Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Sojourn ❯ PHASE 12 Rhythmic Dancing ( Chapter 12 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: PaolaAdara 
Finally, they're dancing...
Anime/Manga: Gundam SEED Fan Fiction | Genre(s): / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.08.2007 | Updated On: 08.08.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 304 | Status: Work In Progress
Finally, they're dancing...
Anime/Manga: Gundam SEED Fan Fiction | Genre(s): / Romance / Drama / Comedy / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.08.2007 | Updated On: 08.08.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 304 | Status: Work In Progress
Title: Mobile Suit: Gundam SEED Sojourn (12/?)
Author: Paola
Disclaimer: Mobile Suit: Gundam SEED Sojourn is based on characters and situations that belong to Sotsu Agency, Bandai Studios, and TV Asashi (and other production affiliates that have the right of ownership). No money is being made, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Considerations: Similarities to other stories/events/passages are purely coincidental unless otherwise cited.
“Still round the corner there may
wait, a new road or a secret gate.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
PHASE 12
Rhythmic Dancing
Athrun was good in the battlefield. He was adept at piloting mobile suits. He had the skills to finish off his enemies and survive the bloodshed. He had been to a lot of missions, and he had his share of extreme surprises. He had his moments of dangerous uncertainty, and those could already last him a lifetime. But, right now, he seemed to be in another battlefield with him not knowing how exactly things would turn out. And for the first time since the end of war, he felt the rush of crazed butterflies in his stomach.
“It’s about…” she vaguely gestured with her hands.
“About?” he prompted, getting a faint idea of what she wanted to talk about. But then again, he could be wrong.
Cagalli sighed in defeat, but quickly straightened up and glared at him. “Us.”
Of course, he had all along expected this would happen, but the fact that she was the one who broached the topic threw him off the loop. Not exactly. He inwardly rolled his eyes. It was just that he thought he’d be the one to talk to her about it. He wasn’t as dense as most guys were, and somewhere between kissing her in space and drinking milk with her in her very kitchen right about now, he had known that they had to go through with this conversation. It hadn’t been, after all, a long time after the end of his engagement with Lacus Clyne when he started cavorting with the Princess of Orb.
“What about us?” he surprisingly stalled. Another baleful glare thrown his way, however, made him clean up his act. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Cagalli deflated. She buried her head in her arms, which were crossed atop the table. “It’s…I guess…it’s okay, but…Athrun…”
He stood up and sat beside the princess. He waited for her to raise her head, and when she did, with a flicker of surprise in her golden orbs, words just floated out of his mouth, seemingly quelling the uneasy feeling in his gut, “Maybe you’re wondering if I’ve ever given a thought about what’s happening between us, and I can’t blame you since I haven’t exactly shown any indication that I actually have.”
The Orb princess’ visage melted into an uncertain smile. “So…have you…?”
He couldn’t help but grin in return. She did that to him. Just a smile and he was off to feeling this happy. As cliché as that sounded, it was true. “Of course I have.”
“And?” she sounded hopeful, as if what he would say would determine what was going to happen next to the both of them.
Athrun paused and tilted his head to the side, regarding her with soft eyes. He took her hand and stood up slowly so she wouldn’t trip on her chair. “Come on, let’s take a walk.” He picked up his pace and pulled her along.
Cagalli stumbled a bit before gaining a steady gait. “It might still be muddy outside.”
“Let’s take the swing then. The wind was going south, so the swing set should be dry.” Athrun grabbed the afghan off a settee they passed on their way to the backyard.
“Uh…” Cagalli hesitated when Athrun stepped out the door, halting him. She looked at her bare feet when Athrun asked what the matter was, and he chuckled at her when she wiggled her toes. “Stop laughing!” She looked around for any sign of footwear she might have left scattered around, and she spied a pair of house shoes by the door that led to a small storeroom. “I thought these were gone!” She hurriedly trotted towards the pair of footwear and slipped her feet in. She smiled at Athrun’s questioning gaze. “I thought I lost these so I bought new slippers yesterday.”
“Maybe you need to get more organized…” he teased as Cagalli stepped out of the door and stood beside him.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever. It’s not like I was planning on losing these. It’s not my fault the servants like to clean the house ‘til everything’s been scoured to within an inch of its life! Sometimes, the floors get so clean, they shine, and, well…when it’s that clean, I don’t see the need to wear slippers.”
Athrun followed the blonde towards the swing where she grabbed the afghan from him and tried to find a comfortable position. “So…where’s the new pair you bought?” He swayed the swing a little then sat beside her.
She smiled at him sheepishly as she covered her bare legs with the knitted blanket to keep her from shivering. “Well…it was supposed to be by the foot of my bed…” she said perfunctorily after deciding to dismiss her responsibility to her new pair of footwear. She really didn’t care where her new slippers were since she found her favorite pair already, and she was quite happy.
“‘Supposed to be’?”
“Yeah…but…I couldn’t find them when I looked again…”
Athrun grinned at her teasingly. “See? Gotta get more organized!”
She frowned at him. “When you get cold, I won’t share this blanket with you!” she feebly threatened. “Besides, I was too busy thinking of---” she cut herself off in the middle of her explanation, ducking her head.
Athrun stared at the curtain of blonde hair that obscured her face from his view. They stayed that way for a short while, with him smiling at her sudden coyness. If there were one thing Cagalli was not, it was shy. She was always voicing out her thoughts, always not afraid to tell people off, always confident in what she had to say, so seeing her being diffident about her thoughts was something he found quite adorable. For the time that he had been given to know her, he’d noticed that, of all the things teenagers were known to deal with everyday, Cagalli had always been embarrassed to deal with matters of the heart.
“Thinking of this, right?” he gestured between them. He felt the swing slow to a stop, and he stared ahead, blinking at the lamps that dotted the otherwise starless night. “I used to think that I’d never be able to experience something like this,” he confessed after a moment of hesitation. “I was arranged to marry Lacus because our fathers were friends. That was that. I came to know her, and I liked her, but both of us knew it had been almost a responsibility…because if our fathers hadn’t arranged it, then, I suppose, we wouldn’t even get to meet each other.
“I’m as new to this as you are, Cagalli. Being engaged to Lacus was something else altogether. What we had was good, but this something you and I have right now…it’s even better.” By the feel of it, he was sure he was blushing madly. He had just told Cagalli what had been in his mind for all this time, and he dared not look at her. Was what he revealed enough? Did he scare her? For all he was worth, he couldn’t find another way to know for sure what her real reaction was to his confession other than the simplest way: look at her and ask.
So he did. He turned around and faced her. Cagalli was looking at him with a cute blush on her cheeks, but aside from that, she gave no indication as to what she might be feeling. She just sat there, and Athrun didn’t know how to proceed. He was supposed to ask, but his words suddenly got caught in his throat, and all he could do was stare in return.
He heard her exhale slowly. “Athrun…back…back there…in space,” she paused and licked her dry lips, her brow creasing in unexpected worry. “That little thing you…you were talking about…it’s with…it’s with me…right?” she sounded like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted him to answer her or not.
Athrun smiled. She was talking about that time he had told her about falling in love.
Of course it was with her.
He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, only for it to fall back when the wind picked up again. “Nobody else.”
Cagalli cocked her head to the side, seemingly considering his answer. “Nobody else,” she faintly echoed, her face gradually brightening like how a kid’s face would upon receiving an early Christmas present. Her lips curved into a smile that quickly turned into a grin as the worry was lifted from her brow.
The blue-haired pilot couldn’t help but grin back. He brushed his hands on her arms when she shivered as a chilly gust once again blew. “Time to go back in. It’s getting too cold.” He stood up and offered her his hand. “Come on, I’ll make you some hot cocoa.” He felt a tingle when she took his hand, and he knew they were already…there.
