A/N: The third part

-o0o-

Athrun and Kira continued to pursue their target and stayed hidden. There was no way that they would be giving up. Athrun at first was starting to lose hope that they would ever succeed in helping Cagalli escape because so far, all their plans were not working. It was a good thing that Kira was there to encourage him that they'll eventually find a way and be victorious.

"Honey, let's eat." They heard Yuuna speak. "I'm hungry." They were still of course, stalking them from afar.

"Stop calling me 'honey'! Especially in public!" Cagalli shouted at him. She found it really gross that he kept on calling her that. Athrun's pet name, 'Princess', was much better. But even if Yuuna called her 'Princess', she would also think that it was gross. Although it would be tolerable on the other hand if Athrun were to call her 'honey'.

"Why not, my honey?" Yuuna knew that it was annoying her, but said it anyway, for emphasis that she was his honey.

"I am not your honey." She turned away so she didn't have to look at his irritating face.

He smirked, knowing that even if she didn't want to be here, she couldn't do anything. "Well whatever, I'm hungry. Let's go." He stood up and walked to the nearest restaurant. Since Cagalli was cuffed with him, she had no choice but to walk with him.

When they entered the restaurant, Athrun got infuriated all the more when he saw Cagalli and Yuuna sitting together on one couch. He was really tempted to chop the handcuffs off just so this could be over. If only he could do that right away, he would. But that would create a ruckus and people would realize that it was Cagalli and everything would be wild.

He had to calm down. Breathe. He will rescue Cagalli.

Kira pointed to the couch and table in front of them. Since the seats were tall couches that faced each other, Yuuna and Cagalli wouldn't be able to see them because the couches would block their view. Athrun sat in the couch that would enable him to peer to Cagalli's table from time to time. Kira took the seat that was across him.

"I want to report those two that assaulted us in the horror house." Yuuna declared while he looked at the menu. "How dare they even do that to me?"

"What do you mean?" She wasn't interested in hearing it, but she said it anyway.

"They were scaring us like crazy! I better report them!" Yuuna was trying to convince her that he was right. "I fell to the ground because they were touching my foot."

"Well so how will you report to the management? Will you introduce yourself as Yuuna Roma Seiran, one of the emirs of Orb, and tell them that some random mascots scared your ass off because they were simply doing their job?" She sarcastically gave her remark. "Let's see how they'll react to that."

Yuuna shut his mouth after that. She was right. He would just appear like a scaredy-cat and would become a laughing stock. He couldn't afford his image to be spoiled just because of a horror house incident.

"May I take your orders?" A waitress approached the two of them.

"I'd like this burger meal and fries as the side dish." Yuuna pointed to something at the menu. "Also a chocolate milkshake."

"What about you miss?" The waitress was talking to Cagalli who wasn't even looking at the menu.

"I'm not ordering anything." She told the waitress and looked at the window. If she was even hungry, she must have lost her appetite. Who wouldn't? Forced to spend a day with someone she couldn't even stomach was enough to make her lose her hunger.

"What are you saying my honey?" Yuuna acted like he was a concerned boyfriend that Kira had to control Athrun from creating a scene. "You have to eat! The last meal we had was during the brunch with my parents."

"But I really don't want to eat anything." Her decision was final. "I just want to go home."

"She's having a parfait!" He told the waitress even without her consent. The waitress scurried off to get their orders ready before Cagalli could even tell her to cancel that.

"Didn't I tell you that I didn't want anything?" She gritted her teeth and wanted to punch this pretentious guy. Aside from being plain annoying and conceited, he just likes to force people to do what he wants.

"Nonsense honey!" Yuuna insisted. "We still have a lot of things to do here at the amusement park! We still have to go to the lover's tunnel, ferris wheel and all those fun and romantic rides couples go to!"

Lover's tunnel? Ferris wheel?

That was the last straw for Athrun.

There was no way in the hell he was letting Yuuna spend one more hour with his Cagalli. He was supposed to be the one spending with this special day with Cagalli, not that jerk! Yuuna wasn't playing fair, as always.

He could also play dirty.

"Athrun… Are you alright?" Kira asked his best friend who was immersed in his negative thoughts. He wasn't in a good mood after the horror house incident. Now, he doesn't seem to be in any better shape. He couldn't blame him really. After all, Athrun was really looking forward to going to this amusement park since the two of them were always so busy. Before the second bloody valentine war, Athrun was her bodyguard, so they always were with each other.

