Note: If you haven't read Truth, I recommend that you read Truth first before you read this, or else the later plot developments will be a cause of scratch-head-moments. This story takes place straight after the wedding in Truth, which by itself, took place a year after Cagalli accepted Athrun's proposal.

Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD, please R&R!

C.E.77

Chapter 1

She looked at him and couldn't stop grinning like a Cheshire cat.

And then Athrun finally noticed that she was staring blindly at him while he was adjusting his tie and looked at Cagalli.

"What?" he muttered testily with a question in his voice, a little uncomfortable at the goofy grin she had and the way her amber orbs were peering at him.

"I can't believe this is happening," she said simply and she proceeded to pinch his arm, resulting in a little yelp of pain that escaped entirely from his lips.

"What did you do that for?" he cried furiously, massaging the spot where her fingers had pressed his flesh quite unforgiving, "If you think it's a dream you

are in, then you ought to pinch yourself, not me!"

Cagalli chuckled and retorted without thinking, "I was afraid of hurting myself."

But a minute later, Athrun had launched himself at her and swept her into his arms, tickling her and making her cry out with laughter and anguish until she was breathless and consumed with giggles.

"N-not fair," she howled, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes, "You know I-I'm ti-ticklish a-and that you aren't!"

"I know," he laughed, ceasing and allowing her to recover a bit, "And that's the whole point."

She nuzzled obligingly into the warmth of his chest with her arms enwrapped securely around his back and then Cagalli laughed a little more and she turned her head up towards him and said ruefully, "Alright, we have to get going. If we don't, then the reception will wait and then people we'll think we're trying to be fashionably late like some celebrity couple, which we, fortunately for the world and ourselves, aren't."

"We aren't," Athrun agreed, still not making an attempt to get up from the chair he had collapsed in with her and gazing at Cagalli, "But that's not what the rest of the world thinks."

"Prove it," she cried in shock, twisting madly in his arms to get a better look at his face and to see if Athrun was joshing with her.

"Check the newspapers," he offered quite off-handedly, "There are thousands of letters in those, you know, requesting more footage and photographs of the wedding, which I'm sure you're glad is over rand done with, and there's the ASUCAGA FORVER crap flying around in news ads I haven't even heard of in my twenty-two years of living."

She sprang up swiftly like a bullet that had bounced right off the wall, her features comical in the panic that flashed over her face, and her blonde hair was a ruffled mess that he found terribly attractive at that point. Quite ignoring the fact that he was staring, she ranted madly, "It's your fault! Now the world knows we got married!"

"Correction, Cagalli," he retorted, pushing himself out of the chair and niftily kicking it behind him so that it slid into the slot in between the desk, "It's not my fault that the world knows we got married. It's your brother's fault."

"You and Kira," Cagalli shot, quite upset very suddenly, "Why'd you go and announce that we were getting married to the world?"

"I didn't," he chuckled, leaning against the desk and gazing at the feisty Cagalli, "But I had to at least inform the PLANT Supreme Council that I was getting married, after all, that's' what employees do for their employers."

Her lips unconsciously arranged themselves into a semi-pout, semi-scowl, and her eyes flashed pure fire as Cagalli crossed her arms obstinately and glared at him. And Athrun caught himself ogling at her again even though she didn't notice he had been staring at her for the past couple of minutes and she cried helplessly, "So you mean they, and Kira, announced it to the rest of the world, and now we have to attend bloody functions like these no matter where we go for the bleeding honeymoon?"

"That's about right," he said as-a-matter-of-factly, then he laughed, producing a deep, warm sound that mollified her somewhat and she sighed and ruffled her hair a bit more, somehow achieving a messy effect that made her look terribly charming and child-like.

"In fact," Athrun continued in a blithe voice, "We have to start getting ready now, or we'll be late."

Her head swivelled up to the clock in the room and she gave a little shriek as her eyes widened to double their size. He would have liked to stare a bit more at her and grin like an idiot at Cagalli, but she had fled out of his room like a cat the very next moment, and he presumed that she would be in her own room getting ready.

"Stupid Kira," he muttered, kicking the leg of the chair, cursing his best friend for encouraging the Supreme Council to go ahead and blast the news to the rest of the world which now felt like they had a royal obligation to celebrate the marriage.