They had crossed the line of friendship a long time ago, and now they couldn’t see even just a flicker of it from the distance. What they had now was finally made official.
What happened wasn’t too romantic, just like how they had first met. There was no exchange of words of undying love, but everything was pure Cagalli-ish. Athrun smiled as he stepped off the swing. He wouldn’t change a single second of it if he were ever given the chance to. That was how it went, and he was satisfied.
Before he could lead her back, he felt a small tug at his hand. He turned around and found Cagalli peering at him through long lashes. She bit her lip, hesitating for the slightest of seconds before using the leverage she had to place a fleeting kiss on the side of his mouth.
She pulled back and drew a breath, the rogue dash of color never leaving her cheeks. She stepped off the swing and beamed up at him. “Now for that hot chocolate…”
Her initiative, of course, was more than satisfying.
o-o
The clatter of miscellaneous objects hitting the vanity desk rang throughout Miriallia’s modest bedroom as she accidentally toppled over a cologne bottle and a few knickknacks in her haste to dress up. Lacus had scheduled a “girl’s day out” today, and she was supposed to be at the Athha mansion by nine-thirty. She glanced at her wristwatch and grimaced at the time: 9:25. She didn’t mean to oversleep, but she got in late last night. They had lost track of time over dinner, and had she failed in convincing her parents to pick her up, she’d have gone home much later.
The brunette hurriedly arranged her desktop with nimble fingers, carefully wiping the cologne spill with a piece of tissue paper. Standing up after completing her task, she checked herself out in the mirror, only to find out that she had missed a button, leaving the rest all wrongly done.
She checked her watch again: 9:28. Finally accepting that she wouldn’t be able to make it, she placed a call for Lacus, and then apologetically told the Pink Princess that she’d be late. Lacus just brushed her concern off, assuring her that it really was quite all right and that Cagalli herself was still stumbling all over the place, trying to get ready in record’s time. Apparently, the Orb Princess had slept in, too.
“Honey, I thought you have to meet up with the girls today? You’re running late!” she heard her mother call from downstairs, and Miriallia would have jumped up and rushed even more had she not known that already.
After a quick burst of giggles and an equally quick exchange of farewells, she re-did her buttons, this time methodically---or as methodically as buttoning a shirt could be. And when all was done and she was satisfied with her work, she bounded downstairs, grabbed a piece of toast, and was out of the house before her mother could even offer to butter her bread.
o-o
Lacus sat in the living room couch, flipping through an Ikea magazine mounted atop the damask throw pillow on her lap. There really wasn’t much to do since Miriallia would be late and Cagalli was still running through her morning routine.
Turning a page, she suddenly looked up, alarmed, when she heard a rough noise outside the living room. She returned the magazine on the center table and hurriedly went to check what the noise was about.
Peering around the embrasure, she caught sight of the blonde princess rubbing her behind while Athrun steadied her by her elbow. It looked like she had slipped in her haste.
“Careful. I told you not to leave your slippers there,” Athrun said, shaking his head, although he was smiling at her.
Lacus was amused when she spied the blush that crept up her blonde friend’s cheeks before muttering a silent acknowledgement of the pilot’s words. She was even more amused when Cagalli extricated herself rather awkwardly before giving the blue-head a soft “yeah,” earning a kiss on the crown of her head in return.
Lacus, with a curious eye, watched Cagalli, who was watching Athrun disappear around the corner, probably in search of the rest of the guys. “Are you okay, Cagalli?”
The blonde was a little startled. “Huh? Oh…oh…yeah. I’m good.” Cagalli narrowed her eyes at Lacus as the Pink Princess approached her. “What’s with the grin, Lacus?” she asked suspiciously.
“What grin?”
“That one,” she pointed at the Pink Princess’ wide smile.
“I’m just excited to go out with just us girls.”
“Oh no, you’re not fooling me.”
“What makes you think I’m fooling you?” Lacus clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward a little to peer at the blonde closer.
Cagalli took a step back. “I’m guessing this will go on until later? Much, much later?”
“What will?” Miriallia butted in, briskly walking towards them after greeting the servant who had ushered her in. She checked her watch for the umpteenth time that morning and found out that she was more than half an hour late. “Sorry…I kinda overslept.”
“Apparently, someone else did, too,” Lacus said after throwing a quick morning salutation at the brunette. Her grin never left her face as she turned her head to take a look at Cagalli.
Cagalli smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t get to sleep immediately…so I overslept, too.”
Lacus placed her forefinger on her chin, tapping it lightly in a thinking gesture. “Hm…I wonder why.” Her friend’s blush only made her even more curious. She knew something happened last night, and by the way her blonde friend was acting towards a certain Justice pilot only confirmed her surmise. Of course, she’d only go as far as friendly teasing – if Cagalli really didn’t want to divulge whatever it was she was hiding, then Lacus would drop it.
Miriallia grinned like the proverbial Cheshire cat upon seeing Cagalli’s reaction, and Lacus didn’t miss the mischievous glint in her eyes. Unless Cagalli didn’t say it out loud that she would prefer the subject to be totally dropped, she’d enjoy teasing her about it. After all, Miriallia seemed to be thinking of the same thing.
Cagalli decided to keep her mouth shut. She situated herself between her two friends and took advantage of her new position, hooking both her arms with Lacus and Miriallia’s. She then began dragging them towards the door to get this “girl’s day out” started. She’d been opposed to the idea until Lacus assured her they wouldn’t be spending the whole day doing “girl stuff.”
“Hey!” someone called from behind, halting the three in their tracks.
“Yes, Dearka?” Lacus answered, turning to look at the tanned teenager.
Dearka’s gaze shifted to the right when he noticed the brunette. “Uh…hey, Miriallia…”
“Morning!” Miriallia smiled, and a moment of silence ensued.
“I suggest you stop staring at my friend and start telling us what you want,” Cagalli smirked, cocking her head to the side as she enjoyed the embarrassed blush that crept up Dearka and Miriallia’s cheeks.
Dearka tore his eyes away from the brown-haired Natural and glared at his host. He then turned to Lacus and his gaze softened---Lacus had that effect on anyone. “I was just wondering if you could run me a favor.” When Lacus nodded, he continued, “Buy me a notepad, will you? If you’re going to the mall, that is. Yzak just set mine on fire.” His frown towards the end of his sentence made the three girls giggle.
“Sure,” Lacus smiled.
“We’re going to the mall?” Cagalli eyed the three pairs of skates by the door. “I thought we’re going skating? Not that I don’t want you to get a new notepad or anything,” she directed the last part at Dearka.
“We can swing by, I guess,” Miriallia touched Cagalli’s arm. “Besides, mom said there’s this swank coffee shop that opened there a month ago. Maybe we can stop by and…chat, if you know what I mean.”
Cagalli’s eyes widened, shaking her head. “No…I don’t know what you mean…”
“Of course you do,” Lacus put in. “We’ll be going then. I’ll get that notepad for you,” she said upon spying Dearka’s confused face.
“Thanks! Pay you later. Gotta get my hands on the freak’s wallet first,” he walked them to the door and waved them off.
“I heard that!” Yzak’s voice made its way to them as his footsteps faded towards the backyard door, making the three girls laugh before they shut the door.
o-o
Cagalli secured the last strap of her inline skates then took a few experimental twirls as she made herself comfortable after a long while of not being able to go rollerblading. She looked around the spacious skating rink through a glass window as she waited for Miriallia and Lacus to finish donning their wheeled footwear.
“I never did graduate from roller skates,” Miriallia voiced out, looking over at Cagalli then standing up to get re-acquainted with her skates.
Lacus shakily stood up, marveling at how in the world she had gotten herself convinced to go skating with her friends. Sure, she knew how to ice skate, but no one told her roller skating was a different thing altogether. For some reason, she was having a hard time managing her feet, and had it not been for Miriallia, who had clamped a hand around her arm, Lacus would have hit the pavement hard.
