. Cagalli was confused, she had no idea why the punch joke was so funny to them.
"No", Athrun said after his laughter had stopped, "No, I won't punch you this time because you're not being selfish. You're doing what anyone in your situation would do, Kira".
"You punched Kira?, When?", Cagalli asked, confused.
Kira laughed.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you later", Athrun smiled at her while Kira kept laughing.
"So, he punched you and you're just laughing about it? why don't you punch him back?", Cagalli frowned at Kira in more confusion.
"I already did", Kira said laughing.
Athrun and Kira's laughter eventually died down.
"So what's your plan from now?", Athrun asked his friend.
"I am not sure, I think I'll just go with the flow. Changing my identity wouldn't be so bad. Maybe finish my studies, possibly open a computer repair and sales shop in the future, if things settle for sure", Kira explained, "and maybe get married and start a family with Lacus too".
Both Cagalli and Athrun gasped in shock.
"Married?!!!", both Cagalli and Athrun asked.
"Yes", Kira chuckled, "I haven't proposed yet but I've been thinking about it the past few days".
"Oh, congratulations in advance ", Athrun said smiling.
He was genuinely happy that his best friend had found himself again. The past wars had changed Kira greatly. He had become more like Athrun in a lot of ways and Athrun longed to see his happy go lucky friend again. And now that he was back, Athrun didn't want that to disappear.
"Thank you, Athrun ".
"Congratulations", Cagalli said softly.
"So where are you living right now?", Athrun asked worriedly.
"I wish I could tell you but someone could be listening to us right now, I don't want to risk anything ".
"Yeah, sure, I made sure no one was following us though but as you just said, you never know", Athrun agreed.
"So what's you guys' plan?", Kira asked, "What are you going to do to replace COMPASS?".
"I think what you said is the solution we're gonna implement for the time being, until we figure out how to replace it", Cagalli said sadly.
She didn't want to create too much power but she had no choice.
"Okay, I think I have to go now or I'llbe late for dinner and Lacus will kill me for that", Kira smiled.
"We'll see you later", Athrun said hugging his best friend.
"Take care of my sister ", Kira said.
"Hey, I can take care of myself!", Cagalli protested balling her fists.
"I know, but not as much as he can", Kira said hugging his sister.
Cagalli shrugged and rolled her eyes.
After that Kira left in his car and left Cagalli and Athrun standing there.
They watched as he sped away.
"I hope he is going to be okay", Cagalli said worriedly.
"He is going to be fine. Kira is more capable of protecting himself more than you can imagine ", Athrun smiled.
The sunset view was getting even more beautiful and Cagalli couldn't help but be reminded of when they met at Crete during the second PLANT Alliance war.
"You know?, this place reminds me of Crete", Cagalli said smiling.
"Crete?", Athrun asked farrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
"Yeah, when you met Kira and I during the second war ", Cagalli reminded him.
"Oh", Athrun said with a pang of guilt.
Of course, it was in the far past, that had been over two years earlier but he still kind of felt guilty of how he treated her and Kira that day.
"I think we should go back home before it gets dark", Athrun suggested gently smiling at her.
"You're right", Cagalli agreed as she followed him back to his car.
"Looks like we have caught her red handed," Yama Sahaku said with a sharp gaze towards the screen, " she told us in the Cabinet meetings that she doesn't know where Kira Yamato is...what should we do now father?".
"Well, it could be their first time meeting after the war, it's only been two days since it ended", the older man answered calmly.
"I'm sure the Cabinet would want to see how untrustworthy their dear Representative is", Yama smiled deviously, "we need to show this footage at the next Cabinet meeting ".
"No", his father said sternly.
"What?!", Yama was beyond shocked, "Father, we have the evidence right here that she is lying to everyone and keeping secrets, that's dictatorship and this will definitely work in our favour if we show it to all the ministers!".
"And then what?", his father asked calmly.
"Then the whole Cabinet will lose trust in her and it will be a scandal!".
"And after that?".
"We'll see what will happen after that father as long as the scandal starts, everything else will workout on it's own!".
"Workout on it's own, huh?", he father looked at him sternly, " I never thought my own son could be so stupid!".
"Father?", Yama gasped in surprise.
"How can you be so stupid after everything I've tried to teach you about strategic thinking son?".
"Father...what do you mean?".
"If you show everyone that Cagalli knows where Kira Yamato is, yes, the Cabinet will deem her a liar but the only course of events after this would be her getting cornered by the whole Cabinet to bring Kira Yamato back and COMPASS will be back in operation again...How in the world is that going to benefit us?!", his father yelled at him.
