Disclaimer: Don't own GS n GSD

Thanks for Jesus Christ who has given me a nice breakfast every morning.

This is actually a chapter taken from my fic, Promises. Hehe. I mean soon to be posted in Promises, but somehow i decided to post it as Athrun's belated b'day fic :)

-Panda-

Some people on the earth really hated Monday, while the others didn't. They didn't hate Monday, they just hoped that Monday never exist. Their heads were full of the thoughts of the recently passed week-ends with their beloved ones, escaping themselves from the harsh side of careers. Athrun Zala also used to hate Monday, but now he didn't, since it was his birthday after all, and he woke up grinning, thinking about a certain girl whom he had badly attached to, and wondered what would happen on his special day, yes, his birthday.

He did his usual morning activities without groaning, like he usually did whenever he woke up, he really wasn't the type to wake up early although he could easily do it. He really hated it during his times at ZAFT Military, when he and his fellows were required to wake up quickly and suddenly at uncommon times, at the dawn or in the middle of the night or early in the morning, but he actually had no problems with waking up early and quickly, he just hated it so much that it would affect his mood for the whole day.

He smiled as he took a sip of coffee from his favourite mug and the green colour of it reminded him of his girlfriend, whose favourite colour was definitely green.

His girlfriend had developed a so-called bad habits lately, which was fleeing from her office before her driver (and bodyguards) came to fetch her and get her back to her house, correction, mansion, eh, correction again, manor house so huge that he thought it should be called a palace, not a manor house. She called him and requested to fetch her on the south gate of Orb Governmental Office, but she also told him to park his car right under the humongous Bougainville tree, which was located about ten meters away from the south gate, not on the southern parking lot. Much to his surprise, she climbed the humungous Bougainville tree so she could escape the security cameras and go to the other side of the wall with no one knowing. When Athrun asked why she chose the tree as her so-called exit gate, she rolled her eyes, saying that if she asked Mana's permission to visit his place, she would definitely reject her request and drag her home as soon as possible for Mana feared that she would do something shouldn't be done before marriage, something that would make her lost her dignity and charisma as the Princess of Orb.

He smiled, but his smiled faded as he realized that he couldn't have a toast for his breakfast since his new toaster had broken down a few months ago, thanks to a certain blonde princess who insisted on staying in his place despite her caretaker's disagreement. She insisted on making his breakfast, which resulting in the breakage of his toaster. He shook his head, thinking that it couldn't be helped after all, and decided to buy some croissants en route.

-----------------x-x-x------------------

The Princess of Orb was definitely a type of person who never hated Monday, but also never realized the date written in the calendar. She always remembered the days and the days of her damn meetings with those old geezers from the Orb Ministry but unfortunately, she had difficulty in remembering dates. She knew it was Monday, and she never knew why people hated it, all she knew was her subordinates lowering their productivity on Monday. Only on Monday.

"Cagalli-sama, did you forget to put on your concealer this morning?"

Her secretary, Anna, asked her in the usual way she asked her about Cagalli's dull appearance, which was caused by her responsibility as the head of the government. Anna asked her in a casual way, as if she was talking to her little sister, not the princess of Orb. Anna was three years older than Cagalli, and she was like an older sister to Cagalli, despite the fact that Anna was actually her secretary, one of her subordinates.

"No, I didn't forget to put it on", Cagalli took a pen from the case and then started spinning it, her eyes expressing her annoyance towards something, and continued, "It's just I'm run out of it"

"Oh, I see", Anna shrugged and then grinned at Cagalli from behind her laptop, saying, "You look like a panda without your concealer"

"I'll take that as a compliment", she answered, "And you are the second person to say those phrase to me"

"Oh, how unfortunate. I thought I was the first one", Anna replied as she walked to Cagalli's desk and then sat in front of her, ignoring her work for just five or ten minutes, "Who's the first person?"

"Guess"

"Athrun?"

"Nah, you knew it"

"Wow! He's quite innovative with jokes", Anna then walked back to her desk, finishing her work after secretly took a glance at Cagalli, and grinned as she caught Cagalli hiding her blushing face behind the LCD.