“I thought you ice skate?” Cagalli asked.
“I didn’t expect this to be any different. But, apparently, I was wrong,” Lacus giggled, taking a cautious sweep towards the exit of the locker room after putting her shoes inside the repository she shared with Miriallia and Cagalli.
Miriallia secured the lock. “You’ll get used to it. I had the impression that ice skating was way harder, but I guess it all depends on the person, huh?” She tucked her hair behind her ear, gained some stable footing, and followed the Pink Princess out of the room.
Cagalli pulled her windbreaker tighter around her, grabbed her cap from the bench, then moved her feet in skating sweeps. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” she observed, feeling the slight breeze brush her legs as she skated farther in the rink. The three had wisely agreed to wear unrestrictive clothing, but the blonde princess didn’t think she’d actually be coerced into wearing something so short in public.
“Yeah. After the rain yesterday, I thought it’d rain for a few more days,” Miriallia answered, slowing down so as not to leave Lacus behind.
“The occasional showers aren’t so bad,” Lacus put in, steadily getting used to her wheels.
They skated for a while, enjoying their surroundings. Lacus had even managed to skate over to a kid quick enough before he fell on his behind, and the kid’s two other siblings provided enough distraction to deter Lacus and Miriallia from acting on their curiosity. Of course, out of extreme happiness at seeing her luck, Cagalli had offered to buy some cotton candy for the kids. Where there was a man selling cotton candy, it came without question that there would be a man selling balloons, so Lacus pulled a few change from her pocket and bought the kids a balloon each.
By the time the kids had deemed that they had enough fun, it was already past lunchtime, and Cagalli’s stomach was awfully proposing that they go and eat lunch. And seeing as how their next destination was the mall, grabbing something to eat would not be put off any longer.
“Say, why don’t we forego the café and have lunch at that restaurant instead?” Miriallia asked, pointing at the quaint Italian restaurant tucked beside the mall. It was almost one-quarter, and the restaurant didn’t look as busy anymore.
“That is a really good idea, Mir. You should get an award for that!” Cagalli grinned, almost salivating at the thought that they’d finally be able to sit down and eat, and at a real restaurant---not just a café---for that matter.
“Of course! I’m famished!” Lacus exclaimed, moving her bag, which contained her skating gear, from her left hand to her right.
The three scurried over to the restaurant, and since the weather wasn’t too cold, they opted to settle on a vacant table on the patio. They carefully set their bags beside their respective seats and waited for the waiter and their menu.
“How’s that bruise of yours, Mir?” Cagalli asked.
Miriallia stretched her leg and eyed the discoloration on her shin. The little kid Lacus had earlier helped lost his balance for the second time, and the toe of his skate had bumped into Miriallia’s shin quite harshly. The brunette, however, couldn’t find it in herself to get mad at the kid, especially when he had looked about to cry as he profusely apologized. “I can live with it.”
“We can put ice on that when we get home,” Lacus suggested, just as the waiter came over with their menus.
They decided on two dishes of pasta, one cream-based and one spicy tomato-based, and a pan of Sicilian thin-crust pizza. It was Miriallia’s idea to share meals instead of ordering a dish just for themselves, and Lacus and Cagalli had easily agreed.
“Come on, Cagalli, I know you don’t exactly want this topic to be dropped,” Miriallia coaxed after chewing a morsel of crème brûlée. They had finished their meal a few minutes ago and were now happily munching on the dessert they ordered, but, until now, she and Lacus were still unsuccessful in making their blonde friend spill the beans.
Cagalli swallowed the sweet dessert melting in her mouth. This was one of the reasons she had been opposed to the idea of a girl’s day out. She knew girl talk was a big part of hanging out with just the ladies, and, sometimes, she hated being right. “And what makes you so sure there actually is something to tell? And, if there were, why wouldn’t I want it dropped?”
Lacus looked thoughtful for a second. “Maybe because of how you blush every time he does something?”
The blonde glared. “Oh yeah? Like when?” she challenged. In truth, she really did want to divulge her secrets, but she never did find out how she wanted to go about it. Sure, she’d seen in the silver screen how girls were so trusting of their friends and how it was so easy for them to gush about their crushes, but she was different. And her life wasn’t a big movie.
The Pink Princess smiled, and Cagalli regretted challenging her. “Oh, I don’t know…how about, when he greeted you good morning? Or when he took your hand to lead you to the kitchen? Or when he kissed you before Mir came?”
The Orb princess’ eyes widened, and good thing she had already swallowed her food, or she would have been choking by the end of Lacus’ reply. “Wha– How… What are you talking about?”
“Well, if you hadn’t been too pre-occupied with him, you might’ve noticed me actually being in the same room.”
Miriallia laughed at how Lacus strung her words. “Shucks, I wasn’t there!” she smothered her laughter just in time to get out what she wanted to say. She took Cagalli’s hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. “All right, if you really want us to stop interrogating you about your love life, we will.”
Despite herself, Cagalli smiled at her friends, then she sighed in resignation. “I really want to tell you, guys, but I don’t know how. As much as I want to tell you all about it, there’s this little part of me who wants to just keep it to myself for a while longer. See how everything plays out.”
Lacus understood how much it probably took Cagalli to get all that out, and that was enough sign to tell her that the blonde really did want to drop the subject at the moment. “We understand.”
Miriallia took a sip of her milkshake. “But, I have to say, it’s been fun to tease!” She laughed when she heard Cagalli groan.
o-o
The rays of the late afternoon sun filtered through the living room window, lending the chamber its tangerine glow. It was quiet in the room as Cagalli had gone to talk to Kisaka and Lacus had followed out soon after, in search of the Freedom pilot. Miriallia was snuggled on the couch, nursing her bruise with a cold compress and enjoying the soft music of the CD she had popped in the stereo a while ago.
Dearka wandered in, his gaze directly going to where the brunette was applying the cold compress. “What happened?” he asked, shuffling towards the injured Natural.
“I had a little accident in the skating rink. Oh, there’s your notepad,” she nodded towards the bag on the coffee table.
He sat on the said table, a little away from the purchase. “Thanks.” He then looked back to what had gotten his attention in the first place. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not really,” she shook her head no.
Dearka got up and gingerly lifted her offended leg, surprising both himself and her; nonetheless, he sat beside her and placed her leg on his lap, taking the cold compress from her hand and doing the job for her instead.
He had to remind himself that they were just friends before he could speak. “Here, let me do that,” he offered, a little too late as he had a hard time managing the jam in his throat at the boldness of his actions.
“T-thanks.” Miriallia had felt the tingles when he touched her, and even when he removed his hand from her ankle to hold the compress down on her shin, the ice couldn’t mask the cords of electricity shooting up her leg.
“So, how was your day?”
Miriallia smiled, slightly distracted. “It was fun! We played and skated with these three kids, and one had accidentally hit me on the shin when he slipped.” She waved a hand towards her injury. “That’s how I got this bruise. But they were too innocent for me to get mad at.”
“You’re too kind.”
She huffed. “Well, did you want me to shout at them?”
“I didn’t mean that,” he laughed. “I don’t think anyone would want to get on your bad side.”
She blushed at what he said. She thought she’d been really scary that time on the Archangel. She’d been so mad, and his cockiness had only served to anger her more back then.
“I’m kidding.”
“I know…” she trailed off. She almost jerked when she felt his warm hand massaging her ankle.
Dearka had used his left hand to hold the compress down on her bruised shin, and was now using his free hand to rub her ankle. She blushed harder, but when she noticed that he was staring off in space, she knew he wasn’t aware of what he was doing.
Miriallia saw him smirk. “I bet if it had been Yzak who got hit, he’d scare the life out of that kid!”