"So we will just let the only evidence that we have so far of her dishonesty go unnoticed, father?!".
"This whole meeting they had has absolutely we need to accomplish what we want, whether Kira Yamato comes back or not, whether COMPASS' suspension gets revoked or not is none of our business ", the older man said calmly, " we have to focus on who we really want to deal with, Cagalli Yula Attha, and not any other insignificant person".
"If you say so father", Yama said disappointedly.
He walked towards the door to leave his father's office.
"You need to be strategic and have patience son, don't do anything without thinking at least 5 contingencies of your plan or else you'll lose".
Yama kept quiet. They had sent a drone shaped as a bird to follow Cagalli and Athrun and he was so pissed that he didn't get anything they could use against Cagalli.
"Power will be in our hands soon too, my son, the only thing we need to do is to be patient ".
Yama left the office angrily. He just wanted it to be over and done.
Athrun pulled up the car in the Attha Manor parking lot. It was already dark outside and the tower and garden lights were now on.
"I'll walk you to the entrance ", Athrun suggested.
"Okay", Cagalli agreed.
She didn't feel like arguing since her mind was too preoccupied. She was still thinking about what to do with COMPASS. Should she really take Kira's advice and increase the military spending in Orb?.
Athrun wanted to walk Cagalli to the door not only because he wanted to spend a few more minutes with her but because he also wanted to protect her. Since they left their rendezvous point, he had been feeling weird.
He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. He couldn't pin point what it was but could still feel weird. Someone could call it intuition but it frustrated him.
The feeling had started when Kira and Cagalli were still talking, he had seen a bird fly and land on the hill above the. Something about that bird just awoke a bad gut feeling for him.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow ", Athrun said smiling as they reached the Attha house main entrance.
The two royal guards that were standing there saluted and Athrun saluted in return.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Commander Zala, thank you for escorting me home", Cagalli said sadly.
They had to pretend to be professional towards each other when they were in front of anyone so that no one would know what was going on between them.
Cagalli was really sad that they hadn't spent much alone time together that day.
"Anytime Representative, I hope you have a good night ".
He gave her a quick hug since he couldn't kiss her in front of the entrance guards.
"Master Athrun, Lady Cagalli!", a voice sounded from the entrance.
Both Cagalli and Athrun turned to look at the entrance only to see Marna standing there with a big smile.
"Thank you for bringing the young Lady home safely, Master Athrun", Marna said bowing her head.
"No need to thank me, Ms. Marna", Athrun said politely.
"Well if you won't accept a verbal thank you, I already have another piece of gratitude inside, come on inside".
"Uh...thank you very much Ms. Marna but-", Athrun stammered but before he could finish his statement, Marna took him by his arm and quickly dragged him inside. He almost fell from the surprise attack.
"You came just in time for dinner", the old lady said cheerfully.
Marna dragged Athrun inside the Attha house while Cagalli walked behind them, laughing her face off.
When they got to the dinning room, a beautiful mixture of aroma from different dishes filled the room.
"Please take your seats ", Marna instructed both Athrun and Cagalli, "Master Athrun, the chefs made you rolled cabbage too, if you would like it".
"Rolled cabbage?, Of course, I would like to have it, thank you very much Ms. Marna", Athrun said happily opening the the bowl with rolled cabbage.
"What about me?, you didn't make me my favourite food too?", Cagalli asked with jealousy very visible on her face.
Both Marna and Athrun laughed at her.
"Your favourite food is not nutritious at all my Lady, Kebabs are meant to be eaten as snacks, not as meals", Marna said.
Cagalli just huffed and started scanning the table looking for any dish that wasn't too boring to eat.
"Enjoy your dinner, Master Athrun and Lady Cagalli, I have important matters to attend to right now", Marna said.
"Thank you Ms. Marna ", they said in unison and Marna left the room.
Marna also instructed the maids to leave the room so that she could give the young couple some time alone.
"Aren't you gonna eat anything?", Athrun asked as he had seen Cagalli pick every bowl on the table but didn't dish any food for herself.
"All these dishes look so boring ", she complained pouting her lips.
"I'm sure the chilli montayaki will be tasty for you", Athrun suggested, "why don't you try it?".
"I ate it last night, it's dull and boring".
"But, you like chilli".
"On Kebabs, not anything else".
"How about you taste this rolled cabbage?, you might like it, it's really delicious ".
"I don't trust anything you like when it comes to food, Athrun, you have a very boring and dull taste in food", Cagalli laughed, " you seriously thought those awful military packed rations tasted normal, how can I trust your taste in food after that?".