Now it was different. Athrun was an admiral now, not Alex Dino. When Kira called Cagalli occasionally to ask her what she and Athrun were up to, she always told him that they rarely get to meet and have dinner because they had things that they needed to do.

"Kira…" Athrun paused for a moment. He really was determined to separate Yuuna and Cagalli, even if it means playing dirty.

"What?" Kira didn't like the tone of his voice. It was like he was making an evil scheme in his head.

"You're not going to like what I'm about to do…"

"What are you going to do?"

"Switch seats with me."

"What why?"

"Just switch." Athrun told him, not wanting to explain to him his plan. Kira had no choice but to stand up from his seat and exchange with his best friend. He couldn't talk Athrun out of his jaundiced state of mind.

"What are you planning really?" Kira asked him again when he finally sat on the seat that had the view of a resentful Cagalli and the perverted Yuuna.

"Just watch." Athrun was smirking. "They have no choice but to separate, for sure." He emphasized the last two words that he said.

Kira had no idea what he was about to do, but he was sure, it would be something that was unlike how they usually carry out their plans. Whatever it was, he was getting nervous already.

The waitress that served Cagalli's table was coming back with their orders. Kira was observing Athrun, who seemed to still be giving the smug look. But he still had no idea what he was planning.

He then saw Athrun looking sorry for the waitress that passed them; he then realized what he was about to do.

"Don't do it!" Kira tried to change Athrun's mind but it was too late, he already put his foot in the way of the waitress as she passed them, causing her to trip. All the contents of her tray fell on the person that angered the three of them.

"Just as planned." Athrun beamed in victory.

"Damn it!" They heard Yuuna curse out loud. "How stupid are you?" He was referring to the waitress. "How dare you spill all of these on me?"

"Stop it already!" Cagalli was trying to make Yuuna stop making a scene in the restaurant.

"I'm sorry!" The waitress was horrified about what happened. "I truly am very sorry! I didn't mean to do that." Athrun, even though his plan worked, felt sorry for the waitress. He knew it wasn't nice to do that, but he did anyway.

"Will your stupid apology make everything better? Do you even know how much this outfit costs? Damn it!" Yuuna continued on, stood up to continue to ridicule the waitress.

"I told you to stop it!" Cagalli whacked Yuuna on the head and stormed out of the restaurant, now she was the one dragging Yuuna with her. She didn't want to be here any longer.

"Uhm…" Athrun stood up and spoke to the waitress who was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, it was my fault. You tripped because of me." He sincerely apologized to her. Although he did not feel any remorse about what happened to Yuuna, this waitress did not do anything wrong. She even might lose her job and he couldn't take that.

The waitress shook her head, taking responsibility for what happened. "No sir, it was because I was too careless." Athrun was feeling guiltier than ever. Maybe he went to far perhaps?

"Here." Athrun handed her a few bills. "I'll pay for what the customers ordered but didn't get to pay. You can keep the change." He went to talk with the manager who seemed to be giving the innocent waitress a glare to explain everything that happened.

"That wasn't very nice." Kira scolded him went they were finally outside and settled what happened inside the restaurant. He knew that Athrun wanted to separate Yuuna with Cagalli, but he was going to far. They never used dirty tactics like that. They didn't roll that way. "By what you did, you stooped down to the level of that Yuuna."

"I know." Athrun felt like Kira was reprimanding him like he was his parent. But he sure would be mad, since it was against their principles. He was even branded a gentleman because he didn't try to kill Cagalli when they first met and here she was tripping a lady that had nothing to do with any of their disputes. "I'm sorry."

"It's a good thing that the manager was understanding, or else…"

"It's not going to happen again." Athrun apologized yet again. Maybe he deserved this scolding from him.

Kira first stopped in acting like a very strict parent. "Wait, a minute. Cagalli and Yuuna!" He pointed to one of the restrooms near the restaurant, they appeared to be arguing.

They went near them and hid themselves in the trees nearby.

"You should probably let go of the cuffs first so you can go and change your clothes clothes." Cagalli suggested. They managed to buy a "Haro Land" T-shirt at the souvenir shop. Even though Yuuna complained that it wasn't fashion-forward, it was better that his top that was splattered with milkshake and parfait. It seemed like a blessing in disguise for this to happen. He would have to remove it now or else he would stay sticky with the clothes.