She relaxed and let him continue with what he was doing, opting to enjoy his ministrations over worrying about her earlier reaction. “I doubt he’s that bad. And he’s your friend! How can you say that?”
“He’s my friend all right!” he laughed. “That’s why I know what he’d do if he’d been in your position. Believe me, had the kid been, well…not a kid, he’d have sicced his Gundam on him long before the guy could even understand what hit him!”
Miriallia laughed. “I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. And I believe you’re exaggerating.”
“Believe what you want. It’s the truth.”
“So…how about you? How was your day?”
He shrugged as a smile lit up his face. “Did the girls tell you about my…misfortune…on the racing game?”
“Cagalli might have…mentioned it…”
“I’m sure she did.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I got my groove back and kicked their asses big time!”
Miriallia listened to him laugh, the smooth sound floating around the room, making her grin in return. The soft orange was slowly morphing into darker shades as the sun set in the horizon, allowing the room to get dimmer. And as Dearka’s fingers roved across the skin of her ankle to the sole of her foot in a soothing caress, Miriallia Haw concluded that she enjoyed spending time with him.
As friends.
Dearka switched on the lamp sitting atop the table on his side of the couch in a flitting motion, then his hand was back to performing its task. He talked of this and that, and Miriallia was only happy to listen, laughing at the jokes he cracked, giggling at the innuendos he tried to get across, and basically getting enthralled by the guy that was Dearka.
Of course, nobody knew what the future might bring, and changes were never that much predictable.
o-o
Athrun capped his sign pen when he finished writing the small bio their professors were asking from them on a five-by-eight index card. He’d thought it was so high-school, but what did he know? He was just a teenager who had spent too much time in the military when he could’ve led a normal life in a normal surrounding, given that he came from a normal background, which, obviously, he didn’t.
He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. It was very late, but he figured that the amount of sugar he consumed when he had humored Cagalli and agreed to finish a half-gallon of ice cream with her after dinner was enough to keep him wide awake the entire night. And the fact that they were able to accomplish such a feat also left him wondering how in the world they even managed to eat half of it.
The blue-head tidied up his desk, stood up, stretched, and found himself smiling. Again. He’d been too happy since that morning, and he knew all too well why.
In a few leisurely strides, he made it to his door. He’d decided to burn some of his energy with a few strolls around the estate. Tomorrow was just Sunday, and it would be a shame if he spent half of the day snoozing away because he couldn’t fall asleep on time.
When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Cagalli on the other side with her eyes wide like those of a kid who was caught with his hand inside the weirdly forbidden cookie jar. She wrung her hands and worried her bottom lip, looking like she couldn’t remember her reason for being there.
She stepped back when he emerged from his room.
“Hey,” he greeted, closing the door behind him.
“Um…the sugar is keeping you up, too…right?” she offered, still wringing her hands.
He chuckled. “Yeah. I’m guessing it’s doing the same to you?” Athrun playfully swatted at her restless hands. He then took her left hand and pulled her along.
Cagalli smiled as the awkwardness gave way to welcome togetherness. “Yep!” she answered energetically, obviously showing the effects of sugar. “I’m thinking I shouldn’t have come up with that crazy idea… It got us way alive than everybody else.” She observed how there was no other noise in the left wing aside from the one they were currently making.
“It’s always nice to try new things.” He didn’t hear her reply to that, so he looked over his shoulder only to see her slightly blushing. “So…you’ve done this before?” it sounded more like a statement than a question. “Consumed this much sugar in one go?” He paused and waited for her to fall into step beside him.
“All right, all right. I did. But just once before this! And not once during the war.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Just once?”
Cagalli fought the urge to pout. “Okay…twice!”
They started walking again and were by the stairs not too long after. “Twice,” he repeated, but he must’ve sounded too unconvinced because she halted just before they could descend the stairs.
“Fine! Thrice! Thrice before the war! And if I did even way before, I don’t remember. Honest!”
Athrun laughed at how evidently sugar-high she was. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Okay, I believe you.” They descended the flight of steps together.
“How about you?”
“What about me?”
“How many times have you been sugar-rushed before this? Assuming that you are sugar-rushed now since I don’t exactly see you fidgeting.”
“Why do you think I’m still up and about? I can’t stay in one place, so I got to burn some energy. I’m taking a walk,” he announced, making Cagalli laugh at how funnily proud he was of the solution he thought.
“I’ll walk with you. So, what about my other question?”
He shrugged. “When I was a kid, I guess. Kira loved sweets, and since we were always together, I did what he did. He was a loud kid, and you couldn’t say no to him. Besides, kids love sweets, and we weren’t immune to its…allure.”
“Nice word,” she giggled. “He loves his chocolate just like me. Maybe it’s a twin thing.” She shrugged. “Kira was loud when he was a kid? Really now?”
“He had a sweet tooth, and Mrs. Yamato sometimes really had to put her foot down because Kira gets so hyper when he consumes too much sugar. Though, I don’t know if he’s still like that now.” He remembered the time when he had been tricked by his best friend into sneaking inside the pantry behind Kira’s mother’s back to get a few bars of chocolate. Of course, they had gotten caught. “And yeah, he was a loud kid. Believe it or not.”
“I guess Kisaka wouldn’t be too happy if we had lived in the same house when we were kids. We’d drive him nuts.”
They had reached the front door, and Cagalli opened the hall closet to retrieve her outdoor slippers. They slipped out the door and the evening chill greeted them. The crispness of the air prickled her skin, but Cagalli loved it.
They took to the right and ambled down the cobbled path, bathing in the comfortable silence that settled.
The former Justice pilot broke the quiet, “Did you want to talk about something?”
“Not really,” was her simple reply, and they went back to strolling down the walkway in companionable silence.
Athrun noticed her shiver when a cool breeze brushed past them. “Cold?”
“I’m holding just fine.” She rubbed her arms.
He stopped in his tracks and moved in front of her. He rubbed her arms, and the coolness of her skin was a stark contrast to the warmth of his palms. “You are cold.”
Cagalli turned pink. She bit her lip and peered at him. “Actually…there is something I wanna tell you…”
“I’m listening.”
“Um…don’t think this is stupid, okay?” He nodded. “All right… Well…I don’t…”she faltered.
“Yes?”
“I don’t…know…Idunnoknowhowtogofromhere,” she hurriedly got out.
Athrun blinked. “Come again?”
Cagalli took in a cleansing breath, trying to get her tongue untied. “I don’t know how to go from here,” she repeated, this time, slowly and clearly.
He was silenced. He didn’t have an answer to that. He knew what she was talking about, but what was he to say? He was as new to this as she was. And didn’t he tell her that already?
She suddenly looked embarrassed. “Athrun? Look, I’m sor–”
He cut her off, “Cagalli, you don’t have to know anything. I don’t know anything. We explore this thing together.” He mused for a short while. “Take it like a…new adventure.”
“Hn, adventure?” Cagalli unconsciously puckered her forehead, fought an insistent pout, puffed her cheeks, and let out a slow stream of air. “Okay…together.”
“Yes. Together.”
When she smiled, he couldn’t help but pull her in a hug. He didn’t marvel at how perfectly she fit in his arms or at how she finely melted against him because somehow, he had always known she’d fit there. That it would be right for her to be there.
He’d hugged her before, sure, but the first time, it had just been him. To show that he was sorry and that she was right. He even had an arm in a sling then, and she had been too flustered to even return the hug. The second time around had led them to their first kiss, but that had been too fleeting.
He felt her snuggle closer as another gust picked up. Along the way, he’d known that if he had her in his arms again, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that she belonged there – as corny as that sounded. “Besides, nobody else, right?”
Cagalli looked up with her cheeks still tinted a rosy pink. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Athrun dipped his head and sealed his mouth over hers. A close-mouthed kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.