Cagalli continued to do her work as her mind went back to a few weeks ago, when she was staying at Athrun's place and he suddenly stared at her while grinning, and Cagalli asked him furiously about what the hell he was thinking about her face and he honestly answered that with dark circles beneath her eyes, she did look like a panda. She was about to beat him at first but when she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she laughed at herself, thinking that Athrun had invented a nice joke about her workaholic attitude.

"Cagalli-sama, you'll have meeting today right after lunch…" Anna checked Cagalli's schedule as she read them for Cagalli, "…and you'll also have a conference tomorrow, Tuesday, 30th of October-…"

"Wait a minute, Anna", Cagalli suddenly stopped working, realizing that something was wrong, "Did you say that tomorrow was thirty?"

"Yes, I did" Anna replied in confuse.

"So basically that means that today is the 29th?" Cagalli asked again, looking panic as if she had forgotten something very important.

"Yes, of course"

Cagalli paused for a second, and then shouted as she hit her desk with her fist.

"DAMN!!!"

"Cagalli-sama, if you forgot someone's birthday, I suggest you quickly go somewhere to buy a present, not hitting your mahogany desk. Remember the forest preservation program in Onogoro…"

"Yes, thank you very much, Anna", she answered sarcastically, "You've given me a very good suggestion, indeed. And I don't forget about the forest preservation program"

Ignoring Cagalli's sarcastic reply, Anna stood up and then opened her PDA, checking Cagallli's work and schedule that day, "Why don't you rush out from the office to buy something right after your meeting today? You can make an excuse for that"

"Good thinking, but I've bought the present", Cagalli then started tapping her desk absent-mindedly, "The only problem is I actually want to buy another present… The one I bought last week is totally a ridiculous present for someone like him…" Cagalli paused for a split second before letting out a gasp of panic since she, accidentally, had told Anna that it was actually a certain guy's birthday.

"Oh I see", Anna smirked as she saw Cagalli's surprised look, "So today's your prince's birthday, after all"

-------x-x-x-------

Athrun Zala, who was working at his office, secretly took a glance at the clock on the wall during the boring meeting he had to attend, right after lunch. Right after lunch, he thought. His stomach was full and all he had to do now was to listen to some old man blabbering about the diplomatic blah-blah-blah and how to improve the relationship in some governmental aspects… Like he didn't know what to do. He was the leader after all.

Kira and Lacus had called him once, wishing him a happy birthday. Yzak and Dearka had also sent him some birthday wishes. Shinn and Lunamaria send him a very nice e-card, and Meyrin did too. His entire colleague in his office congratulated him and not to mention his former comrades in ZAFT military. It seemed that nobody forgot his birthday, his very nice twentieth birthday…

Except a certain blonde princess who (he secretly thought) looked like a panda due to the amount of the responsibilities she had.

He sighed. He always knew that she was busy, in fact she was always busy and a big question mark would appear above his head if she wasn't. However he did wish she would ring him and say the most important two words he really wanted to hear during that day…

'Happy birthday, Athrun'

Okay, so that's three not two.

Had she said those three words to him, the meeting would be less boring than it should be. He felt the very sudden urge to sleep but he couldn't, and he didn't dare to do it, so he dipped his hand to his pocket, searching for something inside it and when he let his hand out from it, he had had his cell phone in his palm. He looked at it and realized that during the boring meeting, he had received one message without him noticing, and it was from…

…the wireless service provider.

To him, the meeting was the worst meeting he ever had to attend. But he had no other choice but to follow the meeting and wait until it ended. He survived the meeting until the very end, but he actually became gloomier and gloomier. It was his birthday and how could his girlfriend forgot to congratulate him? He knew she was very busy and he wouldn't mind even if she dropped just one simple short message on his cell phone containing those three words. He didn't want a present a present from her (Had she given him one, he would treasure it for his whole life), just a simple birthday message would keep his smile from fading away from his face and, yes, brighten his boring meeting.

He spent the rest of his day being workaholic, doing his work unbelievably fast and good as well as not trying to think a single thing about his princess, and her absence during his special day. He wasn't going to remind her about that, and yes, he wouldn't tell her directly that today was actually his birthday, not until she realized it by herself. He would do any speech type he knew to remind her about his birthday indirectly; he would use sarcasm if needed.