"Hey, I didn't say they were delicious, I just said they weren't that bad".
"Same thing".
Athrun sighed.
"Okay, taste this, come on, I promise you won't regret it", Athrun said handing a spoon of rolled cabbage to Cagalli's mouth.
Cagalli sniffed at it first.
"Hey!, what kind of table manners are that?!", Athrun complained.
"I need to smell the food first to see if it'll taste good at all".
"Cagalli, they way something smells doesn't always determine it's taste, just take a bite and see if you like it".
"Okay, if you say so", she pouted.
Cagalli took the spoonful of the rolled cabbage into her mouth and started chewing.
"How is it?", Athrun excitedly asked.
"Hmm, not that bad", Cagalli said.
"This is really good Cagalli, we can eat together if you want".
"No, I want something that tastes good for me".
"Well, why don't you try dipping the rice and sea weed into the miso soup?, you won't regret it, I promise ", he smiled.
"With how dull your taste in food is, I don't think I should trust any of your suggestions anymore ".
"Come on, Cagalli, don't be a child, you need to eat something. You know?, maybe that's why you didn't last long in the desert dawns military, you're too picky for a real soldier ", Athrun teased her.
"Hey, I stay there because Kisaka had forced me to join the Archangel since he deemed it 'safer' and I couldn't go back into the battlefield because my father refused to let me go back into war!!!", Cagalli defended herself.
"Well, I'm sure both of them knew you wouldn't last long in the battlefield with your little princess attitude towards ", Athrun teased her even more, "picky eaters never make good soldiers".
"You-", Cagalli balled her fists in anger.
"Calm down, Cagalli, I'm just teasing you", Athrun laughed, "but in all seriousness, you need to eat something before you go to bed Cagalli ".
"You can't tell me what to do, you're not my parent, you're my equal, so you can't order me around".
"I can't order you around but I know someone else who can", he said smiling mischievously.
"Who?".
"Ms. Marna!", he called out.
"Hey, shh, stop that!".
"If you don't eat your food, I'll call her again so that she can assist you in picking what to eat and I hope you know that she won't be as gentle as I am being with you".
"Okay, okay, fine, I'll eat", she said scooping the dish nearest to her.
She started angrily stuffing the food into her mouth. Athrun laughed at the sight.
"You can add sea weed to that too, it will taste even better", he said .
Cagalli responded by kicking his leg under the table.
"Ouch, Ms. Marna!!", he called out again.
"Hey, I already started eating, why are you still calling her you idiot?!".
"I'm done eating, I have to go to my apartment, someone has to watch you and make sure you're eating".
"I can eat on my own!", she said stuffing more food into her mouth.
Athrun laughed even harder, how could she manage to be so funny without even realising it?
She stuffed even more food into her mouth that she accidentally started chocking.
Athrun laughed at first but then eventually realised that it wasn't going to end anytime soon.
"Here's some water", he said handing her a glass of water.
She took it and gulped it down in desperation but the water only made things worse, the lump of food stuck in her throat became even more painful.
She couldn't breathe since some of the rice had been vacuumed into her breathing canal.
She struggled holding her throat and trying to breathe.
"Come on", he took her hand and led her out of the dinning room.
"Where's the bathroom?", Athrun asked the maids that were standing in the hallway.
"It's over there sir", one of the maids pointed to the door at the end of the hallway.
Athrun rushed Cagalli to the bathroom and closed the door.
She was still struggling and desperately holding her throat.
Athrun struck her five times with his palm on her back but she was still choking.
"Bend over!", he instructed, making her face the toilet seat.
Cagalli obeyed and knelt infront of the toilet seat.
He then started giving her abdominal thrusts. They were so powerful but didn't work.
"Dammit! ", Athrun cursed.
He gave her two more abdominal thrusts and she finally threw up the food that had been stuck in her throat.
Athrun stepped away from her, letting out heavy breaths. It felt like he had just finished a small workout session.
Cagalli coughed multiple times after she was done vomiting. She was finally feeling better but there were still tiny ruminants of the rice in her throat and breathing canal.
Athrun fetched some water from the kitchen and gave it to her.
Her coughing had died down but she was still slightly shivering.
"Are okay now?", Athrun asked worriedly.
"I guess so".
"I'm gonna get Marna so that she can help you go to bed".
"No need for that, she's probably already asleep now, can you please you do it?", Cagalli pleaded with puppy eyes.
"Okay, I'll help you", he smiled, "but we'll walk there separately, so that no one sees that we're going to your room together.
They walked to Cagalli's room and Athrun sat on the couch beside her bed while she brushed her teeth and showered.