When they broke apart, she smiled a smile he gladly returned. “Nobody else,” she repeated, just like how she did before.
-To Be Continued…
A/N:
Cheerio for now. And be good, children, so drop a review…or it’s detention for all of you! Wink.
Author: Paola
Disclaimer: Mobile Suit: Gundam SEED Sojourn is based on characters and situations that belong to Sotsu Agency, Bandai Studios, and TV Asashi (and other production affiliates that have the right of ownership). No money is being made, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Considerations: Similarities to other stories/events/passages are purely coincidental unless otherwise cited.
“Still round the corner there may
wait, a new road or a secret gate.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
PHASE 12
Rhythmic Dancing
Athrun was good in the battlefield. He was adept at piloting mobile suits. He had the skills to finish off his enemies and survive the bloodshed. He had been to a lot of missions, and he had his share of extreme surprises. He had his moments of dangerous uncertainty, and those could already last him a lifetime. But, right now, he seemed to be in another battlefield with him not knowing how exactly things would turn out. And for the first time since the end of war, he felt the rush of crazed butterflies in his stomach.
“It’s about…” she vaguely gestured with her hands.
“About?” he prompted, getting a faint idea of what she wanted to talk about. But then again, he could be wrong.
Cagalli sighed in defeat, but quickly straightened up and glared at him. “Us.”
Of course, he had all along expected this would happen, but the fact that she was the one who broached the topic threw him off the loop. Not exactly. He inwardly rolled his eyes. It was just that he thought he’d be the one to talk to her about it. He wasn’t as dense as most guys were, and somewhere between kissing her in space and drinking milk with her in her very kitchen right about now, he had known that they had to go through with this conversation. It hadn’t been, after all, a long time after the end of his engagement with Lacus Clyne when he started cavorting with the Princess of Orb.
“What about us?” he surprisingly stalled. Another baleful glare thrown his way, however, made him clean up his act. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Cagalli deflated. She buried her head in her arms, which were crossed atop the table. “It’s…I guess…it’s okay, but…Athrun…”
He stood up and sat beside the princess. He waited for her to raise her head, and when she did, with a flicker of surprise in her golden orbs, words just floated out of his mouth, seemingly quelling the uneasy feeling in his gut, “Maybe you’re wondering if I’ve ever given a thought about what’s happening between us, and I can’t blame you since I haven’t exactly shown any indication that I actually have.”
The Orb princess’ visage melted into an uncertain smile. “So…have you…?”
He couldn’t help but grin in return. She did that to him. Just a smile and he was off to feeling this happy. As cliché as that sounded, it was true. “Of course I have.”
“And?” she sounded hopeful, as if what he would say would determine what was going to happen next to the both of them.
Athrun paused and tilted his head to the side, regarding her with soft eyes. He took her hand and stood up slowly so she wouldn’t trip on her chair. “Come on, let’s take a walk.” He picked up his pace and pulled her along.
Cagalli stumbled a bit before gaining a steady gait. “It might still be muddy outside.”
“Let’s take the swing then. The wind was going south, so the swing set should be dry.” Athrun grabbed the afghan off a settee they passed on their way to the backyard.
“Uh…” Cagalli hesitated when Athrun stepped out the door, halting him. She looked at her bare feet when Athrun asked what the matter was, and he chuckled at her when she wiggled her toes. “Stop laughing!” She looked around for any sign of footwear she might have left scattered around, and she spied a pair of house shoes by the door that led to a small storeroom. “I thought these were gone!” She hurriedly trotted towards the pair of footwear and slipped her feet in. She smiled at Athrun’s questioning gaze. “I thought I lost these so I bought new slippers yesterday.”
“Maybe you need to get more organized…” he teased as Cagalli stepped out of the door and stood beside him.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever. It’s not like I was planning on losing these. It’s not my fault the servants like to clean the house ‘til everything’s been scoured to within an inch of its life! Sometimes, the floors get so clean, they shine, and, well…when it’s that clean, I don’t see the need to wear slippers.”
Athrun followed the blonde towards the swing where she grabbed the afghan from him and tried to find a comfortable position. “So…where’s the new pair you bought?” He swayed the swing a little then sat beside her.
She smiled at him sheepishly as she covered her bare legs with the knitted blanket to keep her from shivering. “Well…it was supposed to be by the foot of my bed…” she said perfunctorily after deciding to dismiss her responsibility to her new pair of footwear. She really didn’t care where her new slippers were since she found her favorite pair already, and she was quite happy.
“‘Supposed to be’?”
“Yeah…but…I couldn’t find them when I looked again…”
Athrun grinned at her teasingly. “See? Gotta get more organized!”
She frowned at him. “When you get cold, I won’t share this blanket with you!” she feebly threatened. “Besides, I was too busy thinking of---” she cut herself off in the middle of her explanation, ducking her head.
Athrun stared at the curtain of blonde hair that obscured her face from his view. They stayed that way for a short while, with him smiling at her sudden coyness. If there were one thing Cagalli was not, it was shy. She was always voicing out her thoughts, always not afraid to tell people off, always confident in what she had to say, so seeing her being diffident about her thoughts was something he found quite adorable. For the time that he had been given to know her, he’d noticed that, of all the things teenagers were known to deal with everyday, Cagalli had always been embarrassed to deal with matters of the heart.
“Thinking of this, right?” he gestured between them. He felt the swing slow to a stop, and he stared ahead, blinking at the lamps that dotted the otherwise starless night. “I used to think that I’d never be able to experience something like this,” he confessed after a moment of hesitation. “I was arranged to marry Lacus because our fathers were friends. That was that. I came to know her, and I liked her, but both of us knew it had been almost a responsibility…because if our fathers hadn’t arranged it, then, I suppose, we wouldn’t even get to meet each other.
“I’m as new to this as you are, Cagalli. Being engaged to Lacus was something else altogether. What we had was good, but this something you and I have right now…it’s even better.” By the feel of it, he was sure he was blushing madly. He had just told Cagalli what had been in his mind for all this time, and he dared not look at her. Was what he revealed enough? Did he scare her? For all he was worth, he couldn’t find another way to know for sure what her real reaction was to his confession other than the simplest way: look at her and ask.
So he did. He turned around and faced her. Cagalli was looking at him with a cute blush on her cheeks, but aside from that, she gave no indication as to what she might be feeling. She just sat there, and Athrun didn’t know how to proceed. He was supposed to ask, but his words suddenly got caught in his throat, and all he could do was stare in return.
He heard her exhale slowly. “Athrun…back…back there…in space,” she paused and licked her dry lips, her brow creasing in unexpected worry. “That little thing you…you were talking about…it’s with…it’s with me…right?” she sounded like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted him to answer her or not.
Athrun smiled. She was talking about that time he had told her about falling in love.
Of course it was with her.
He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, only for it to fall back when the wind picked up again. “Nobody else.”
Cagalli cocked her head to the side, seemingly considering his answer. “Nobody else,” she faintly echoed, her face gradually brightening like how a kid’s face would upon receiving an early Christmas present. Her lips curved into a smile that quickly turned into a grin as the worry was lifted from her brow.
The blue-haired pilot couldn’t help but grin back. He brushed his hands on her arms when she shivered as a chilly gust once again blew. “Time to go back in. It’s getting too cold.” He stood up and offered her his hand. “Come on, I’ll make you some hot cocoa.” He felt a tingle when she took his hand, and he knew they were already…there.
They had crossed the line of friendship a long time ago, and now they couldn’t see even just a flicker of it from the distance. What they had now was finally made official.
What happened wasn’t too romantic, just like how they had first met. There was no exchange of words of undying love, but everything was pure Cagalli-ish. Athrun smiled as he stepped off the swing. He wouldn’t change a single second of it if he were ever given the chance to. That was how it went, and he was satisfied.
