Athrun Dorky B-day Post - Your Hand in Mine
This post is part of the Athrun Zala Dorky Birthday Post Project 2006.
I totally tried to write dorky Athrun antics, but I failed. T__T So instead there is hastily-written and overly-sappy Asucaga fic~ XDD
Your Hand in Mine
Athrun is almost immediately drawn to reconstruction work.
By chance one day, he meets her. Clutching a worn stuffed rabbit in her arms, the little girl sits on the ground, staring aimlessly at the silent radio in front of her. Athrun approaches her, speaks with her for a moment and gently takes the broken radio. He examines it carefully and pulls out a small screwdriver from his pack. He sits there next to the little girl as he works on the radio, murmuring softly to her the whole time. Just before the sun settles for the night, Athrun turns a knob and with a faint click, sound slowly emerges from the repaired radio. The girl with the stuffed rabbit smiles at him and returns home with the radio singing in her arms.
The next day, he returns there and goes about offering repairs for small mechanical things. From there, he realizes once more the things that he can do. His hands are perfectly capable. He can accomplish something of his own with these hands. Something more than fighting. Something to be fought for.
He thinks of Cagalli, sitting in her office working late into the night with the weight of Orb resting on her shoulders.
That is something only she can do.
There is something that only he can do.
~~~~~~~~
When there is a brief moment of respite, Athrun wanders the streets until something catches his eye. He sends Cagalli trinkets from these peaceful moments. They're like small reminders for them both. This is what we’re working for. This is why we endure this separation. And I still love you. These words are implicit, quiet as a whisper, and linger softly.
In return for his little gifts, Cagalli writes him long letters that arrive every now and then. She tells him, I can't write, but I'll try. She writes about long meetings, paperwork piled high and a new method of making better paper airplanes from the said paperwork.
She often interrupts herself in these letters, stopping in the middle of a paragraph and then beginning another as if the other had never occurred. She can only write in snatches, so she tells him that she expects him to know exactly what she had intended to say.
Sometimes, he imagines the unfinished sentences end with, 'I miss you' 'I wish you were here' 'I love you'. He believes that if he were to tell Cagalli this, she would reply in her next letter in big bold letters, Well of course, idiot. That’s what the whole letter is about! She would, undoubtedly, underline the word idiot three times. At least.
~~~~~~~~
Cagalli studies the small charcoal sketch of Athrun. Drawn by an artist next to a café that serves delicious coffee, he writes on the back. She stares at the portrait and imagines what he could be thinking as he is being drawn. Maybe he's thinking of the weather, maybe he's thinking of what to have for lunch, maybe he's thinking how terrible he is at posing. She laughs.
There is a knock at the door.
"Representative Athha?"
"Yes, I'm coming right away."
Cagalli carefully tucks the sketch into her coat pocket and rises. She stares straight ahead and walks forward into another battle of negotiation. She has learned the art of retreat and compromise, but this will never be the thing that she surrenders. The one thing that allows her to see the world with open eyes and an open heart.
Peace is what we’re all working towards. Let us not forget that, she says at the end of the meeting with her hand in her pocket.
~~~~~~~~
Whenever he is on Earth, Athrun will look up into the night sky and watch the stars. Sometimes, he thinks that he can hear space calling to him. His hands, which repair and create, also kill. In the depths of his soul, he remembers what it is like to fight, to wield a weapon and to kill without even pausing. He remembers the rush of flying past the stars and his hands twitch for a mobile suit.
It isn't something that can be forgotten.
It is the scars that war leaves on its soldiers.
~~~~~~~
Cagalli recalls the stars brighter than they are. She remembers cold desert nights, the laughter of comrades and battling with her own two hands. She misses the thrill and companions who will never turn their back on her.
Nowadays, she must fight different battles.
Sacrifices, leaders are the sacrifice for the people, she remembers her father saying.
She thinks she understands the meaning behind his words with each day.
~~~~~~~
Out of all the small treasures that Athrun sends her, Cagalli's favorite is a postcard of a beach. The glowing sun rests on the water, shining forever in the picture as the waves creep onto golden sand. If she squints, she can see different colored shells, a small yellow bucket and a tiny red crab on the beach.
She smiles every time.
~~~~~~~~
The battle may take months, years or perhaps decades.
Luckily, neither of them gives up easily. They're both terribly stubborn. It is, arguably, their best trait.
Without anyone realizing it, they are still fighting together like they've always done.
Back to back, hand in hand.
~~~~~~~
::HUGS Athrun:: <3
Also check out these other dorky birthday posts!
c2lan's just for today
cagalli_chan's daddy's sleeping
eisenkleid's [happiness]+[smile]
geckguga's athrun's cupcake party
midoriyuki's shine only for you
m0miji's sore feet
moririn's you, me and pumpkin!?
obakesan's RTFM [note: lj is friends locked]
sheila_chan's athrun zala mood theme
star_flare's side by side
stroberimeteor's happy birthday, you dork
tobakichan's dorky birthday post
*project banner by star_flare