The room had never changed since he left. It was still painted in dark grey. Everything was still in the same order, the bookshelf, her desk and the furniture in the room.
She still hadn't moved into her late father's room. It was required of her since she was the now chief Representative but she didn't want to. She wanted to preserve her father's memory as much as she could.
His belongings were still in that room and Cagalli refused to throw them away, even the most unnecessary ones.
Athrun walked to the bookshelf and scanned the books. He wondered what kind of books Cagalli liked, so much so that she would keep a bookshelf in her room.
He picked them one by one, reading their titles. Most of them were about Orb's history, dating back centuries.
Only a few of them were about general politics.
Interesting, he thought. He made a mental note to read more about Orb's history since it was now his home.
"My father gave those to me when I turned 16".
Athrun was startled.
"Cagalli, you scared me".
"I'm sorry", she chuckled.
"So they were your birthday presents, huh?", he chuckled.
"No, as a matter of fact that was the first birthday he would give me things related to my future job instead of real presents", she said.
"Real presents?".
"Yeah, real birthday presents, I mean, I wasn't expecting a toy car since I was grown up but it was so boring to receive a whole bunch of books on my birthday and speeches of how I'm going to be Orb's leader one day bla bla bla", Cagalli rolled her eyes.
"But you were going to be the leader of Orb, he had to prepare you for that", Athrun chuckled at Cagalli's childish complaints.
"I was being prepared for that since I was a child, I even joined compulsory military training at 14 while other kids were having normal lives, and my birthday was the only day I had off but he decided to make that day boring too", Cagalli laughed.
"You joined military training at 14?", Athrun's emerald eyes widened.
"Yes, I had no choice not to".
"Wow, I joined the military willingly at 15 and it was really hard, I cannot imagine how hard it was for you to be forced into it", Athrun said sadly, "but your father loved you, it was probably just Royal Protocol ".
"I know he loved me", Cagalli sighed, " he was a very busy person, he would work until late at night, later than I actually work. I everyone in the Manor would be asleep when he came home from work but I would always hear him come into my room and his me on the forehead".
Athrun smiled quietly.
"He would cancel his whole schedule and stay home with me whenever I got sick", Cagalli smiled tears welling up in her eyes, " he would always tell me how I was his whole world and that if something were to happen to me he would go crazy".
"Hey, there there, it's okay, you can cry if you want", Athrun said hugging her, " it's okay, I know you miss him, Cagalli".
"When I came back with the Archangel, I could see how worried he had been but instead of apologising to him for running away from home I started arguing with him and insulting him", Cagalli said sadly.
She always felt guilty for everything she put her father through. If only she had known that he had adopted her, she would have given him all the appreciation in the world.
Lord Uzumi was an exemplary father. He loved his daughter so much and she was his whole world even though she was adopted.
"What about you Athrun?, Did you start getting lousy birthday gifts when you grew older?", Cagalli asked smiling.
Athrun laughed at the question.
"My birthdays weren't that eventful since my parents were always busy too but my mom got me a lot of thoughtful gifts until she died and my father on the other hand, I doubt he even knew I had a birthday", he laughed again.
"I'm so sorry for bringing that up", she said regretfully.
"Hey, come on, I'm not sad. I like making fun of my dad too, just like you did yours".
They both laughed at that.
After a while of banter and joking about their childhoods, Athrun decided he needed to go.
"Come on, stay here tonight, tomorrow we aren't going to work too early", Cagalli pleaded with him.
"You know I can't, I don't have any clothes to change in here", he pouted.
"I can put your uniform in the washer and dryer and they'll be fresh in just a few minutes ".
"Okay, what about pyjamas, I cannot sleep in only my underwear in your bed, Cagalli ".
"What's wrong with that?", Cagalli mischievously grinned.
"Eh!??!!...", Athrun gasped and his eyes widened.
How could she not see anything wrong with that?, he thought.
"Don't you want me to see your beach body, Athrun Zala?".
"Uh...uh, no...uhm, yes...uhm I mean no, I don't feel comfortable being half naked in front of you right now, I mean we aren't married yet", he stammered.
"We weren't married too when you showd my completely naked body to your opponent, Athrun!".
"That's different, that was an imagination of your body, not the real thing", he complained.
Cagalli kept quiet for a moment. She looked to be deep in a thought.
"Cagalli, are you okay?".
"Yes, I ...uhm", She nervously stammered.
"What is it?".
"I was just wondering. Do you want to see the real thing, my body, I mean?", she asked looking down on the floor shyly.
Please give me a suggestion for Yama's father's name.
Thanks for reading, you guys.