Taking a glance at the clock on his office wall, he muttered, "Gosh! It's 5.30 already"

He then tidied his desk and getting himself ready to go back to his condo, sighing in annoyance. He then walked to the parking lot and drove himself back home. He actually still had some hope that she would call or send him a message, congratulating him and when he had reached the apartment building, he looked at his cell phone and still she hadn't send him a message. He sighed but then he intended to check his answering machine at his condo, perhaps she left a message for him, a birthday message intended to him. He walked calmly to his room and when he had entered it, he pushed the button on his answering machine and unfortunately, no messages from anyone.

'I guess she did forget my birthday', he shrugged hopelessly while dumping his laptop onto his couch and then rested himself on it, his laptop laying by his side. He took a deep breath and then let them out in a manner that everyone would tell that he was in a bad mood. His head was on the top of the couch with his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. He then realized that he actually forgot to buy dinner since he rushed back to his home just to check his answering machine, hoping for a birthday message from her. Now he had to call some restaurants and wait for almost half an hour to get himself a dinner.

He sighed.

He sighed again.

And then he heard the doorbell rang, much to his annoyance for he groaned loudly as he got up from the couch lazily and hesitantly. If the person behind the door was the apartment manager, he would just close the door and back to his couch. If the person behind the door was just a salesman or salesgirl, he would just slam the door hard. He was thinking of one thousand possibilities of the person behind the door while hesitantly opened it…

…only to find his girlfriend standing in front of it, smiling widely.

"Happy birthday, Athrun", she said, giving him her best smile. She was still in her purple suit, her hands were holding a small cake with one shining candle on it.

Seeing her in front of his door, he couldn't really say how shocked he was, after more than twelve hours of waiting her phone call or short message, now there she was, standing with a cake on her hands, congratulating him on his birthday. His emerald eyes, which showed tiredness and annoyance a few seconds ago, now had softened their gleam and filled with bliss and joyfulness, as he witnessed his best surprise from his beloved one. He secretly examined the cake and he did know that the cake wasn't her hand-made cake; she bought it from a store. He did know that Cagalli wasn't the type who would bake a cake or make a chocolate for her boyfriend, but he realized her sincere feelings even though the cake was just a mass-produced one, not a special cake with someone's name on it. Regardless of the fact that the cake wasn't made by her hands, he really, really appreciated it and also apprehended her earnest feelings.

"Wow", he couldn't think of anything else to say; joy and bliss had clouded his mind and preventing his tongue from forming neither vocals nor consonants to become a proper expression of his gratitude.

"Huh?" she cocked one of her eyebrows in both annoyance and curiosity, "Only a 'wow'? You're not letting me in?"

"Oh!" he realized that he actually had let her standing in front of his door for a long time, and he quickly let her in, saying, "Sorry. You can come in, then"

"Thanks", she smiled cheerfully and her amber eyes shone brightly, as if they were rejoicing for his sake too, "You're not going to make me some tea?"

"My, be patient please, your highness", he mocked her with a huge smile on his face, he was really happy and he couldn't help smiling widely to express his feeling, "Besides, this is my place, not yours"

"I'll make myself at home", she grinned as she threw herself right onto the couch, grabbed the TV remote control and turned it on, letting a sigh of relief out from her mouth, "C'mon, Athrun, just make some tea for us, the cake goes very well with red tea"

"Okay, Princess", he replied gladly, knowing that his princess actually would never forget his birthday, "I thought you forgot my birthday"

"I won't forgot it, stupid", she said as she turned her head to the direction of the kitchen, "I only forgot that today is actually the 29th, not the 28th"

"So basically you lost track of the dates?" he then returned with two cups of tea, and one teapot.

"Yeah, sort of", she sighed, "There are a lot of things on my mind, so I easily lost track of the dates, and…" she looked slightly guilty, "…that means… I haven't got the time to buy you a present. I'm sorry"

"It's okay", he put the cups and the teapot on the table near the couch, and then sat right beside her as one of his hands positioned itself around her shoulders, drawing her closer to him, saying, "Thank you so much"

"Huh? What the hell was that thank you of yours for?" she blushed slightly as he drew himself closer to her.