Athrun Zala, chairman of PLANT's ETERNITY, currently stationed in the United Emirates of ORB, had been married to Cagalli Yula Atha, last member of the Atha House and the Supreme Commander of ORB for a grand total of one day.

Not that he wanted it to be that way of course. Athrun Zala had spent nearly everyday of last year trying to get her to marry him, and she had refused, but he hadn't been discouraged because he knew she would have agreed in time to come.

But then, half a year ago, she had been involved in a freak accident with him, and that had been a rut he had to unpick both of them out of.

Cagalli, literally blinded, her eyes closed, had been distant and lost in her own world, where he logically assumed, was only filled with darkness and very little else. She had been so insecure and afraid of everything she couldn't see with her own two eyes that he had almost lost her during that time.

But in retrospect, Athrun had almost lost Cagalli Yula Atha three years ago when he had left for PLANT to rejoin ZAFT and effectively put the only person he had truly loved in the hands of those who didn't care about her nor gave a hoot about her pain while they made her a puppet and threw her around like a rag-doll. He would never forgive the Seirans, not Yuna Roma Seiran either, that went without saying, but then he'd never forgive himself for choosing to leave her behind either.

Yet, at that point of time, it had been crucial to leave to see if he could sort out the mess his father had left for him as some parting gift or another. His father, consumed by hatred and the realisation of lost dreams when Lenore Zala had died, had wanted the death of all Naturals. Would that have compensated the death of his mother, Athrun Zala didn't know. At the very least, that was the minimum Patrick Zala lived for. Revenge had been the key for both of them, but Patrick Zala had died while his son had lived.

"Athrun!" Cagalli was calling from outside as she knocked lightly, "Are you ready?"

He shook his head hurriedly to clear himself of the thoughts and got up again, smoothing his long jacket and making sure his freshly-ironed shirt was tucked in properly into his dark pants. The reporters would have a field day if they caught him looking shabby or scruffy, then Kira would frame the picture of a would-be-scruffy-Athrun Zala as proof to Lacus that he, Kira, had a right to wear his pyjamas to work or something insane like that.

Swiftly, he moved to the door and pushed it open and stared at Cagalli who was standing outside and peering curiously to see if he was done. She looked terribly fetching in the dress Lacus had given her for a wedding gift, it was quite elaborate where Cagalli's own standards where concerned, especially since Cagalli had a stint as a resistance fighter in the Desert Dawn troops atone point of time, but then for tonight, it would more than suffice.

Blushing slightly when she noticed that he was staring at her turquoise dress, she grabbed his arm roughly and said very hurriedly, "Let's go, let's go, I don't want anyone to stare and pass me that jacket while you're at it, I don't want them to take a photograph of me like this and send it to Kira, he'll tease me and I don't want to have to beat him up for it."

Her words came out in a terrible rush and almost too quick for him to hear, but then her large eyes and pink cheeks were more than enough to tell him that she was embarrassed at having to wear a formal dress like this to suit the occasion. So Athrun chuckled and closed the door, but then he looked around and saw that the corridor of the level was vacant, and he mashed her against the wall behind her and gently tucked some loose blonde strands behind her ears and said softly, "There's absolutely no need for a jacket. Besides, the whole point of today's event is the photographs, and they won't put away the cameras just because you don't want Kira to see you wearing this."

"If I plead hard enough, they might relent," she began hopefully, her eyes wide and lovely, but then he grinned ruefully and stroked her cheek, saying playfully, "If I had a choice, I wouldn't want anybody to see you except myself."

Then he swiftly captured her lips with his so Cagalli wouldn't try to argue and maybe, try to run back to her room to change into something she felt less strange in.

But she didn't look strange, by his word, she didn't. In fact, Cagalli looked stunning in the exquisite turquoise material Lacus had probably handpicked for her, and that only went to show that Cagalli was as beautiful as Athrun knew she was, and that Lacus had very, very good taste. He would make a note to tell Lacus that later if he got the chance.

"Let's go," he said finally with a but of regret in his voice, promptly pulling her from where he had plastered her across the wall with his won weight, and then she stumbled a little in her heels until she regained her balance with a little of his help. As he led her by her hand, a flash of silver and ruby caught his eye, and he smiled knowingly at Cagalli as she followed his emerald gaze down to her finger where the ring sparkled.

The realisation that he was looking at the hand caused her to blush even though she desperately tried not to show her reaction to his intense gaze, and thankfully, a diversion at the other end of the hotel lounge was caused at that very instant.

