Phase 07: Misunderstandings

Cagalli knew the moment the Emirs cornered her in her office that she was in for another scolding. With the way that she snapped at that person from earlier, it would have been a miracle if they decided to ignore it.

"Cagalli-sama…" Emir Chihaya Tokino started, her tone was a reprimanding one, which meant she was not happy at all. "You're on the news again today… You did good work on the charity event, but I can't say the same for the other reason why you are being talked about…"

"Yes, I am aware…" She answered truthfully. Although she hasn't checked what was being shown, she knew it wasn't anything good. If it was, then they wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place.

"Cagalli nee-sama was being harassed by that persistent journalist. Anyone would be annoyed with that kind of behavior." Touya defended her, which Cagalli was grateful for. But she shouldn't have lost it like that and kept her composure. She shouted at one of Orb's citizens and she felt a bit guilty for that.

"Touya," Emir Tokino turned to him. "Cagalli-sama isn't just anyone, she is the Chief Representative of Orb. We are expected to act with a grace in situations like this, no matter how pushy some other people can get. You have to remember that the younger generation look up to Cagalli-sama as their role model. This isn't the example that we should be setting for them." She reminded, which Cagalli agreed with. She would feel bad if Ren copied this kind of behavior from her and shouted at just anyone.

Touya didn't have any rebuttal to that. "That's true Chihaya-sama… I apologize for not realizing that."

Tezuka Kiou finally spoke. "Cagalli-sama, may I remind you to watch your temper. know that you are tired with the questions regarding your personal life but to snap like that in front of everyone… Just right before you fly off to the Kingdom of Scandinavia…."

"I apologize…" Cagalli admitted, finally realizing that she could have handled the situation better than she did. If it were Lacus, she would still smile and brush them off easily. "I was at my limit with them. We must do something about this type of behavior from the media. I've been seeing news that celebrities are also being harassed to the point that they either get injured or this affects them mentally. They are hounding us like felons."

Some members of the media are like crazed stalkers and this needs to be policies that will address this type of behavior. She made a mental note to discuss this topic in the next cabinet meeting.

"I understand that, and I agree with you fully, but again, please be mindful of snapping like that in public." Emir Kiou reminded her. "Your angry face is all over the media now. Tomorrow, it might be in the front cover of the newspapers…" Just thinking about this made Cagalli sigh inwardly. It can't be helped, it already happened.

"We should contact the media immediately to cease publishing any photos or reporting on this incident any further." Emir Tokino suggested so that the situation won't escalate any further, but Cagalli doesn't think it will help now. Information goes out quickly nowadays. Even if things are removed, a lot of people have already seen it and saved it. The least they can do now is some damage control.

"Yes, I am already on it." Touya informed everyone in the room. "We have already started contacting media outlets."

"Thank you Touya." Cagalli thanked him. As expected, Touya was quick to take action. Even though it won't help with what is already released as the masses may have archived it already, at least it might mean that it will no longer be publicized further if there are direct orders from the government.

"About the question that the interviewers asked you, you were really riled up when they asked about Rear Admiral Zala." Emir Gorou Watanabe, who had been quiet all this time finally spoke up and pointed out the obvious. "You had a more extreme reaction when it came to him than when they were asking you about Prince Fredrik"

"That's…" Cagalli couldn't answer him. She was a bit more protective of people that were close to her heart. If anyone tried to do them wrong, then she would really get angry. When people were already whispering rumors and talking bad about Athrun, she didn't like it at all and started to see red.

Emir Watanabe further inquired. "Is he the reason why you keep turning down all the marriage offers that you've received?"

That made Cagalli speechless. If anything, she thought that only Touya from the heads of the four noble clans knew about Athrun and her. It looks like she was mistaken, and they noticed it too, they just weren't saying anything about it for the longest time.

"Emir Watanabe, that's a bit…" Touya was again trying to cover up for her by hinting that it wasn't an appropriate question to ask.

"I don't know what's going on between the two of you behind the scenes, but it's not as if we're stupid and can't see the closeness between the two of you. Don't you think we ought to know by now?" Emir Kiou raised his brow knowingly at her and Cagalli just wanted to escape the room. If they already know the answer, then why are they even asking her?

