No Turning Back Part 8----
AthrunCagalli--Kira Lacus

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“Kira?” Lacus asked, climbing up to the cockpit of the Justice with Athrun beside her. It was sunrise, and Kira hadn’t stopped. The mechanical crew were close to being done the Justice. All the pieces were in the right areas. The arms were assembled and they were just finishing them up. Next the legs were to be done and then it was ready.

“Hey Lacus, Athrun.” Kira muttered glancing at them briefly, and then turned back to the computer. “You heard?” He asked her suddenly.

She nodded. “It’s horrible… And having the citizens turn on her after that… She had all of this inside of her for so long.” Kira nodded and sighed softly. “It’s a good thing we heard of the marriage on the radio…”

Kira nodded and Athrun looked away distantly, both pf them remembering that day.

“Kira! Kira!” Lacus called, waving him into the house. “Athrun!” She called him as well.

Kira turned away from the sunset and looked towards Lacus. Athrun did the same. The look on her face had Kira running back to the house, Athrun following. “What is it?” Kira asked, grasping her shoulders.

“Cagalli is on the radio with Yuna Roma Seiran.” She said, turning into the house and into the kitchen where she had been cooking dinner.

The buzz of the old radio could be heard along with Yuna’s annoying voice. “We will be getting married tomorrow. Isn’t that right Cagalli?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Cagalli spoke monotonously. Athrun frowned; it didn’t seem like Cagalli at all.

“It was her father’s wish that we marry in the first place, so we are merely honouring his wishes. Now that he is dead, I will be ruling Orb along with Cagalli.” Even on the radio he seemed pigheaded.

“So, what are your big plans after the wedding? Are all your friends and family going to be there? Are you having a big or small wedding?” A woman’s voice asked over the radio. It was obvious now that they were having an interview.

Athrun grit his teeth together, hearing Yuna talk about wedding plans. Cagalli didn’t say anything, just agreed with whatever Yuna said. Lacus found this odd. “Cagalli seems off.” She muttered, folding her arms across her chest and leaning on the counter.

Kira nodded and listened to Yuna talk incessantly for another twenty minutes.

“Cagalli and I are very pleased to finally tie the knot and start a family.” Athrun tensed and walked from the room. “Isn’t that right, Cagalli?” Yuna asked her forcefully.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So, when is the honeymoon?” The woman asked. “Where do you plan on going?”

Yuna went on about where they were going. "Cagalli wants nothing to do with any of it.” Kira said, shutting the radio off.

“You need to go and get her.” Lacus said with finality. A loud banging noise alerted them that the garage to the Freedom was opening.

“What the hell?” Kira gasped, seeing the Gundam walking towards the beach. “Athrun.” He muttered in realisation.

“I guess he decided to go get her.” Lacus stated, turning away from the door. “I’ll go finish cooking.”

Kira smiled despite to circumstances. He watched the kids pause in what they were doing to watch the machine, mesmerized. Once the Freedom took off, he turned away and went to help in the kitchen.

~

Athrun had heard enough. The sound of Cagalli’s voice alerted him immediately that she did not want any of it. The forceful tone Yuna used when he asked her what she thought made him believe that he was forcing everything on her.

He put in the code needed to open the door to the Freedom and put on his body suit and helmet. He stuck his booted foot into the step and the cable pulled him up into the cockpit. Turning it on, he was pleased that Kira kept it updated; it saved him a couple of minutes. He was ready to go once the seatbelt was on, and he took off, walking the Gundam to the shore and then taking to the air.

It would take him the rest of the day to get there, so he would have the timing right. Yuna had said the wedding was going to be around noon, near the shore. He would arrive early, but he would wait where he could hide the Freedom somehow.

Fatigue didn’t affect him in the slightest throughout the night. He was wide-awake and alert when the shore of Orb came into view. Checking the time, it was only ten thirty, so he had about an hour and a half. He could already see them setting up for the ceremony.

His stomach churned uncomfortably when he thought about how Cagalli must be freaking out.

The minutes passed slowly, and he tensed up when he seen everyone gathering around. Almost all of Orb’s people gathered. Yuna stood at the front of the crowd, under an arch of flowers. He had a microphone in his hand and was talking to the people present. Athrun frowned, what could he be saying?

He waited another half hour before Cagalli finally walked up the aisle. She looked beautiful with her white gown.  She walked alone, and he used the computer on the Freedom to zoom in to her face. She looked terrified, tired, and it looked like she had been crying.

The Freedom followed her and when she stopped beside Yuna, he grabbed her hand forcefully and said something into her ear. She flinched pulled her hand away, stepping back, shaking her head.

“What are you doing Cagalli?” Athrun muttered. He followed her carefully. She was angry now, and tears had gathered in her eyes. She yelled at him, and Yuna slapped her, knocking her to the ground. He turned to the crowd of citizens and said something to them again. They cheered and some of the men began to run towards Cagalli. She stood quickly and ran.

Athrun didn’t wait a second longer before he launched the Freedom towards her. As he approached, the men stopped running after and stopped to watch the Freedom flying towards them. Cagalli stopped as well, and just stared at the Gundam approaching her, mouth agape.

Athrun manoeuvred the Freedom’s hand and scooped her carefully off the ground, after touching down. He opened the cockpit after he manoeuvred the Freedom’s hand to allow her to step onto the opening. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he jumped out of the seat and held his arms open for Cagalli to jump down.

She couldn’t tell who was helping her because the helmet had reflective glass. She jumped gratefully into the arms of her saviour and waited until he got back in before moving and sitting on his lap. No words were spoken as the cockpit closed and they took off.

Athrun put on the autopilot once Orb was out of view and took off his helmet to see Cagalli better.  He smiled at her softly and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She smiled gratefully and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back briefly, but stopped and looked up at the screens when the alarm sounded for approaching mobile suits.