The bodyguards were waiting for her, but then they always were, Athrun thought dryly, and amidst the three bodyguards who had accompanied Cagalli, a dark-haired girl wearing a pink dress and who was jumping everywhere excitedly caught his eye. It was almost comical, for the only female bodyguard and the youngest out of all of the seasoned protectors stood out terribly from the other bodyguards who were decked in dark suits and unapologetically male.

'Imagine if Alex Dino was still around to teach them how bodyguards should behave,' he thought wryly, noting the way the bodyguards were looking at Cagalli with the kind of affection he knew they really meant from the bottom of their hearts.

And Cagalli laughed and her arm which he had looped with his tugged away almost involuntarily, and she waved back to Rainie.

"You brought her here too?" he said incredulously, watching Cagalli's face glow, alight with joy and cheerfulness.

She glanced at him and snorted, retorting quite teasingly, "I was sure you wouldn't mind another female's company, especially when it's Rainie's, she being pretty and young and all that."

"I'm a paedophile who goes for sixteen year olds when I'm twenty-two," he agreed mockingly, retaking her hand in his and leading her forward gently, "What else do you expect?"

"I thought so," she said terribly seriously, but he caught the flash of mischief in her eyes and he smirked and led her into the car her bodyguards were all getting into.

Berlin was in the midst of winter, and for the life of him, he didn't expect why she wanted to go there. He would have preferred somewhere less chilly at this point of time, but if that was what Cagalli Yula Atha wanted, that was what he'd give her.

Rainie, positioned in the front seat, started chattering away like a monkey and Cagalli joined in the conversation and they started talking about things he didn't understand and things he really didn't want to either. Rainie was talking about guns and some weird weapon Vino had came up with or some random gadget and Cagalli would be interested, no doubt about that, he thought dryly.

The last time he had came here, he had seen Cagalli, cold and a stranger, tied to her duties more securely than they had to be, living in a shadow of her former self, eyes cynical and warmth ebbing very quickly out of her. And Athrun had felt agony when he gazed into her vivid amber eyes at that time, because he knew she was destroying herself and destroying him and the same time.

The ring that now sat securely on her finger had been in his pocket for two years when Meyrin Hawke had passed it back to him. He had been thankful to Meyrin Hawke for saving his life when he had been aboard the Minerva, but then something in her blue eyes had disturbed him, and he knew that allowing the girl to get closer would mean certain destruction of her heart. And Athrun hadn't minded Meyrin, the heavens knew he didn't, because she was innocent and sincere, quite lovely with her glossy red hair and sweet heart-shaped face in fact, but then he really wasn't interested in Meyrin Hawke at all.

All the while, he had ignored her interest in him because he didn't want to lead her on, and most of the time, Athrun pretended he didn't know anything. For a very minimal period of time, he had considered allowing her to get closer to him, but then he decided in the end that he rather get immersed and completely enslaved his work as ETERNITY's chairman then allow Meyrin to be led on, but that was of course, if he couldn't have another person, possibly the only person he wanted at all. Then after the war had been over, she had been his assistant for a while, but then she had left without much of any notice and then the ring had been with him after that.

'Until now,' he thought to himself, gazing at the glimmering ring he had convinced Cagalli to keep on. She was stubborn as a mule, there was no doubt about it at all, but then Athrun Zala wasn't the pansy sort either, he had wanted her and he had gotten her in the end.

But it was ridiculous how unsure she was of the whole business, she had been reluctant to let anyone know she was his even up to the time when he had literally forced open her eyes and convinced her to marry him, and then she was edgy about being with him even then, and having the world as a fanclub didn't really help either, but that was in her opinion at least.

Athrun didn't care about the rest of the world of even give a hoot about how many supporters they both had as long as he had her to himself.

Then he glanced out of the window, seeing the dark night sky and twinkling lights of the city and the expansive screens stretched across the buildings where he had almost watched Cagalli die in the hands of an absolute lunatic. He repressed a shudder and tried to erase all the bad memories from his mind, because all that mattered now was the present and her presence as she sat there next to him.

They were staying in the same hotel, but if it was a different one, then it would be peculiar, if not bizarre, since a married couple on honeymoon was expected to stay in the same hotel at the very least. But the night they had checked in, the largest room available was really two separate one s with a conjoined door, and anyway, Cagalli kept it locked because she accused him of being guilty of snoring like thunder, which he knew wasn't true.