Before he could lead her back, he felt a small tug at his hand. He turned around and found Cagalli peering at him through long lashes. She bit her lip, hesitating for the slightest of seconds before using the leverage she had to place a fleeting kiss on the side of his mouth.
She pulled back and drew a breath, the rogue dash of color never leaving her cheeks. She stepped off the swing and beamed up at him. “Now for that hot chocolate…”
Her initiative, of course, was more than satisfying.
o-o
The clatter of miscellaneous objects hitting the vanity desk rang throughout Miriallia’s modest bedroom as she accidentally toppled over a cologne bottle and a few knickknacks in her haste to dress up. Lacus had scheduled a “girl’s day out” today, and she was supposed to be at the Athha mansion by nine-thirty. She glanced at her wristwatch and grimaced at the time: 9:25. She didn’t mean to oversleep, but she got in late last night. They had lost track of time over dinner, and had she failed in convincing her parents to pick her up, she’d have gone home much later.
The brunette hurriedly arranged her desktop with nimble fingers, carefully wiping the cologne spill with a piece of tissue paper. Standing up after completing her task, she checked herself out in the mirror, only to find out that she had missed a button, leaving the rest all wrongly done.
She checked her watch again: 9:28. Finally accepting that she wouldn’t be able to make it, she placed a call for Lacus, and then apologetically told the Pink Princess that she’d be late. Lacus just brushed her concern off, assuring her that it really was quite all right and that Cagalli herself was still stumbling all over the place, trying to get ready in record’s time. Apparently, the Orb Princess had slept in, too.
“Honey, I thought you have to meet up with the girls today? You’re running late!” she heard her mother call from downstairs, and Miriallia would have jumped up and rushed even more had she not known that already.
After a quick burst of giggles and an equally quick exchange of farewells, she re-did her buttons, this time methodically---or as methodically as buttoning a shirt could be. And when all was done and she was satisfied with her work, she bounded downstairs, grabbed a piece of toast, and was out of the house before her mother could even offer to butter her bread.
o-o
Lacus sat in the living room couch, flipping through an Ikea magazine mounted atop the damask throw pillow on her lap. There really wasn’t much to do since Miriallia would be late and Cagalli was still running through her morning routine.
Turning a page, she suddenly looked up, alarmed, when she heard a rough noise outside the living room. She returned the magazine on the center table and hurriedly went to check what the noise was about.
Peering around the embrasure, she caught sight of the blonde princess rubbing her behind while Athrun steadied her by her elbow. It looked like she had slipped in her haste.
“Careful. I told you not to leave your slippers there,” Athrun said, shaking his head, although he was smiling at her.
Lacus was amused when she spied the blush that crept up her blonde friend’s cheeks before muttering a silent acknowledgement of the pilot’s words. She was even more amused when Cagalli extricated herself rather awkwardly before giving the blue-head a soft “yeah,” earning a kiss on the crown of her head in return.
Lacus, with a curious eye, watched Cagalli, who was watching Athrun disappear around the corner, probably in search of the rest of the guys. “Are you okay, Cagalli?”
The blonde was a little startled. “Huh? Oh…oh…yeah. I’m good.” Cagalli narrowed her eyes at Lacus as the Pink Princess approached her. “What’s with the grin, Lacus?” she asked suspiciously.
“What grin?”
“That one,” she pointed at the Pink Princess’ wide smile.
“I’m just excited to go out with just us girls.”
“Oh no, you’re not fooling me.”
“What makes you think I’m fooling you?” Lacus clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward a little to peer at the blonde closer.
Cagalli took a step back. “I’m guessing this will go on until later? Much, much later?”
“What will?” Miriallia butted in, briskly walking towards them after greeting the servant who had ushered her in. She checked her watch for the umpteenth time that morning and found out that she was more than half an hour late. “Sorry…I kinda overslept.”
“Apparently, someone else did, too,” Lacus said after throwing a quick morning salutation at the brunette. Her grin never left her face as she turned her head to take a look at Cagalli.
Cagalli smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t get to sleep immediately…so I overslept, too.”
Lacus placed her forefinger on her chin, tapping it lightly in a thinking gesture. “Hm…I wonder why.” Her friend’s blush only made her even more curious. She knew something happened last night, and by the way her blonde friend was acting towards a certain Justice pilot only confirmed her surmise. Of course, she’d only go as far as friendly teasing – if Cagalli really didn’t want to divulge whatever it was she was hiding, then Lacus would drop it.
Miriallia grinned like the proverbial Cheshire cat upon seeing Cagalli’s reaction, and Lacus didn’t miss the mischievous glint in her eyes. Unless Cagalli didn’t say it out loud that she would prefer the subject to be totally dropped, she’d enjoy teasing her about it. After all, Miriallia seemed to be thinking of the same thing.
Cagalli decided to keep her mouth shut. She situated herself between her two friends and took advantage of her new position, hooking both her arms with Lacus and Miriallia’s. She then began dragging them towards the door to get this “girl’s day out” started. She’d been opposed to the idea until Lacus assured her they wouldn’t be spending the whole day doing “girl stuff.”
“Hey!” someone called from behind, halting the three in their tracks.
“Yes, Dearka?” Lacus answered, turning to look at the tanned teenager.
Dearka’s gaze shifted to the right when he noticed the brunette. “Uh…hey, Miriallia…”
“Morning!” Miriallia smiled, and a moment of silence ensued.
“I suggest you stop staring at my friend and start telling us what you want,” Cagalli smirked, cocking her head to the side as she enjoyed the embarrassed blush that crept up Dearka and Miriallia’s cheeks.
Dearka tore his eyes away from the brown-haired Natural and glared at his host. He then turned to Lacus and his gaze softened---Lacus had that effect on anyone. “I was just wondering if you could run me a favor.” When Lacus nodded, he continued, “Buy me a notepad, will you? If you’re going to the mall, that is. Yzak just set mine on fire.” His frown towards the end of his sentence made the three girls giggle.
“Sure,” Lacus smiled.
“We’re going to the mall?” Cagalli eyed the three pairs of skates by the door. “I thought we’re going skating? Not that I don’t want you to get a new notepad or anything,” she directed the last part at Dearka.
“We can swing by, I guess,” Miriallia touched Cagalli’s arm. “Besides, mom said there’s this swank coffee shop that opened there a month ago. Maybe we can stop by and…chat, if you know what I mean.”
Cagalli’s eyes widened, shaking her head. “No…I don’t know what you mean…”
“Of course you do,” Lacus put in. “We’ll be going then. I’ll get that notepad for you,” she said upon spying Dearka’s confused face.
“Thanks! Pay you later. Gotta get my hands on the freak’s wallet first,” he walked them to the door and waved them off.
“I heard that!” Yzak’s voice made its way to them as his footsteps faded towards the backyard door, making the three girls laugh before they shut the door.
o-o
Cagalli secured the last strap of her inline skates then took a few experimental twirls as she made herself comfortable after a long while of not being able to go rollerblading. She looked around the spacious skating rink through a glass window as she waited for Miriallia and Lacus to finish donning their wheeled footwear.
“I never did graduate from roller skates,” Miriallia voiced out, looking over at Cagalli then standing up to get re-acquainted with her skates.
Lacus shakily stood up, marveling at how in the world she had gotten herself convinced to go skating with her friends. Sure, she knew how to ice skate, but no one told her roller skating was a different thing altogether. For some reason, she was having a hard time managing her feet, and had it not been for Miriallia, who had clamped a hand around her arm, Lacus would have hit the pavement hard.
“I thought you ice skate?” Cagalli asked.