Emir Watanabe finally went straight to the point. "Is he the person that you intend on marrying?"

The directness of his question had Cagalli at a loss for words. With all the bombardment of marriage questions she's been receiving for years, she surprisingly has not put so much thought into a marriage with Athrun. With all the things going on in the country, she really put her efforts and focus on being the leader that they deserved. Getting married was always at the back of her mind.

But of course, if she was going to marry, it would be to Athrun! She made a mistake before, but now she wouldn't let herself marry anyone else but him.

Suddenly an image of Athrun flashed in her mind. He was dashing wearing a formal attire and his face just exuded so much joy. He would hold her hand gently, put a ring on her finger, lift her veil so he can take a good look at her, lock his eyes onto hers with so much love, say that he loves her and then lean in to kiss her.

Hold on! That would be the most amazing thing to ever happen to her!

Just by thinking about that, Cagalli's heart would probably burst. She didn't know if she would be able to handle that much happiness.

Emir Watanabe was observing their Chief Representative and obviously saw how she was blushing like a schoolgirl in love. It wouldn't take that much to put the puzzle pieces together with that kind of lovestruck reaction written all over her face. "I see… Then I suggest that Representative Athha fix her affairs in order." He smiled, realizing that their Cagalli-sama, who has poured her heart and soul into serving Orb all these years, has found the love of her life.

"Cagalli-sama, thank goodness." Emir Tokino massaged her temples, looking relieved.

"Eh, what's the matter?" Cagalli looked over to Emir Tokino.

Emir Tokino sighed. "We were worried about you! We thought that you focused so much working that you don't have time for yourself… This was why kept suggesting that you foster your relationship with the Prince of Scandinavia more… We thought that he could be the one that could be by your side as a partner. But all this time, you already had someone supporting you!"

She initially thought that Athrun was just very good friends with Cagalli, which is why she always saw him often. She did have some inkling that was something going on, but she just couldn't ascertain because Cagalli had been tight-lipped on this matter. She then looked at Touya. "Touya, did you know about this?"

"Uhm…" Touya was startled that the attention was all on him and he shook his head yes. "Yes, I did… I'm sorry, it wasn't my place to tell so I didn't say anything."

"Is this going to be a problem?" Cagalli asked, anxious about their answer. She well-aware that there might be dissenting voices if her relationship were to come out and be revealed to the public. She may not get support of the masses of this, and she was worried most about Athrun getting hurt in all of this. "I'm sorry I kept silent about it; I thought you would all be against Athrun…" Her voice trailed off; sadness was all over her face when she said that.

"Against Athrun Zala?" Emir Tokino was surprised with what Cagalli said. "Why would we be against him? I think he's a fine man. I think everyone in this room would express their disagreement if they thought that he wasn't good for you."

"I apologize Representative if we made you feel like you couldn't be open with us about this topic, but we really are not against it at all." Emir Kiou cleared his throat and reassured her. Emir Watanabe and Emir Tokino nodded their heads in agreement as well. "In fact, I think it's such a good thing."

"A good thing?" She wondered what Emir Kiou meant by that.

"Orb is a country that treats naturals and coordinators as equals. But even with that, we're aware that there can be some coordinators still look down on naturals and that there are naturals that carry some resentment against coordinators…" Emir Kiou started to explain.

"Knowing you, Representative Athha, in choosing Athrun-san as your partner, him being a coordinator, his special skills nor his achievements weren't the factor that you considered. It was more of Athrun-san's character and who he is as a person that made you attracted to him. Isn't that right?" He asked.

"You're right." She agreed. His accolades or the fact that he has superior genes or even that he is considered one of the most elite amongst the coordinators that she fell in love with him. It was the kindness of his heart, how attentive he is of her, how he shows his love for her, his sense of justice, his desire to always to the right thing, his efforts to protect the world's peace… It was those things that made her love him and want to have a future with him by her side.

"To have the Orb's leader genuinely embody Orb's ideals sends such a strong message not just to this country, but to the world. Even if you did it unintentionally, it is exactly what this country needs." Emir Kiou finished with a smile.

"That's why, don't fret over that Cagalli-sama." Emir Watanabe backed this statement. "We will all be behind you to support you."