Yuuna thought about it first, but still didn't want to give in. He knew that it was the moment that Cagalli was waiting for. "You should probably go inside with me while I change."

Cagalli gaped in disbelief. Until now, he didn't want to give up. "Are you kidding me? I don't want to go inside the men's bathroom!" This was too much! Yuuna was really treating her like she was his personal assistant, worse, and a slave. But she will not let Yuuna have his way yet again.

"But Cagalli, I told you, I don't want to be away from you." Yuuna pleaded here to concede to him, but it appeared that she wasn't going to change her mind.

"Then change inside the ladies bathroom." She proposed. At least it would be him that would face another humiliation.

"No way!" Yuuna shook his head wildly. "There's no way I'm entering the ladies bathroom! That's too embarrassing."

"Then I feel the same way, you cannot make me enter the men's bathroom." She countered back.

"Please Cagalli?" He tried to act cute, but it had no effect on her.

"No."

"Pleeeeaseee?"

"Not happening."

"Come on!"

"No."

"Please, please please?"

"Over my dead body." She gave him a death glare. If he really insisted on making her enter the bathroom, she would definitely make a scene.

Yuuna was getting pissed off. Cagalli was being such a spoiled brat. She didn't even bother to try and cooperate with him and make this day memorable for them, in a positive way. He was making an effort so that Cagalli would enjoy the day with him, but she didn't seem to care at all. She could have at least pretended to be happy, but all she had given him was the cold shoulder.

He guessed that it was because she wanted to have a date with that Zala! So what if that worthless Athrun Zala was her boyfriend? He was officially her fiancé! Their parents mutually decided it when they were still kids. She would have to break up with him eventually in the future because she was bound to marry him, the one and only Yuuna Roma Seiran.

"Well you're not really going with me to the bathroom?" Yuuna's voice changed to a serious tone.

"No." Cagalli's was firm and refused to give in.

"Okay then." Yuuna got the key out of his pocket. Cagalli's heart skipped a beat. He was finally going to release her. Athrun and Kira gulped nervously as well. This was the moment that they've all been waiting for.

He walked to the side and was releasing the lock on his right hand. But what surprised the three of them was that he was cuffed Cagalli to one of the posts outside the restrooms.

"Yuuna! Just what are you doing?! Release me immediately!" Cagalli couldn't believe this! He was treating her like she was his slave! This was worse than having to follow him wherever he pleased!

"Fine. I won't make you go with me to the bathroom. But that doesn't mean I'll set you free!" He snorted. Athrun wanted to charge at Yuuna already, but was restrained by Kira.

"Stop that Athrun!" Kira was keeping him out of sight. "This is our opening! Just wait for him to leave! And put your mask on!"

"Damn you! Just what do you think am I? Your pet?" Cagalli continued to shout at him and tried to set herself free by pulling the handcuffs but it was no use. "Stop this idiocy!"

"Nope. But until you get to accept that I'm the only one you should be with, I'm not letting you go." He snickered and finally went inside the comfort room.

"Hey! Don't just leave me here!" Cagalli was screaming out to him, but he just ignored him. After a few seconds and he wasn't coming out, she really was convinced that he was a very conceited bastard and that she needed to break off that stupid engagement. She would really like to beat him up.

She sighed in defeat. There were no people in this area so no matter how she shouted, no one noticed her. She heard that there was a parade of Haros in the main road so most of the people would be there. Now, how would she get help?

This just had to be her worst birthday ever. She didn't even get to see Athrun, plus she was spending it with Yuuna who treated her like a dog. If she knew that it would turn out like this, she would have gone to work instead. At least while she worked, she knew that she was doing something for the country.

She wondered if she would even get the chance to see him today. Maybe if she slept at his house, or if he slept at hers like he suggested, they could have thought of an excuse or a way to escape Yuuna. Maybe this wouldn't happen. What if the purple-haired mongrel decided that they would have dinner until this day was officially over? She didn't know how she could survive. How very unhappy she felt at this moment.

"It's my fault." She thought to herself. If only she was brave enough to brush Yuuna away on her own. There were really times that she felt like he was somehow brainwashing her to follow what he wants. If only she was stronger…

Athrun… Her mind wandered to think about her boyfriend. What was he doing right now? If only he was here.

How she wanted to see him. How she wanted to hear his voice.