“I didn’t expect this to be any different. But, apparently, I was wrong,” Lacus giggled, taking a cautious sweep towards the exit of the locker room after putting her shoes inside the repository she shared with Miriallia and Cagalli.
Miriallia secured the lock. “You’ll get used to it. I had the impression that ice skating was way harder, but I guess it all depends on the person, huh?” She tucked her hair behind her ear, gained some stable footing, and followed the Pink Princess out of the room.
Cagalli pulled her windbreaker tighter around her, grabbed her cap from the bench, then moved her feet in skating sweeps. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” she observed, feeling the slight breeze brush her legs as she skated farther in the rink. The three had wisely agreed to wear unrestrictive clothing, but the blonde princess didn’t think she’d actually be coerced into wearing something so short in public.
“Yeah. After the rain yesterday, I thought it’d rain for a few more days,” Miriallia answered, slowing down so as not to leave Lacus behind.
“The occasional showers aren’t so bad,” Lacus put in, steadily getting used to her wheels.
They skated for a while, enjoying their surroundings. Lacus had even managed to skate over to a kid quick enough before he fell on his behind, and the kid’s two other siblings provided enough distraction to deter Lacus and Miriallia from acting on their curiosity. Of course, out of extreme happiness at seeing her luck, Cagalli had offered to buy some cotton candy for the kids. Where there was a man selling cotton candy, it came without question that there would be a man selling balloons, so Lacus pulled a few change from her pocket and bought the kids a balloon each.
By the time the kids had deemed that they had enough fun, it was already past lunchtime, and Cagalli’s stomach was awfully proposing that they go and eat lunch. And seeing as how their next destination was the mall, grabbing something to eat would not be put off any longer.
“Say, why don’t we forego the café and have lunch at that restaurant instead?” Miriallia asked, pointing at the quaint Italian restaurant tucked beside the mall. It was almost one-quarter, and the restaurant didn’t look as busy anymore.
“That is a really good idea, Mir. You should get an award for that!” Cagalli grinned, almost salivating at the thought that they’d finally be able to sit down and eat, and at a real restaurant---not just a café---for that matter.
“Of course! I’m famished!” Lacus exclaimed, moving her bag, which contained her skating gear, from her left hand to her right.
The three scurried over to the restaurant, and since the weather wasn’t too cold, they opted to settle on a vacant table on the patio. They carefully set their bags beside their respective seats and waited for the waiter and their menu.
“How’s that bruise of yours, Mir?” Cagalli asked.
Miriallia stretched her leg and eyed the discoloration on her shin. The little kid Lacus had earlier helped lost his balance for the second time, and the toe of his skate had bumped into Miriallia’s shin quite harshly. The brunette, however, couldn’t find it in herself to get mad at the kid, especially when he had looked about to cry as he profusely apologized. “I can live with it.”
“We can put ice on that when we get home,” Lacus suggested, just as the waiter came over with their menus.
They decided on two dishes of pasta, one cream-based and one spicy tomato-based, and a pan of Sicilian thin-crust pizza. It was Miriallia’s idea to share meals instead of ordering a dish just for themselves, and Lacus and Cagalli had easily agreed.
“Come on, Cagalli, I know you don’t exactly want this topic to be dropped,” Miriallia coaxed after chewing a morsel of crème brûlée. They had finished their meal a few minutes ago and were now happily munching on the dessert they ordered, but, until now, she and Lacus were still unsuccessful in making their blonde friend spill the beans.
Cagalli swallowed the sweet dessert melting in her mouth. This was one of the reasons she had been opposed to the idea of a girl’s day out. She knew girl talk was a big part of hanging out with just the ladies, and, sometimes, she hated being right. “And what makes you so sure there actually is something to tell? And, if there were, why wouldn’t I want it dropped?”
Lacus looked thoughtful for a second. “Maybe because of how you blush every time he does something?”
The blonde glared. “Oh yeah? Like when?” she challenged. In truth, she really did want to divulge her secrets, but she never did find out how she wanted to go about it. Sure, she’d seen in the silver screen how girls were so trusting of their friends and how it was so easy for them to gush about their crushes, but she was different. And her life wasn’t a big movie.
The Pink Princess smiled, and Cagalli regretted challenging her. “Oh, I don’t know…how about, when he greeted you good morning? Or when he took your hand to lead you to the kitchen? Or when he kissed you before Mir came?”
The Orb princess’ eyes widened, and good thing she had already swallowed her food, or she would have been choking by the end of Lacus’ reply. “Wha– How… What are you talking about?”
“Well, if you hadn’t been too pre-occupied with him, you might’ve noticed me actually being in the same room.”
Miriallia laughed at how Lacus strung her words. “Shucks, I wasn’t there!” she smothered her laughter just in time to get out what she wanted to say. She took Cagalli’s hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. “All right, if you really want us to stop interrogating you about your love life, we will.”
Despite herself, Cagalli smiled at her friends, then she sighed in resignation. “I really want to tell you, guys, but I don’t know how. As much as I want to tell you all about it, there’s this little part of me who wants to just keep it to myself for a while longer. See how everything plays out.”
Lacus understood how much it probably took Cagalli to get all that out, and that was enough sign to tell her that the blonde really did want to drop the subject at the moment. “We understand.”
Miriallia took a sip of her milkshake. “But, I have to say, it’s been fun to tease!” She laughed when she heard Cagalli groan.
o-o
The rays of the late afternoon sun filtered through the living room window, lending the chamber its tangerine glow. It was quiet in the room as Cagalli had gone to talk to Kisaka and Lacus had followed out soon after, in search of the Freedom pilot. Miriallia was snuggled on the couch, nursing her bruise with a cold compress and enjoying the soft music of the CD she had popped in the stereo a while ago.
Dearka wandered in, his gaze directly going to where the brunette was applying the cold compress. “What happened?” he asked, shuffling towards the injured Natural.
“I had a little accident in the skating rink. Oh, there’s your notepad,” she nodded towards the bag on the coffee table.
He sat on the said table, a little away from the purchase. “Thanks.” He then looked back to what had gotten his attention in the first place. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not really,” she shook her head no.
Dearka got up and gingerly lifted her offended leg, surprising both himself and her; nonetheless, he sat beside her and placed her leg on his lap, taking the cold compress from her hand and doing the job for her instead.
He had to remind himself that they were just friends before he could speak. “Here, let me do that,” he offered, a little too late as he had a hard time managing the jam in his throat at the boldness of his actions.
“T-thanks.” Miriallia had felt the tingles when he touched her, and even when he removed his hand from her ankle to hold the compress down on her shin, the ice couldn’t mask the cords of electricity shooting up her leg.
“So, how was your day?”
Miriallia smiled, slightly distracted. “It was fun! We played and skated with these three kids, and one had accidentally hit me on the shin when he slipped.” She waved a hand towards her injury. “That’s how I got this bruise. But they were too innocent for me to get mad at.”
“You’re too kind.”
She huffed. “Well, did you want me to shout at them?”
“I didn’t mean that,” he laughed. “I don’t think anyone would want to get on your bad side.”
She blushed at what he said. She thought she’d been really scary that time on the Archangel. She’d been so mad, and his cockiness had only served to anger her more back then.
“I’m kidding.”
“I know…” she trailed off. She almost jerked when she felt his warm hand massaging her ankle.
Dearka had used his left hand to hold the compress down on her bruised shin, and was now using his free hand to rub her ankle. She blushed harder, but when she noticed that he was staring off in space, she knew he wasn’t aware of what he was doing.
Miriallia saw him smirk. “I bet if it had been Yzak who got hit, he’d scare the life out of that kid!”
She relaxed and let him continue with what he was doing, opting to enjoy his ministrations over worrying about her earlier reaction. “I doubt he’s that bad. And he’s your friend! How can you say that?”
