Disclaimer:I do not own Gundam Seed.

Crabby and Crabbie

Pace. Pace. Pace to the right.

Pace. Pace. Pace to the left.

Then repeat.

"Argh! What am I going to do Miriallia?" Cagalli suddenly stopped from pacing to and fro and finally decided to sit beside her brunette friend on the latter's bed.

"Wow. I thought you're not going to stop pacing for another 5 minutes."

Cagalli pointedly looked at her.

Miriallia raised her hands as if surrendering, "Just go and enjoy your date tomorrow. Athrun is not going to break up with you."

"But I really have a feeling that he'll break up with me. Aren't you listening about the reasons why he might do that."

"Athrun is not a shallow person. You should know better than that."

"But what if he got tired of me? This is really my fault! I've been neglecting our relationship these past few months. And it doesn't help that I've been crabby a lot of times." She gave a huge sigh.

"Honestly, if we're talking about another man, I have reason to believe that he will break up with you. But we're talking about Athrun who is very patient and who loves you very much." Miriallia patted her friend's shoulder.

She was slightly comforted because of Miriallia's reassurance, but the bad feeling of an impending break-up was still looming on her mind.

'I could only blame myself.' She felt the burden not only of Orb but also the whole world on her shoulders.

-shshshsh-

-2 weeks ago-

"Cagalli, he said (sniff) he doesn't (sniff) love me anymore…He found someone new." Tears were streaking down Asagi's face. Cagalli hugged her friend. "If you want, I will punch him for you."

Asagi released herself from Cagalli's embrace and shook her head. "It's my fault too. I didn't have time for him lately. I've been too busy with work."

That incident was sort of an eye-opener for the blonde representative. It also aroused her curiosity on the subject of breaking-up.

One night, she just found herself reading an article from the internet about reasons for breaking-up which brought her to her current predicament.

"Why did I even read that blasted article?" She thought out loud.

"What article?" Kisaka was already driving her to the restaurant where Athrun was waiting.

"Nothing." She mentally berated herself for her slip.

She went back to her musings though.

Lack of time for partner because of work which includes forgetting dates-check …I usually put Orb first before him. But I know he understands.

Not being affectionate-check…He knows that I'm not comfortable being too sweet.

Being in a foul mood most of the time then making your partner your shock absorber-check…He loves me for who I am right, including my being hot-tempered and my being crabby especially if there are problems with the Council meetings.

Taking your partner for granted-triple check…I usually assume that he understands.

These were only some of the reasons why the other party breaks up with the erring partner. And Cagalli was obviously guilty of these 'sins'.

It also doesn't help that she learned of Sai's break-up with his girlfriend of 2 years, which happened 2 days after Asagi's break-up.

'Honestly, why is everyone breaking-up?'

But the biggest indication was Athrun's odd behavior before he left for Plants and during his stay in Plants. It felt like he was avoiding her. He became less affectionate too. And he only called her once during his one week stay in Plants which was definitely unusual. If nothing was wrong, he would have called her at least 3 times. Ok, so she didn't try to call him before that, but she got used to Athrun being the one to call whenever they are apart. So much for taking your partner for granted.

"Cagalli, we really need to talk when I come back tomorrow…" And this line was like a bomb. Cagalli knew that the 'we need to talk' line was a bad omen that spell HEARTBREAK.

"Cagalli we're already here." Kisaka pointed out after a few minutes when Cagalli didn't budge from her seat.

"Oh."

"Are you sick or something."

She shook her head. "I'm just a bit tired." She was indeed tired of all the depressing thoughts if Athrun will be gone from her life.

-shshshsh-

They ate in silence in her favorite restaurant which was overlooking the sea. During this time, lots of couples were usually eating already, but they were the only occupants as of now.

She sipped her orange juice and decided to start the conversation. She wanted to ask what he wanted to talk about, though she has already an idea. "So…how was your trip?" She wanted to bang her head on the table.

"It's a pleasant trip. Kira says that you should visit them soon. Lacus and Lara miss you already."

Despite her predicament, she smiled at the mention of her brother and his family. She misses them too.

"I also met Shinn, Luna and Meyrin."

"Oh." Her smile faltered which did not went unnoticed by the blue-haired coordinator.

"The 4 of us just had lunch." Athrun explained.

"It's ok. You're free to hang out with your friends."

They continued eating in silence. Unknown to Cagalli, Athrun was also facing an internal turmoil.

