Open, Bathhouse, 2 years younger

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

Cagalli in the bathhouse isn't an odd sight at all. It's pretty much her favorite place to relax alone, even if the 'alone' part ends up not working out for all that long, depending on the day.

If you don't really look closely, there's nothing out of the usual here, but beyond that... she's a bit smaller, her face just a little more youthful. She also looks like she's ready to slip into the water, just that little bit, and take a nice deep breath. Not that she's considering it, but she really wears her emotions out in the open.

"Father..."

Comments

[jesushasagundam]

"It is?" Kira looked concerned as he glanced at his sister. "Why didn't you tell me?"

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

"I can't just go running to you every time I have a problem." It wasn't fair to him, no matter how much he wanted to help her.

[jesushasagundam]

He looked momentarily perturbed... and then frowned, looking away. "I didn't say that," he corrected her quietly. "But if you're feeling upset, then..."

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

Cagalli huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm not upset with you or anything. Just... feeling kinda... crappy... in general." She didn't apologize though either.

[jesushasagundam]

Kira nodded. "I understand. that's why I was asking."

"If we can't talk to each other about why we feel bad, who can we talk to?"

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

"I... I dunno." Cagalli sighed. "Talking about things like this is hard."

[jesushasagundam]

"It is," he agreed. "But if we don't try, we'll never get anywhere." And a lack of communication could kill.

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

She nodded. "I can only deal with so much at a time, and I know everyone else has problems. Maybe I should just... trade complaints with someone."

[jesushasagundam]

"...if you want to go first, I'll go second," he offered.

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

"Ha. It's... not even anything new for me, just thinking about... about dad..." Cagalli took a slow breath, looking up at... well, there wasn't any real sky here. "And Athrun and us and people in general."

[jesushasagundam]

"...oh," Kira said softly, understanding. He could never blame Cagalli for feeling regret over what had happened to her father. "Even after all this time... we should always remember what happened at Orb."

"I'm sure Athrun would say the same thing if he were with us right now."

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

"That's another thing." She huffed, getting her thoughts in order. "Figuring that out. Figuring out Athrun, and figuring out myself."