“He’s my friend all right!” he laughed. “That’s why I know what he’d do if he’d been in your position. Believe me, had the kid been, well…not a kid, he’d have sicced his Gundam on him long before the guy could even understand what hit him!”
Miriallia laughed. “I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. And I believe you’re exaggerating.”
“Believe what you want. It’s the truth.”
“So…how about you? How was your day?”
He shrugged as a smile lit up his face. “Did the girls tell you about my…misfortune…on the racing game?”
“Cagalli might have…mentioned it…”
“I’m sure she did.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I got my groove back and kicked their asses big time!”
Miriallia listened to him laugh, the smooth sound floating around the room, making her grin in return. The soft orange was slowly morphing into darker shades as the sun set in the horizon, allowing the room to get dimmer. And as Dearka’s fingers roved across the skin of her ankle to the sole of her foot in a soothing caress, Miriallia Haw concluded that she enjoyed spending time with him.
As friends.
Dearka switched on the lamp sitting atop the table on his side of the couch in a flitting motion, then his hand was back to performing its task. He talked of this and that, and Miriallia was only happy to listen, laughing at the jokes he cracked, giggling at the innuendos he tried to get across, and basically getting enthralled by the guy that was Dearka.
Of course, nobody knew what the future might bring, and changes were never that much predictable.
o-o
Athrun capped his sign pen when he finished writing the small bio their professors were asking from them on a five-by-eight index card. He’d thought it was so high-school, but what did he know? He was just a teenager who had spent too much time in the military when he could’ve led a normal life in a normal surrounding, given that he came from a normal background, which, obviously, he didn’t.
He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. It was very late, but he figured that the amount of sugar he consumed when he had humored Cagalli and agreed to finish a half-gallon of ice cream with her after dinner was enough to keep him wide awake the entire night. And the fact that they were able to accomplish such a feat also left him wondering how in the world they even managed to eat half of it.
The blue-head tidied up his desk, stood up, stretched, and found himself smiling. Again. He’d been too happy since that morning, and he knew all too well why.
In a few leisurely strides, he made it to his door. He’d decided to burn some of his energy with a few strolls around the estate. Tomorrow was just Sunday, and it would be a shame if he spent half of the day snoozing away because he couldn’t fall asleep on time.
When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Cagalli on the other side with her eyes wide like those of a kid who was caught with his hand inside the weirdly forbidden cookie jar. She wrung her hands and worried her bottom lip, looking like she couldn’t remember her reason for being there.
She stepped back when he emerged from his room.
“Hey,” he greeted, closing the door behind him.
“Um…the sugar is keeping you up, too…right?” she offered, still wringing her hands.
He chuckled. “Yeah. I’m guessing it’s doing the same to you?” Athrun playfully swatted at her restless hands. He then took her left hand and pulled her along.
Cagalli smiled as the awkwardness gave way to welcome togetherness. “Yep!” she answered energetically, obviously showing the effects of sugar. “I’m thinking I shouldn’t have come up with that crazy idea… It got us way alive than everybody else.” She observed how there was no other noise in the left wing aside from the one they were currently making.
“It’s always nice to try new things.” He didn’t hear her reply to that, so he looked over his shoulder only to see her slightly blushing. “So…you’ve done this before?” it sounded more like a statement than a question. “Consumed this much sugar in one go?” He paused and waited for her to fall into step beside him.
“All right, all right. I did. But just once before this! And not once during the war.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Just once?”
Cagalli fought the urge to pout. “Okay…twice!”
They started walking again and were by the stairs not too long after. “Twice,” he repeated, but he must’ve sounded too unconvinced because she halted just before they could descend the stairs.
“Fine! Thrice! Thrice before the war! And if I did even way before, I don’t remember. Honest!”
Athrun laughed at how evidently sugar-high she was. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Okay, I believe you.” They descended the flight of steps together.
“How about you?”
“What about me?”
“How many times have you been sugar-rushed before this? Assuming that you are sugar-rushed now since I don’t exactly see you fidgeting.”
“Why do you think I’m still up and about? I can’t stay in one place, so I got to burn some energy. I’m taking a walk,” he announced, making Cagalli laugh at how funnily proud he was of the solution he thought.
“I’ll walk with you. So, what about my other question?”
He shrugged. “When I was a kid, I guess. Kira loved sweets, and since we were always together, I did what he did. He was a loud kid, and you couldn’t say no to him. Besides, kids love sweets, and we weren’t immune to its…allure.”
“Nice word,” she giggled. “He loves his chocolate just like me. Maybe it’s a twin thing.” She shrugged. “Kira was loud when he was a kid? Really now?”
“He had a sweet tooth, and Mrs. Yamato sometimes really had to put her foot down because Kira gets so hyper when he consumes too much sugar. Though, I don’t know if he’s still like that now.” He remembered the time when he had been tricked by his best friend into sneaking inside the pantry behind Kira’s mother’s back to get a few bars of chocolate. Of course, they had gotten caught. “And yeah, he was a loud kid. Believe it or not.”
“I guess Kisaka wouldn’t be too happy if we had lived in the same house when we were kids. We’d drive him nuts.”
They had reached the front door, and Cagalli opened the hall closet to retrieve her outdoor slippers. They slipped out the door and the evening chill greeted them. The crispness of the air prickled her skin, but Cagalli loved it.
They took to the right and ambled down the cobbled path, bathing in the comfortable silence that settled.
The former Justice pilot broke the quiet, “Did you want to talk about something?”
“Not really,” was her simple reply, and they went back to strolling down the walkway in companionable silence.
Athrun noticed her shiver when a cool breeze brushed past them. “Cold?”
“I’m holding just fine.” She rubbed her arms.
He stopped in his tracks and moved in front of her. He rubbed her arms, and the coolness of her skin was a stark contrast to the warmth of his palms. “You are cold.”
Cagalli turned pink. She bit her lip and peered at him. “Actually…there is something I wanna tell you…”
“I’m listening.”
“Um…don’t think this is stupid, okay?” He nodded. “All right… Well…I don’t…”she faltered.
“Yes?”
“I don’t…know…Idunnoknowhowtogofromhere,” she hurriedly got out.
Athrun blinked. “Come again?”
Cagalli took in a cleansing breath, trying to get her tongue untied. “I don’t know how to go from here,” she repeated, this time, slowly and clearly.
He was silenced. He didn’t have an answer to that. He knew what she was talking about, but what was he to say? He was as new to this as she was. And didn’t he tell her that already?
She suddenly looked embarrassed. “Athrun? Look, I’m sor–”
He cut her off, “Cagalli, you don’t have to know anything. I don’t know anything. We explore this thing together.” He mused for a short while. “Take it like a…new adventure.”
“Hn, adventure?” Cagalli unconsciously puckered her forehead, fought an insistent pout, puffed her cheeks, and let out a slow stream of air. “Okay…together.”
“Yes. Together.”
When she smiled, he couldn’t help but pull her in a hug. He didn’t marvel at how perfectly she fit in his arms or at how she finely melted against him because somehow, he had always known she’d fit there. That it would be right for her to be there.
He’d hugged her before, sure, but the first time, it had just been him. To show that he was sorry and that she was right. He even had an arm in a sling then, and she had been too flustered to even return the hug. The second time around had led them to their first kiss, but that had been too fleeting.
He felt her snuggle closer as another gust picked up. Along the way, he’d known that if he had her in his arms again, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that she belonged there – as corny as that sounded. “Besides, nobody else, right?”
Cagalli looked up with her cheeks still tinted a rosy pink. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Athrun dipped his head and sealed his mouth over hers. A close-mouthed kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.
When they broke apart, she smiled a smile he gladly returned. “Nobody else,” she repeated, just like how she did before.
-To Be Continued…
A/N:
Cheerio for now. And be good, children, so drop a review…or it’s detention for all of you! Wink.