Besides, during the night before, when they had arrived in Berlin bedraggled and entirely worn from the flight, she had collapsed into a bed and taken up the whole space with the way she sprawled all over it, so he knew there wasn't any chance of getting her to wake up and discussing the plans for the future with him.

And that suddenly brought to his attention the fact that Lacus was nearly a month pregnant with Kira and her first child after marriage for a year. He was sure that the child, boy, they had said, would be born with an angel's face, since Lacus was very beautiful and Kira's looks weren't exactly substandard either. But Athrun wondered briefly if Leon would take after his mother's musical voice or his father's engineering genius. Either of which didn't matter, as long as they didn't expect him to discipline the child like the way they requested for him to discipline their dog Soufflé, he was quite fine with either way the child would turn out. With Kira and Lacus as parents and their fine temperament each, how mischievous could a child of theirs turn out to be, really?

The event Cagalli and him had been forced to attend was held by the EA government in Berlin, since it was announced all over the world that they would be going to Berlin for their honeymoon. 'Kira's doing too,' Athrun thought sourly. He didn't mind if the world knew, but then Cagalli minded, and then she was going to give him hell because of that, especially since there wasn't' anyone else she could go vent her frustrations on.

"Athrun," Cagalli suddenly said, effectively interrupting his thoughts, "I got message from Lacus, they want a middle name for Leon too, so you can start cooking up one now."

He squinted to see her in the darkness and offered causally, "Tell them I'll think of one soon, but they have to come up with the other six names for us first. Think of it as a win-win situation."

She gaped at him, that he could make out in the darkness at least.

"I thought that was a joke!" she said weakly, feeling like her knees were wobbling uncontrollably. In actual fact, they were.

"You could think of it as one," he replied very easily, taking her small hand in his and noting it was a bit cold, "But one day you'll look around you and say that it wasn't a joke."

And Cagalli wrestled her hand from his and shook her head furiously. 'There goes the all the work Rainie did," he thought cheerfully as a pin threatened to slide out of her blond hair.

"We don't have time for children!" she protested violently, but then the male bodyguards in the front started arguing that she did because simple readjustments to the schedule would suffice and that it was terrible for Athrun not to have children and something about lovely angels not being put into the earth in three different voices, then Rainie's voice got the loudest and the most prominent, so Athrun didn't have to argue at all because the three bodyguards were doing too fine a job of arguing for his case.

'They shouldn't be bodyguards,' he thought briefly, 'more like lawyers or attorneys with all the bloody things they're railing at each other now.'

Then the bodyguard controlling the wheel gestured in his excitement, forgetting that his hands were suddenly lifted completely off the wheel, and then he swerved and accidentally crossed a red-light because he was too eager to argue that children were the joy of adulthood or something like that, and Rainie shrieked loudly in sheer horror and started babbling about hidden cameras and blind corners and Cagalli had to intervene and yell furiously above the noise, "Shut it all of you!"

So the rest of the trip was spent in silence, or glowering silence, since Cagalli refused to even look at him after that, and when they arrived, she only let him take her hand because the cameras were enveloping them in a swarm like they were some royal couple.

"Only to the fan clubs," he thought dryly, noting the scowl threatening to explode behind her rather pained smile.

"Miss Atha!" the EA Berlin ambassador was exclaiming, a wide smiled etched form corner to corner, "Or should I say Mrs Zala?"

'Don't!" Athrun and Cagalli interrupted hastily and loudly, both at the exact same time.

Quite taken aback, the various delegates stepped back and the lead who had spoken cocked his head to the side and asked curiously, "Why not?"

"I'm not used to it," Cagalli started to say as a blush threatened to rise in her cheeks.

"She'd liked to keep her maiden name in honour of her family," Athrun said hurriedly before she could speak, thinking to himself, "She'll probably say she's not used to it and then it's going to be bizarre on headlines with the big bold words, 'Cagalli Yula Zala- the name she's not used to, or something bloody like that."

Of course he didn't articulate his thoughts, because Athrun wasn't enough of an idiot for that.

"Right," Cagalli agreed instantly, flashing a smile at the ambassador who turned an ugly purple colour that resembled the colour a person turned when he was choking, even though the ambassador was merely enamoured by her.