Cagalli tensed up and looked over her shoulder at the screen. Two Gundam’s were flying towards them. Athrun growled and took control of the commands once more. He didn’t want to fight while Cagalli was with him, the last time he did that she ended up hurt. Besides, he could easily out run them.

The machines pursuing them shot their lasers, which were easily dodged. Pushing a few buttons in the cockpit, Athrun then pushed forward, and sped the machine up, leaving the mobile suits behind them.

“Thank you, Athrun.” Cagalli gasped, hugging him again now that the danger passed. He laughed lightly and turned his head to look at her. “No need to thank me, you should have known I’d come.” He said softly. “You look tired, it’ll take about a day to get back… you should rest.”

“Okay.” She sighed and detached herself from him, resting her head on his shoulder and keeping her hands on her lap instead. “Is this ok?” She asked. “It’s fine.” He told her. She took a deep breath and fell asleep within minutes.

Athrun smiled. She slept the whole way back to Kira and Lacus’s place and then some. Lacus had to get her out of the gown and into something more comfortable.

“I’ll be done here in another hour or so.” Kira told them, typing once again on the keyboard, eyes glued to the screen.

“I can take over if you want.” Athrun told him. “You should get some sleep.”

Kira shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’ll rest when I’m gone.”

Lacus sighed. “I’ll stay and make sure he does.” She smiled.

“Thank you, Kira.” Athrun said quietly and climbed back down. Cagalli was still asleep when he left to go see how the repairs on the Justice were doing. The Eternal was a fairly small ship, having been built for the Freedom and Justice. They were underwater now, safe from any Skygraspers and most mobile suits. All they needed to worry about were submarines and GUUNs.

Athrun arrived at her door and knocked before entering. “You awake?” He asked as he entered the dark room. He turned the light on and frowned when he seen no one there. He turned and left, heading to the cafeteria. Perhaps she went to get something to eat.

Sure enough, she was sitting at the back, eating a sandwich. She looked up when she heard the automatic door open. She smiled as he approached. She offered the other half of her sandwich. “Here, you hungry?”

He smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

They ate in silence and when Cagalli finished her half of the sandwich, she fingered the ring on her finger. She sighed and looked at him. “You know… I never really understood why you gave this to me.” She looked down at the ring. “I know one reason was what was going on with… Yuna and I… But…” She trailed off.

Athrun swallowed his bite and leaned back in the chair. “I guess I wanted you to have something to remember me by. In case something happened to me. Or something happened to you while I was gone.” She knew he was talking about arranged marriage.

Cagalli smiled. “I never really thanked you.” She giggled, “So, thank you!”

Athrun couldn’t help but laugh. “You really are something else, Cagalli.” She laughed in response.

“You… don’t have to go after him, you know.” She spoke quietly after they had gone back into silence.

He shook his head. “You won’t stop me.”

She sighed. “Yeah. I know that. But—“

“No. I—me and Kira need to do this.” His teeth grit together. “We won’t forgive him for what he did, Cagalli. I won’t feel right until he is dead.”

Cagalli flinched at the coldness in his voice. She knew Athrun has killed before—he had to. But hearing him talk about it so freely sounded wrong. She nodded mutely, her bangs hiding her face.

“What’s wrong?” Athrun asked softly, watching her carefully.

She shook her head, close to tears. “I… don’t want to talk about it.” Talking about it would only make it worse. She felt dirty from telling people what Yuna did—for having to re-live it. She felt vulnerable—weak—because Kira and Athrun were going out of their way just to give her some sort of closure. When in reality, all she truly wanted was to be with Athrun, Kira, and Lacus and just forget it all—leave it behind and leave all the fighting. She hated leaving Orb in others’ hands, but what could she do? Yuna had lied to the citizens and made them believe she was some sort of a terrorist if she didn’t marry him.

Cagalli walked slowly to where Yuna and the priest stood, waiting for her. Athrun’s kind face flashed before her eyes and tears sprang to her eyes. All she could think about was how she was betraying him. He had given her a ring, and she sent him off somewhere so he wouldn’t be there while she got married.

She became dizzy and sick to her stomach. A rush of heat coursed through her body and stayed there. She was meters away from her doom.

Yuna grabbed her arm once she was within reach. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I already told the citizens of Orb that I heard you planning to hand them over to Zaft. If you refuse to marry me… well, they will never trust you. And,” He paused, “I told you that Athrun, your brother, and Lacus Clyne would die. I will keep my promise to you.”

Cagalli’s breath caught in her throat. All of Orb… hate her? She looked to the crowd out of the corner of her eye. It was true—many of the men were watching her carefully, waiting for a reason to defend their families. She couldn’t live that way.

She shook her head and backed away. Kira and Athrun were smart enough to know if an enemy was coming their way. “I won’t.” She muttered, shaking her head. “I will never marry a scum bag like you, Yuna! Athrun isn’t such an amateur to be killed by you.”

Yuna sneered at her and turned to the citizens. “You see?” He called.

Shouts were heard from the men and they began running to her. Cagalli didn’t know what else to do other than run—they were angry; angry enough to hurt her. She heard the shouts stop and looked up. She stopped breathing at the sight of Kira’s Freedom Gundam approaching her.

“Ok.” Athrun said gently, rubbing her back. “When you’re ready.”

Cagalli looked up at him. “Thanks.” She sighed then stood, taking her tray to the dishwasher. When she got back to Athrun, she pulled him to his feet. “How’s the Justice coming?”

“Kira is almost—if not done—the computer work. And the parts are almost assembled.” He walked with her to the automatic doors.

Cagalli sighed irritably. “I wish we were above water. I could use some fresh air.”

Athrun laughed lightly. “Tomorrow.”

She nodded. “I hope so.”