"Cagalli!" It was like her prayers were answered. She heard the voice that she'd been longing to hear all day. Was it just her imagination?

Suddenly, the guy with the yellow Haro mask from the bump cars was standing in front of her. He was using a hairpin to unlock the handcuffs. "Hang in there, Cagalli…"

It wasn't her imagination! It was really him! "Athrun…" Overjoyed was just an underestimation of how she felt seeing him stand in front of her. She inwardly thanked Haumea for answering her prayers so quickly.

"Wait, this is hard…" She heard him whisper.

It seemed like he was having a hard time undoing it so much that Yuuna could be seen exiting the bathroom. Cagalli was panicking about what could possibly take place if they were here, face to face.

"Hey you two!" Yuuna finally noticed two guys that were close to where he locked Cagalli. "What do you think you're doing with my honey?"

"Pink-chan!" Athrun called to Kira for help. He quickly responded to by getting the hairpin from him and rushing to the birthday girl's side. Cagalli took a good look at this 'Pink-chan' and realized that he was talking about Kira. So these two were the ones from the bump car ride!

"I got this Mr. Yellow." Kira was now the one that was trying to free Cagalli from the handcuffs. Athrun immediately got to the front and blocked Yuuna from reaching Kira and Cagalli. This was a duel between the two of them.

"Just who are you two?" Yuuna was getting cocky and was readying his fist to punch the guys with the masks. "Trying to get close with my Cagalli-chan huh?"

Yuuna tried to rush to where Cagalli was when he saw that the other guy was trying to unlock the cuffs. "Hey what are you doing?" But the guy with the yellow mask prevented him from coming any closer.

"Damn it." He was getting frustrated. Who did these two think they were? He tried to hit him the first time, but felt like a fool when the guy with yellow mask dodged it like he was expecting him to do that. Another attempt to punch and kick him, but the guy was evading his every attack perfectly.

"Pink-chan, hurry up!" Athrun was shouting to Kira now, who was still in the process of unlocking the cuffs. As he was doing that, Yuuna was trying to hit him while he wasn't looking, but it was no use. Athrun was skilled in combat, so he kept on dodging his attacks. Yuuna was getting infuriated that he was looking like a complete idiot in front of his Cagalli. Even though he tried his best and put his strength in every move, he just couldn't lay even his finger on his enemy.

From that angle, Cagalli couldn't help but feel sorry for Yuuna's pride. It must have plummeted to a very low level after this. But at the same time, control the urge to laugh hard at what she was seeing. He just looked like a klutz trying to fight a professional, a motorcycle trying to pick a fight the Justice Gundam… The analogy was extreme, but that was how she saw it.

"Done! Mr. Yellow!" Kira finally manage to unlock the handcuffs. Cagalli was glad that the metal ring that stuck on her hand for the day was now removed. It led Yuuna running to her in a panic outrage. "You bastards!" With the handcuffs gone, Cagalli would be free to escape whenever she pleased.

Yuuna didn't even try to attack Athrun now. Instead, he went straight to the twins to throw herself at Cagalli. Kira and Cagalli, inexperienced with actual battle combat; both panicked and just hugged each other.

It was really a good thing that Athrun was. He caught up to Yuuna and managed to get in front of him yet again.

Whatever he was about to do was just an act of self-defense. He made a mental disclaimer.

"My honeeyyyy!"

"Oh no you don't!"

POOOWW!

Athrun gave the bastard a strong punch in the face that sent Yuuna flying to the bushes. Cagalli and Kira's jaws dropped wide open when they saw Seiran flying like a boomerang. The sound of the impact was really intense; it was like a humongous rock fell on his face. It was an amazing level of power in that one blow. It felt like all of Athrun's repressed emotions with regards to Yuuna were in that blow.

Kira walked over to where Yuuna was and checked his pulse. He was still alive, which was a relief. He was sure that the punch could have killed him "Seven… Eight… Nine… Ten… He's out!" He even was counting to see whether Yuuna would wake up. But Athrun hit him pretty hard so…

Cagalli was certain that she could hear the boxing bells ring. Yuuna was knocked out by that single punch from Athrun. That didn't surprise her. Knowing that Yuuna was a wimp anyway. What shocked her was that Athrun actually punched him. He was always reserved even if he wasn't happy about things with her and Yuuna. Maybe Yuuna pushed him to his limit this time.