'Merely enamoured?'Athrun thought amusedly, 'More like terribly enamoured.'

And Athrun led her by her hand up the steps and into the decadent hall where the cameras started snapping photographs all over again, and he was forced to stand tall and smile and look directly into the cameras as a flood of questions were thrown at him until he actually felt faint.

'Why didn't you announce you were together with the Miss Atha until half-a-year before the wedding?" some random reporter was positively shrieking at him over all the noise.

He was taken aback, why the hell were these people so nosy? But then he had to grit his teeth and ignore the blinding lights and answer charmingly, "We didn't want to rush things too much, in case the situation got too messy for either of us to handle. Besides, the person who let the cat out of the bag was Professor Kira Yamato, or as he is known now because of his job in ZAFT, Commander Yamato."

"Why did you find yourself attracted to Miss Atha, sir?" some woman was asking loudly, and he thought to himself that her lips were stained with a colour so red it looked like she had been a vampire at some point of time or another.

"Why ask that question when you can all see why?" he shot back instantly, quite surprised at the slight indignation he suddenly felt that was rising in his chest. Then all eyes were turned to Cagalli standing slightly behind him while she tried to ignore all the questions tumbling at them, and then a collective murmur ran through the room.

And Athrun thought dryly that all of them were fools for not noticing that night, that Cagalli Yula Atha was more beautiful in real life than in the pictures. Those that were taken did her very little justice because she was often photographed during speeches which were anything but roses and daisies and that sort of trivial things.

They were fools, all of them, because they had been blinded by her competence as a leader to be blinded to the fact that she was exceptionally beautiful even though Cagalli Yula Atha's beauty wasn't the conventional sort, and perhaps that was the reason why she shone above the average.

"Enough of the questions," a leader was barking authoritatively, "We want to get down to dinner to congratulate the young couple!"

"Then why'd you invite the bloody media in the first place?" Cagalli was hissing at Athrun even thought the question wasn't directed towards him, and he knew she obviously couldn't scowl at the leader and shake her fist at him even though she probably wanted to.

"One last shot sir! Smile! Go on!" a reporter was yelling enthusiastically, and Cagalli looked into the camera, ready to give the smile she had learnt along time ago just to get over and done with the whole hectic thing, but Athrun gazed at her, impenetratable but vulnerable at the same time, and in a single, soft motion, he swooped down and turned her head towards him so he kissed her cheek and the cameras were clicking like the photographers and reporters had lost control of their index fingers and wild applause broke throughout the hall.

Her eyes had widened and her lips were parted in surprise, and Cagalli actually stumbled back slightly, shell-shocked at his inexplicable action, but he smiled briefly and led her steadily to the table where he was directed into the seat next to hers. She put up very little resistance, she was too stunned for that.

The government officials and important people seated themselves too, and Athrun was reminded of the uncannily alike situation a year ago when he had sat down to dinner and eaten nothing that pleased him because the girl he had loved who was sitting before him had been a stranger. But now, it was different, she was his wife and nobody would take her away.

Throughout the whole dinner, they made pleasant conversation, quite out of courtesy since they had been invited to the function and it was their obligation to be warm and generous to those who had so kindly invited them. And a toast was proposed in their honour, and they had to stand and lift their glasses, but Athrun noticed that she touched the glass to her lips very briefly and didn't drink at all.

He wasn't too bothered by it because he knew she didn't like alcohol very much and wasn't the kind who could hold her liquid superbly well even thought she was reasonably skilled at drinking. He knew that very well, he had used it once against her to get information about herself that she had been impossibly tight-lipped about.

When they finally got back to the hotel, she disappeared into her room, and he into his, but half-an-hour later, she had unlocked the adjoining door from the other side and stood in the doorway. She had cleaned her face from the light cosmetics she had applied for that night, and Athrun stared and thought that she looked more stunning with her features bare to him.

It was miraculous how much the turquoise colour she wore complimented the sepia tones and luxurious reds the decoration schemes of her room had, and he was blinded by the exquisite picture she made for a split-second. But that was before she ruined it by yawning and stretching with very little grace and he was reminded of the fact that she had kept the door stubbornly locked, not that they had been here for a long time if one considered the fact that he had checked them in only a night ago.