-shshshsh-

The sky was like a colorful canvass with overlapping colors of orange, yellow, blue and green. Only the crashing of the waves can be heard, while the two walked along the shore.

He stopped walking while Cagalli took a few more steps ahead.

"Cagalli." She also stopped in her tracks and momentarily found the ring on her finger interesting to look at. It was the ring that Athrun gave her before. She also wondered if Athrun would take it back tonight.

"Cagalli." He called faced Athrun now knowing that she must face the inevitable.

Is he going to say sorry and that he found someone else. Only one name entered her mind. Meyrin. She felt like crying but she damn well told herself that she would let Athrun go if that was the case. It's true that she believes that you ought to fight for what you believe in or what you love, but there are certain exceptions…and fighting for the one you love who doesn't love you anymore is one of them.

He strode closer towards her. "I'm sorry…I know I promised that I wouldn't give you a mechanical toy, but I can't help myself." He reached into his pocket and put an orange crab on her palm. The crab was slightly smaller than her palm.

She was somewhat dumbfounded. She stared at the crab then at Athrun. "This is what the 'talk' is about?"

"It's a part of it."

"Oh." And here she was thinking that all her worries and fears were for nothing. But it seems that she cannot celebrate yet.

Athrun raked his hand through his hair-an act that was all too familiar to Cagalli when Athrun was unsure of something.

Then it dawned on her. The crab was a farewell gift.

"I'm not happy with how things are going on between us anymore." He finally said.

Cagalli felt that time stopped. Knowing something is one thing, but that something, actually happening is another thing.

She kept her mouth shut. She doesn't know if it's due to the fact that she knows Athrun is not done yet talking; or is it because she really doesn't know what to say.

"I love you very much and I want to spend my whole life with you." Athrun took Cagalli's right hand which was currently clutching the crab. He pushed the eye of the crab and its shell suddenly opened, revealing a gold necklace. Athrun took hold of the said necklace which has a big amber stone on the middle and two small emerald stones on each side of the amber one.

Cagalli was mesmerized by the necklace and was confused with Athrun's words.

"Cagalli Yula Attha, will you marry me?" He asked expectantly.

All her worries and fears were indeed for nothing.

"I…I thought you're going to break up with me." Cagalli can't help but say.

"Why would you think that?" It was Athrun's turn to be confused.

"Because you were acting strangely these past few weeks and because I realized that I did and did not do a lot of things that would make you tired of me… Because I thought that you found someone new…Because a lot of people are breaking up these days." She answered lamely.

Athrun smiled at her, "I would never get tired of you and I would never find myself falling in love with another woman. All I need, want and love is you Cagalli. I was only really unsure of how to propose to you…I'm not even sure if you're ready for this...which reminds me…you haven't answered me yet."

Cagalli smiled too. "Of course Athrun Zala, I will marry you. After all, I love you very much too."

Athrun's smile became wider and he then put the necklace on Cagalli. "Thank you Athrun. It's really beautiful."

He tilted Cagalli's face towards him and they gently savored each other's lips.

"Athrun loves Cagalli. Cagalli loves Athrun. Crabbie loves the sea and the sea loves him too." Someone said in a monotonous tone.

Both of them were slightly flushed when their lips parted.

"Don't tell me that you made the crab talk. Where is it anyway?" Cagalli accidentally dropped the crab when they were kissing. It was now on the sand moving towards the sea.

Athrun smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but don't you think it's cute."

"More of embarrassing actually."

"Well, I could always disable Crabbie's speaking abilities." It was evident that he was a bit disappointed.

Cagalli thought for a moment. "There's no need for that. It's embarrassing…but it's indeed cute…But is it possible to make him speak only when I push a button or something?"

"I could do that."

"Thank you." What Crabbie was saying was embarrassing but Cagalli decided to put up with it. It's time for her to learn how to be more affectionate and maybe she can learn something from Crabbie, minus the monotonous way of speaking.

Athrun put his arm on Cagalli's shoulder. Cagalli put her arm on his waist in return. They watched the sun as it met the sea.

"Cagalli loves Athrun, Athrun loves Cagalli." Cagalli softly said. Athrun looked at her as if she grew another head. She just said a while ago that it was embarrassing, right?

"It actually sounds nice." Cagalli knew what Athrun was thinking. Besides, it's really nice to reaffirm such a thing when a few moments before, she thought that their relationship will come to an end.

And Athrun just smiled at her reply.

-shshshsh-

Thanks for reading. Hope it wasn't too cheesy or too