"Emir Kiou, Emir Watanabe, Emir Tokino…" Cagalli was overwhelmed with gratefulness that she couldn't express it in words. She was so happy that they were all on the same page on this. When Yuuna knew about her relationship with Athrun, he didn't really have encouraging words to say. But now, it was different, she was surrounded by people who didn't think the same.

"Looks like we were worried for nothing. Our princess won't grow old alone! Here we all thought that she would grow into an old lady by herself." Emir Kiou finally made a comment that lightened the mood.

"Certainly." Emir Tokino agreed. "I'm surprised that Athrun Zala can handle Cagalli-sama especially when she's always being so stubborn and difficult."

"Hey!" Cagalli called them out, but she wasn't mad at all. If anything, a weight was lifted from her shoulders. It was such a nice feeling.

She decided that when Athrun gets back from his mission, she would finally tell him what he would really appreciate to hear. For now, she would let him focus on completing it.

The good news would be her present to him and she couldn't wait to make the preparations when she returns from her trip. [1]

Athrun rushed outside to get some fresh air and calm down. He was just supposed to leave because he got so upset but he remembered the paper bag that Miriallia gave to him. She said it was important, he had to hand it to her one way or another.

Orb's parliament office had an outdoor area where people could take their breaks or have some meetings over tea. Today, there were some government employees seated in some of the benches, taking their lunch and chatting in a relaxed way.

Athrun took a deep breath, trying to exhale all his anxieties out of his system.

He usually wasn't like this. These things don't usually get to him nowadays, not even Waid's antics made him this upset. What had been different this time? Was it Cagalli's silence when she was asked by the other noble clan heads?

But maybe he was jumping to conclusions. It might just be because the Emirs were the ones asking her. If it were someone close to them, she might have answered differently. But usually when she spoke with the Emirs, she was always so sure of herself, but her hesitation and silence a while ago really bothered him.

He hung out in the garden for a few minutes, and he figured that their conversation may be done by now. He stood up from his seat and prepared himself to meet up with Cagalli. He would hand her the item that Miriallia entrusted to him and leave. When he was calmer and less emotional, then he could talk to her about it.

He was back by Cagalli's door and gave it a knock.

"Come in." Athrun could hear her voice, and he let himself in.

"Athrun!" She exclaimed, surprised to see him. She was seated in her desk but stood up when she saw him. "You're here! What's the matter?"

"Yeah." He didn't return the same enthusiasm as hers. "I just came here to deliver this to you. It's from Miriallia. She says it's important, but she won't be able to bring it to you until later today." Athrun handed her the paper bag, the reason he was here in the first place.

"Ah, that's right! I almost forgot about this!" Her face looked very pleased as she got the small thin paper bag from him. He thought that she would open it to see its contents, but she just put it down on her desk and turned to him. "Did you eat yet?"

His sour mood made him forget that he was hungry. "Ah, not yet."

Cagalli's face lightened up again. "Then good timing! Come eat with me!" She invited him and grabbed her lunch bag. "Mana always packs a lot for lunch so we can share."

"It's okay." Athrun shook his head. "I need to get back to the base anyways to continue with the preparations. I just came here to give that to you because Miriallia is occupied and she really wanted to give this to you before you left." His answer came out a bit too cold for his liking, but he was trying his best to mask his emotions.

"Really? But you came all the way here…" She sounded disappointed in that answer.

"That was… I had free time…" He did clear up his schedule specifically to see her.

"Then it's fine right?" Cagalli then insisted that he stay for a bit. "We can go to the garden to have a quick lunch then I'll send you off."

Being seen by everyone in the building like that after the news came out was something that made him panic. If Athrun wanted to wiggle out of this situation, then he unfortunately had to make something up. "Actually, when I got here, I received a call from the base asking me to check on something, so I need to heading back." It was a total lie; all preparations were in order.

"Oh… That's a pity." If it was really for the mission, then it couldn't be helped. She wouldn't hold him back if that was the case.

He gave a sad smile and was about to head off. "I'll leave now. I'll call you later, Cagalli."

"Wait, Athrun!" She called out, which stopped him in his tracks.

"Yes?" He did turn around and saw Cagalli approaching him.