Then she kicked off her heels causally and he noted one being flung under his desk, and then she suddenly sprang onto his bed, pulling the covers to keep herself warm whereby she looked at him silently. He replied by gazing at her silently from where he was seated, obstinately holding his silence too, and she finally gave up and scowled and demanded in an upset voice, "Why'd you go and pull a fast-one like that?"

"Like what?" he replied, quite puzzled by what she meant.

"You know, the photograph taking session and everything," she insisted, obviously avoiding the word 'kiss' and proceeding to chew her lip and bounce on the bed a little, looking strangely like a child that had been deprived of its favourite stuffed rabbit.

"I just wanted to," he replied simply but somehow very enigmatically, and he smiled suddenly, and she saw what a world of difference it made to his serious, handsome face with their green eyes that she would always recognise as his.

Then Cagalli sighed and took his hand, playing with his fingers quite idly, and when she was ready to speak, she cleared her throat slightly and inquired, "Did you know what I meant when I said we don't have time for children?"

"Yes," he said briefly, "You think there's only enough time for our work and this marriage, nothing else should exist outside the circle."

"That," she agreed, not quite looking at his eyes because she was feeling a bit upset for a reason she couldn't place her finger on, "And also because I'm not very good with kids, I'm the kind who'll hit it off with kids but can't look after them very well if you understand what I mean."

He sighed this time and stoked her hair gently, and then he murmured, "That's what you think, but it can't be proven."

"It's true," she insisted, her eyes wide and her brow furrowed, "I'm not understanding and patient like Lacus, and children are a huge toll on energy and time! You can't say I'm wrong!"

She had arranged herself into his arms and was cuddling up like a child, seeking some form of reassurance and comfort, and he found himself feeling more comfortable and cosy than he had in a long time. He sighed; enjoying the warmth even though he had thought once that no place in the world would ever be a place he would want to be after his mother had died.

"Yes," Athrun agreed, not bothering to argue with her otherwise because he knew what she had said was entirely true about the children being energy and time guzzlers, but he was strongly of the opinion that Cagalli Yula Atha would be a completely different person if children were involved, "But it's worth it if I'm here, isn't it?"

She looked at him and scowled a little, and then she snapped, "How am I supposed to answer to that?"

And Athrun grinned in response, because he knew her fears and insecurities about the future would fade in time to come, and then he grabbed her hand and held it tightly near her face so that she saw the ring she had allowed him to put on.

"W-what?" she stammered, blushing involuntarily.

"You don't answer to that," he asserted confidently, bringing his face closer to hers and effectively reminding her that she wouldn't be rid of him so easily now, "You just swallow your doubts and trust me."

"Your ego's the size of Mars," she grumbled, recovering her composure and trying to ignore the fact that her heart was pounding crazily, "It's bloody crazy how you think my world has to revolve around you, Zala. And in case you're still stuck in your sizeable ego, I'm here to remind you that I'm not subject to it because this is the Cosmic Era and not the Victorian Century, not that I approve of men lording it over females anyway. Besides, as much as I hate to use the subject of my authority, I'm of royal birth so I ought to have a higher standing where we're concerned, you commoner you."

He waited for her to finish ranting at him and looked down at the girl nestling and lying comfortably in the crook of his arms he had wrapped protectively behind her neck and across her arms, and saw that she was still scowling at him.

"You're insulting me now?" Athrun retorted in amusement, lifting her hand and touching it briefly to his warm lips, thoroughly enjoying the fact that she looked like a tomato puree because of him, "Commoner eh? What about the "Don't call me Princess, call me Chairman" stint that you maintain?"

She glared even though she was trying with her utmost will not to laugh at the ridiculous things she had said in jest and tried to tug her captured hand away but he didn't let her. So she tried another tactic.

"You're not going to give me an easy time about this, are you?" she said dangerously, narrowing her eyes poisonously at him, not realising that she looked adorable and not threatening like she hoped. If she knew what was going through his mind as he tried not to laugh at her efforts at playing the Gestapo, Cagalli would have dropped it immediately.

"No," he admitted cheerfully, playing with her fingers with his free hand since the other was on her arm as she lay next to him, "But you know everything will be fine if we're together."

And she couldn't argue with him anymore, not when he had so such conviction in their future, and Cagalli grinned while he closed the remaining distance between them, which was admittedly already at its bare minimum when Athrun pulled her hungrily towards him and closed his lips on hers.