She was still looking at the unconscious Yuuna at the floor that she was unable to notice that Athrun went to her. "Are you alright Cagalli?" Athrun asked her while removing his mask. He looked dreamy as ever and suddenly, all of the pessimism that she had today surprisingly disappeared. Worst birthday ever? Scratch that. She couldn't express how happy she was that he was standing there right in front of him. Athrun was already with her. That was all that matters.

She nodded. "I'm okay." Her voice was somehow shivering. It was weird, she suddenly felt like she was about to tear up because of joy.

Athrun then surprised her by enclosing her into a tight hug, like her life was threatened and was held hostage for days. "That's good to hear. I was really worried about you." Or maybe because he just got clingy towards her because they really haven't seen each other for days, then the next thing he knew, Yuuna ruined their date. So he was really looking forward to holding her all this time.

Cagalli returned the hug in no time and buried her face in his chest. This felt so nice. It had been ages since they have been able to hug each other like this. "Sorry." She said in a muffled tone.

They both wished this moment could last forever.

Kira cleared his throat to destroy the lovey-dovey mood that was surrounding the both of them. Athrun and Cagalli quickly let go of each other, blushing because they were too embarrassed that Kira had to call their attention. Clearly these two forgot that he was also here. These two were acting as if he wasn't there, or the romantic atmosphere just took over when they saw each other eye to eye. He wasn't sorry that he had to break this up.

Although when he thought about it now, there were times that Cagalli told him that she was feeling like a third wheel when he and Lacus also were being all affectionate with each other back in the Archangel. So this is how it felt to be ignored, but he didn't like the feeling.

He gave them both a knowing look. The couple still couldn't look at him in the eye because they were still flustered. "I called for help to take care of him." He then pointed towards Yuuna who was still lying on the ground.

"I-I see." Athrun was the first to respond, seeing that Cagalli still was too embarrassed. "Thanks."

"We better get going!" Kira told the both of them when he saw medic coming to where Yuuna was. "I still want to try some of the rides."

They both nodded and walked away from the crime scene.

-o0o-

"So how does it feel that a Haro Land was created in tribute to your robotic creations?" Kira asked Athrun. The three of them were eating in a fast food restaurant inside Haro Land. In truth, Cagalli was pretty hungry because she wasn't able to eat much during the brunch she had in the Seiran family and she pretty much didn't want to eat with Yuuna.

"I don't know. Flattered I guess." Athrun answered him, while taking two pieces of fries from Cagalli's meal and putting it into his mouth.

"I think the people who conceptualized this amusement park had no idea that Athrun was the one that created Lacus' Haros." Cagalli added. "It's a pity Athrun! You could have gotten stinking rich if you put a trademark on the Haros."

"But I don't really need the money." Athrun told them. "Besides, the company has been making use of half of its profit to fund charitable institutions so I don't think me giving the money if they decided to pay me for that makes any difference."

"You're right." Cagalli shrugged and continued eating. "So where do you guys want to ride next?"

"This one." Kira pointed to one of the rides in the map. "I saw this one a while ago. You just ride on the Haro then it bounces and bounces. It sure is nice to send Lacus a picture of this one."

"That reminds me, where is Lacus?" Cagalli asked him.

"Oh she's pre-ahhh!" His best friend kicked Kira in the shin before he divulged more details. Athrun pretended to be eating all along, while Kira was withering in pain.

"Kira, what's wrong?" Cagalli seemed to notice that Kira wasn't being himself at all.

"I think he's hungry! Here!" Athrun popped a number of fries into his mouth before Cagalli could even suspect what was wrong. "Aren't you Kira?"

He nodded, giving Athrun a vicious look. That hurt! Way to treat him on his birthday!

"You're weird Kira." Cagalli laughed and was still clueless of the hidden message that Kira and Athrun were relaying each other.

"Anyway…" Kira continued to talk after he swallowed what Athrun forcefully shoved in his mouth. "Lacus still had a few things to finish back in PLANT so she told me to go ahead. She'll probably be here by dinnertime."

"Can't wait to see her! The last time I saw her was during her birthday, which is like three months ago." Before, Lacus lived in the orphanage with Reverend Malchio in Orb so they got to see each other often, but things have changed now that she was a part of the PLANTs council.

"Yup! You'll get to see her later." Kira nodded, Athrun smiled as well. At least their secret was safe for now.

-o0o-