"Is there something wrong?" She was right in front of him now, with a concerned expression on her face. Once again, she was able to pick up his dampened mood and immediately probed him on it.

"What made you say that?" He didn't even know why he asked, but at that moment, it was better than lying to her face and saying that nothing was wrong, even if he was feeling extreme turmoil inwardly.

"You didn't kiss me." She said in a very confident tone. It was true, if they were alone and they had to part ways, he always found a way to sneak in a kiss. The fact that he didn't even try to do it, even if sometimes she warned him that someone might walk in on them sent her warning signals that something was wrong.

"We're in your office…" He stated, making up any kind of excuse.

Cagalli wasn't buying it. "That didn't stop you before."

There was no use arguing with her on this. She already caught on that he wasn't okay. "Sorry, let's talk about it when I get back, okay? You have a safe flight." Athrun went near her and kissed her on her forehead.

That didn't seem to satisfy her. Cagalli couldn't take it anymore, so she started. "You saw the news… Didn't you?"

When he didn't say anything, she immediately owned up to it. "I'm sorry for the way I reacted when they asked about you. I didn't really know what to say… They kept pushing and I didn't know how I could let them say off me. I'm sorry you got dragged into it." She looked apologetic, which made Athrun feel bad.

"No, I understand." He brushed it off. That wasn't the main reason why he was very upset in the first place. "It's fine…"

"Athrun…" Cagalli cupped his cheek and wanted him to look at her, but he looked down, unwilling to meet her gaze.

"Please tell me what's going on?"

He knows it's not right to be simmering with these emotions alone when she was clearly worrying about him. He had to stop beating around the bush.

"Sorry…" He finally opened up, deciding it was better to tell her now. "Recently, there's been of speculation on your future marriage. It might be because of the coronation of the Prince of Scandinavia and when he sang praises of you. Because of that, I've been hearing about a lot of things…"

She didn't say anything yet and urged him to continue.

"What bothers me the most is that people don't think anyone else that is less than Prince Fredrik is good enough for you… Even me…"

"What are you saying? Who is telling you this?" Cagalli's eyes widened, she was in disbelief. "They're mistaken! They have no idea what they're talking about."

"That's why we need to hide it, right?" It was more of a statement rather than a question.

"Athrun…"

"I wish I could be someone that you didn't need to hide from the public. I'm sorry I can't be someone more worthy and that the Orb people can accept. I'm really sorry…" It feels like all of Athrun's insecurities were flooding out of him. He even wanted to go as far as to say that he wished he was someone like the Prince of Scandinavia which the public so rooted for so it wouldn't be a problem.

Sometimes, seeing other couples that can be freer than they are, with no one telling them they couldn't be together, he really couldn't help but want what they have.

Cagalli couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why was Athrun feeling this way? Why did he think that he wasn't enough being himself and that he needed to be someone else? Why was he even apologizing to her? He had nothing to apologize for!

When he said that, he had the most pained expression on his face. She's never seen him look so defeated and hurt. Seeing him like this broke her heart too. The last thing that she wanted to do was to hurt him in any way.

She didn't know what was being talked behind their backs, but she guessed that whatever it was, it must have been awful. She was well-aware that people would be very critical about anyone that she was seeing, but of course, while she didn't care about it at all, it would have affected Athrun differently.

"Athrun, no… Don't say that…" She tried to comfort him, her hands both cupping his cheeks now to make him look at her. She was starting to feel very bad, seeing him like this. "You shouldn't listen to what other people say. They don't know what they're talking about most of the time. That doesn't matter! What matters is what I think!"

"Then Cagalli," He finally met her eyes. "What do you think?"

It would have been easy to answer, but Athrun didn't give her a chance to say anything. "Earlier, when I was walking to your office to see you, I overheard you talking with the other Emirs. They asked you about me, but you didn't say anything…" He then had a very sad smile on his face. "Why is that?"

"Eh?! When did you-?" She was surprised that Athrun was there when that discussion took place. She's not angry at him because knows that he didn't mean to eavesdrop and that it was just a coincidence. It was lunch time after all, and it just so happened that he was on his way to see her.

But now Cagalli was even more confused with his reaction. So, it means that he heard everything that they talked about, then shouldn't he be happy? The Emirs were all in support of them and were even joking at the end of it. Then why was he still upset? This didn't make any sense!