"For everything", he smiled gently as he continued, "The surprise, the cake, and the visit. It really doesn't matter to me whether you bought me a present or not"

She looked downwards, trying to avoid his gaze, saying, "I'll buy you one as soon as I have the time to do so"

"There's no need for that", he shook his head, "This cake can be counted as a present"

"Hey, you can't say that!" her face was red as she said so, and she realized it so she created more distance between them and continued, "A birthday cake is a must, so it can't be counted as a present"

"Really?" He looked a bit confused as he took a glance at something that Cagalli had desperately been trying to hide ever since her arrival, "Then what is that thing behind your back?"

"Oh!" She looked startled by the time she heard him asking about that thing, "It's… Nothing"

"Oh, I see" he nodded, "May I take a look at it?"

"NO!" She defensively answered, "No, you can't"

"Why can't I?"

"Because I said so"

He raised one brow in confusion, looking at the face of his girlfriend, and then at the shopping bag she hid behind her back, and then at her face again, and finally, a naughty idea popped out into his head and he smirked without her knowing.

"Hey, Cagalli, look!"

"What?" she then turned to the direction where Athrun pointed at, she turned confused for a second or two, and when she realized that Athrun was actually playing a prank on her, she was about to shout her anger loud, not until she found out that the very thing she had been trying to hide had gone from her back because he had already taken it without her noticing.

"Athrun! Give it back to me!"

Athrun, who had taken out the thing inside the shopping bag, realized that it was a birthday present after all, and wondered why she hid it from him. The present was wrapped in a pastel green wrapping paper with lemon patterns on it and accented with a nice, yellow ribbon. There was a card tied onto the ribbon and there was his name written on it.

"Hmm?" He still looked calm even though he did know how she angry she could be when she meant it, "Why should I return you something that has my name written on it?"

"Because…" she tried debating with him but unfortunately she couldn't find the right argument to do it.

"Because what?" he smiled mischievously.

"Because…" she blushed more than before and trying to hide it from him, she turned her face away from him.

"Oh, come on, Cagalli" He couldn't help not to grin at her behaviour.

"Fine! Open it!" she yelled at him with her face as red as a tomato. He knew that she was actually embarrassed with something he didn't understand and she used a fierce tone on him just to hide her embarrassment. He knew that she actually wasn't angry with him so he quickly untied the ribbon and unwrapped the so-called present.

She took a glance at him, saying, "Just don't consider it as your birthday present. I'll buy you a new one"

"Oh? Why not?" he asked slyly as his hands was busy opening the pastel green wrapper.

"Because I said so" she replied in her usual tone.

He smiled and kept opening the wrapper, revealing the present inside it, which actually was something he needed to use every morning.

"A toaster?" he cocked one eyebrow and turned to her, only to find out that she was actually getting more and more red in the face due to her embarrassment.

"I thought I should buy you a new one since I've broken yours, and…" even though her face was all red, her eyes began to look fiercer as she continued, "…it's not an ordinary toaster. It's a panda toaster"

"A panda toaster?"

"Yes", she nodded and then sat back in her seat, still avoiding his gaze upon her. Honestly, she really didn't know what to buy for his birthday present. She really had no idea and during that time of desperation, she recalled that she had broken his toaster during her time staying at his place and she thought she might buy him one to replace his broken toaster. Then she bought it and chose the panda toaster, the one which would make a picture of panda in the middle of bread after it has been toasted.

"Thank you very much", he smiled, as he sat closer to her, and she avoided him again, "Amongst the other animals in the world, why did you choose panda?"

She blushed more and replied, "Because you said that I look like a panda and…" she stopped for a while, thinking that her present was really ridiculous and suddenly stood, "Oh, come on, Athrun! That can't be counted as a birthday present! Why would a girl buy his boyfriend a toaster!? Moreover, a panda toaster! That just doesn't make sense!"

