Author's Note: Thanks. thirty plus reviews in two chapters! Keep on reviewing. It means the world to authors like myself who write for fun on here. I hope you enjoy this story. Also, sorry if Cags came of as a bitch...lol. Someone like her isn't exactly willing to be in love.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed and/or Gundam Seed Destiny.

~Chapter Four: A New Beginning & A New Plan~

Two long days had passed and Cagalli still hadn't seen Athrun, which only added to her extreme discomfort and anxiety. She couldn't even express how bad she felt for yelling at him. His face...it was just unbearable. He looked like he was really hurt by what she had to say. But it wasn't her fault - people said things in anger all the time and people didn't quit school because of that.

But what if he did quit school?

What if he left Archangel?

What if he went back to the PLANTs?

She felt a wave of guilt rush through her. It WAS all her fault and she would hate herself forever if he actually did leave because of her. She hated the jerk, that she was sure of, but he was kind of nice to her. Like when he tried to take the blame for her when the food fight happened...maybe he wasn't so bad.

"Chelsey Daniels?"

"HERE!"

"Elise Deely?"

"Here!"

"Athrun Dino?" The teacher received no answer. "Athrun Dino? Athrun Dino?" The teacher scanned the room but couldn't see Athrun Dino anywhere.

"He's..um...he's...," Cagalli stammered.

"He is?" asked the the teacher.

Meer suddenly gave her an icy glare. She knew she deserved it.

"Away. He's...away." Cagalli piped up. And it's all my fault.

There was one Representative from each PLANT Sector: Janarius City, Februarius City, Martius City, Aprillius City, Maius City, December City, October City, September City, Quintillis City, and Sextillis City. Each Representative sat around a large black table in the Council Room. The room was filled with many men and woman with high ranking positions including the most powerful and devious of them all: Chairman Patrick Zala.

The bright light that illuminated the room came from the rows of lights in the ceiling. They couldn't use sunlight to brighten the room due to the fact they were more than twenty feet underground. The room was a very big secret, only a handful of people even knew of it's existence and location.

"How is young Athrun's progress?" Orson White, Representative of Sextillis city, asked.

"I have confirmed from Athrun himself that his progress in retrieving Orb defense secrets by befriending the filfthy natural is going positive. He is currently at her high school and she has started to...'fall for him'." Patrick Zala said. His face had no visible sign of any emotion and was like a stone.

"Well sir...I think this might be important." Orson White squeaked. "There uh has...has been a few...changes since Athrun has departed from the PLANTS and arrived at Orb. I have heard news...I'm not sure if it's true, Chairman Zala...it might not have any truth to it...but a few of my spies that work for Orb...well you see-"

"Spit it out, you fool!" Patrick barked.

He had no patience.

"They work close to people that work close to Uzumi Nara Attha. They have received news that the Princess has a secret body guard attending the same school as her," Orson explained. "She doesn't know who it is since the Princess does not like the idea of having a bodyguard, but he or she has been assigned to watch her 24/7. He or she was just assigned the job recently, too, when Uzumi had heard rumors that ZAFT soldiers might be attempting to reach his daughter."

"WHAT!"

"This is all a rumor, though, Chairman. There may not be any trut-"

"We cannot lose this war to those filthy naturals!" He slammed his fists on to the table and it shook. "They killed more than twenty thousand people in Juniuis Seven, those rotten bastards! That's it." Patrick screamed "Plan SHINDU-MoRTA 001 commences now. We WILL win this war."

"But, Patrick!" Eileen Canaver, a once close friend of the Zala's, cried. "That is not part of the plan. Orb is a neutral country. Many co-ordinatoors live in Orb peacefully. What do you plan to achieve by commencing that plan? The Princess is just an innocent civilian! This is OUR war and not hers."

"She is not innocent. No natural is!"

"But, Patrick...hear yourself! You are being ridiculous. What will Athrun say?"

"Athrun won't say anything...," Patrick said before taking a long pause. "Because he won't know. He has a goal, and he will accomplish his goal. This does not affect his goal so he does not need to know. This would be just an unnecessary detail that would distract him."

"What you're doing...it's wrong! It's unethical...Patrick please!" cried Eileen.

"We WILL win this war."

Athrun felt groggy as he opened the door to Archangel High. He had spent the past two days at a shooting range two hours north of Orb, brushing up his shooting skills and releasing some pent up anger. He couldn't help but think about things: like how things with Cagalli were difficult, and how things with his dad were difficult, and how his whole life was one difficult mess.

He had gotten only bulls eye, which made him feel slightly better.

He walked down the hall towards the office where he received his first late slip of the year. He got a two minute long lecture but he just pretended to listen. He wondered how Cagalli was doing...was she alright? Was she even in class? Had she missed him?

No. Probably not.

But he had missed her. When she told him not talk to her, it was kind of a slap to the face. Not literally, though, she had already done that to him and he had known the difference. But this was a different, harder slap. It hurt him on the inside and the pain just wouldn't disappear.

"Athrun!"

He immediately turned hoping to see a certain blonde.

"Kira?" Athrun asked and his excitement plummeted.

"Where were you?"

"I was...sick. The flu. Swine, actually."

"I heard you got food poisoning?"

"Yeah...that too."

Kira just looked at him. There was a short silence,"I'm glad you're back!" Kira grinned and then Athrun took a sigh of relief. It seemed like he couldn't tell Athrun was lying to him, and also lying about who Athrun Dino really was.

Cagalli sighed and left class.

She had thought about Athrun that entire day. All her thoughts were about the blue haired boy. She had been walking towards to her locker when she saw blue hair. At first she didn't care until she realized who the owner of the blue hair and leather jacket was.

"Athrun!"

She ran up to him, dumped her back pack, and gave him a huge hug. She threw her arms around his neck and dug her face in to his chest.

"C-cagalli?" Athrun asked while turning red.

They were so close to each other that he could smell her hair. It smelt of lavender..

"I missed you so much!"

His heart started to race wildly and he knew what to do next. He placed his arms around her and held her tight because he didn't want to let go. It was good being hugged. He hadn't been hugged in a long time. The last person that had hugged him like this would had to have been his mother. He didn't mind hugging Cagalli now thought...a hug was what he had desperately needed...

"You asked me never to talk to you again." Athrun said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!" Cagalli cried.

"So you like me now?" He asked, his eyes filled with hope.

"NO!"

"WHAT?"

She let go of him. "I still think you're a jerk-"

"But you just said you missed me!"

"If you had let me finished!" Cagalli barked. "You would have known that I did miss you and I felt bad for what I said. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry. But don't you go start thinking that I like you...BUT I do have a proposal."

"Which would be?"

"We become acquaintances. From there...we could possibly be friends."

Athrun smiled and surprised her by giving her a hug. "It's a start."

Author's Note: Yeah. I like this chapter a LOT. First chapter was my favorite, although first chapters are usually boring and boring to write...I LOVE CHAP ONE. Anyways, totally irrelevant.

Thanks for Reading, please review.

See ya later, Alligator.

MusicIsMyBoyfriend1234,

OUT