It seemed like with her non-answer, worse thoughts came to his mind. "It's okay…" Athrun's voice was laced with bitterness. "It is what it is… We'll continue as we are. It's just that all these talks are getting to me, but I'll be fine."

With the way that he was now, mentally beaten up, he seemed to have shut down and nothing that she'll say will get through to him. It was just like that time when they were in Crete… But Cagalli had to try! She had to reach him.

It might have been the case that he didn't hear the whole conversation, that's why he was like this. He might have interpreted her not answering the Emirs as her confirming that his worries were not unfounded. Or maybe Athrun didn't hear them right? Whatever the case may be, she had to clear it up.

She didn't want to part with Athrun on bad terms, not when he was about to endanger himself again. She didn't want him to have any more worries than he needed to. She didn't want him to go with a heavy heart. She would never forgive herself if this made him lose focus and he ends up getting hurt.

She knows now that they're not on the same page and she wanted to fix this. "Athrun, wait… I think you're misunderstanding something… That was-"

She was cut by Athrun holding her face, gently wiped away a tear that she didn't even know were already welling up in her eyes. "You're crying..."

"Never mind that!" Cagalli was losing her patience because she really wanted to explain herself no matter what. She took her chance now that Athrun was looking at her instead of avoiding her gaze. "Listen to me, you misunderstood it. Actually, the conver-"

Suddenly the door sprung wide open, "Cagalli-nee-sama, the President of the Island of Pacifica is on the line and wanted to talk- Athrun-san?" Touya ran inside, full of energy but then realized that he was walking in on a private conversation. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupted."

The both of them jumped away from each other on reflex. Cagalli wanted to curse inwardly at such bad timings. Couldn't the President have called in five minutes? She could have cleared it up with Athrun during that time.

"It's alright. Is it urgent?" She asked, quite peeved.

"President Anaru didn't want to disclose what he was calling for but that he needed to reach you on some things." Touya replied cautiously.

"Alright. I'll take his call." She walked towards her desk and before turning on her computer she looked to Athrun apologetically. "I'm sorry…" To have their conversation cut at the most vital moment was so frustrating to her.

"It's alright, Cagalli." If it was in front of Touya, Athrun didn't need to be so formal around her. "Let's talk again later."

Cagalli was hesitant but she had business that she needed to attend to.

And so, she could only watch Athrun walk away when things were still not clear between them.

Athrun and Touya stepped outside of Cagalli's office, the door closing behind them. There was a bit of awkwardness given the situation. Athrun was about to turn to Touya and tell him that he'd be off, but Touya beat him to it.

"Athrun-san, what was that all about?" Touya sounded like he wasn't too pleased with him. "Cagalli-nee-sama was crying, wasn't she? She looked really upset… " He was staring daggers at him already even when he hasn't said anything yet.

"That was…" Athrun didn't even know what to respond to him as he was burning holes on his body with his stare. It was a private matter between him and Cagalli after all. But he did feel guilty, it did seem like he did misunderstand her in some way, otherwise she wouldn't have been so insistent for him to listen to what she had to say.

Touya sensed his apprehension in responding so he cleared his throat. "Well, it's not my business to meddle in, but you should stop making Cagalli-nee-sama cry like that. Next time this happens, I won't stay quiet anymore."

Before Athrun could even try to muster a response, Touya bowed a bit and cut him off yet again with a loud voice. "I have other matters to attend to. If you'll excuse me Rear Admiral Zala. May Haumea protect you all in the operation." He then turned and walked away, leaving Athrun speechless.

Athrun didn't even get to process the passive aggressive remark that Touya just made to him before he left. He just threatened him, didn't he? He could feel a chill in his bones when he heard that from him.

When he first met Touya, he was barely even a teenager. Now he was an adult, making these hostile remarks straight at him.

Now Athrun was sure of it, Touya doesn't like him.

To be more accurate, Touya hates his guts.

Notes:

[1] Let's just say that this all happened October CE 80, around Athrun's birthday.

[2] I am actually struggling making them fight because it absolutely hurts me. I just want them to always be happy and lovey dovey. But tbh, I'm only doing it for the drama of the story.