Gaping at her, Athrun tried his best to grasp the meaning of her words, which she had spoken very fast. He slowly repeating her words in his head, from 'panda' to 'doesn't make sense'… and in a few seconds, he recalled that he once mocked her by telling her that she looked like a panda without her concealer, and she actually still remembered him saying that to her. Truly, it was unexpected for her to do so. He recalled the time when she got mad at him after he told her that she looked like panda, but then he also recalled her laugh, the way she laugh at herself, which he found very cute and irresistible. He gazed at her for a while and then he suddenly burst out laughing at her, much to her annoyance.

He laughed, uncontrollably and loudly. He finally realized why she gave him the panda toaster. He once mocked her, saying that she looked like a panda and then she gave him a panda toaster because of it. He comprehend that giving him a panda toaster was her way of expressing her apology for breaking his toaster and also, the way she tell him to always remember her, because the face of the panda clearly reminded him of her face, her tired and sleepless face. He laughed again, remembering the fact that she actually was a normal girl, a normal girl who always wanted to be remembered and cared for. He understood it well that she actually wanted to be the only one in his heart, by giving him something that resembled her face. However, there was no need for her to do so for she was always on his mind, even though she barely knew the fact.

She then returned to her position and gave him an annoyed look while her hand pinched him hard, expressing her anger, saying, "What are you laughing at??"

He saw her angry expression and couldn't help himself not to laugh harder. She was about to shout at him but he suddenly held her by her shoulder and drew her closer to him, close enough to be able to feel her breath upon his face and unexpectedly pecked her on the cheek, behaving like a child who had just received a birthday present from his mother. She was surprised with his sudden action and when he pulled away, she was totally speechless, unable to say anything to break the silence between them. She gazed at him and when she found his emerald eyes shining gently to her, she couldn't find a need to break the silence, the sweet silence only for those two. She smiled to him in return, and whispered quietly but still clear enough for him to hear, saying, "Happy Birthday"

He hugged her and locked her in his embrace, tightly but lovingly as he put one of his hands behind her neck and rested his chin on her shoulder, inhaling her sweet scent as well as enjoying her warmth and treasuring her presence. She looked slightly surprised and her mouth was about to say something similar to 'what the hell are you doing?' but somehow, they way he embraced her had softened her glare upon him and she hugged him in return, smiling.

"Thank you very much, Cagalli", he said as he pulled away a little bit further to see her face clearly and touch her cheek gently.

"What for?" She asked with a gentle smile on her face.

"For everything", he replied while playing with her locks above her shoulder, "For the toaster and everything"

"Stupid", she muttered in her joy, "That's just a toaster"

"That's not ordinary toaster", he shook his head and then whispered gently near her ear, "That's a panda toaster"

He then pulled her closer to him in a loving way, and in a split second their lips met, kissing each other lovingly and gently. Their two souls were lost in the heated moment, and nothing but themselves could stop that kiss.

He never said that she was always on his mind, and neither did she.

She never said that she wanted him to remember her always, and neither did he.

However a panda toaster had bridged their unspoken words and thus, gave them a weird way to express each other's feelings.

She broke the kiss slowly, and it wasn't because her demand for fresh air, she just wanted to see his face. He did the same too, and at that moment, he had made a decision, a decision that would change both of their lives forever.

He knew that he had done so many bad things to her; he knew that she had shed a lot of tears because of him, but he realized that he had done wrong and he wanted to heal the wounds in her heart, the wounds which were caused by him. He knew that her heart ached so bad that she said she wasn't yet ready to wear the ruby ring again, but he tried his best to gain her forgiveness. And that night, he stared deeply into her amber eyes and he knew something that he had already knew two years ago.

She was his one, and only. She was the girl he chose to be the one who would spend her entire life together with him. He would do everything to protect her, and mostly, to love her.

Author's Note: Happy Belated Birthday, Athrun! Nii LUV U!!! runs away, scared of Cagalli Nii LUV u!!!! got hit by Cagalli Nii luv u sooo much!!! got shot by Cagalli n black out

Enjoy reading my crappy one-shot and pls don't forget to drop a review ;) luv u guyz!

God bless u

-薝美英 a.k.a. Nii Blueberryfreak-