chapter nine is finally up! sorry it took me so long, i just got a little busy... i want to post a shout-out to all athrun zala fanatics, belated happy birthday athrun! haha!

disclaimer: i do not own gundam seed or gundam seed destiny... i just wish i did! hahahaha!


The next day, Lacus was requested to practice and sing a song at the dance. At first she refused for this will be the first time she'll sing in front of many people but Natalie urged Nicol to play the background music on the piano for the performance and so the two of them are excused for the whole day in order to get on with the rehearsals. The final decorations are put up in the gym and are supervised by the student council and by Ms. Badgiruel.

However, a person was being bugged by his conscience…

FLASHBACK

"Remember, follow them and keep a close watch… then report the info you get to me." Fllay instructed sternly.

"Why are you making such a big fuss on them buying dresses?"

"Cause I don't want them to look better than I will, stupid!" said Fllay, with an urge to slap him.

"But… may I just ask you, why am I ruining stuff for Shiho when you want to get on Lacus?" he said, pausing for a while. "It's bugging me."

Fllay rolled her eyes in annoyance. "It's because she's the one who was the potential to get in my way, Shiho. Cagalli, yeah… but Mia will deal with her…" she said, surveying Rey's blank expression. "As for Miriallia and Natalie, let them be… I don't really care about Amarfi or Elthman." She said, shrugging.

"But I was supposed to go with Lunamaria! And because of your requests, I can't go with her…"

Fllay smirked cruelly. "That's not my problem… a deal's a deal!" she said and blew him a kiss then walked away."

END OF FLASHBACK

Rey clenched his fist at the thought of Fllay. He was at the gym with the rest of the assigned students who shall work there. He glanced at Lunamaria, his all-time crush. She's with Cagalli, the two are obviously trying to get the right color combinations for the balloons. Then he looked at Shiho, she still looked as lonely as ever, and it's his entire fault. As for Yzak, he was just doing his duties, trying not show anyone how he feels by wearing his usual expressions, the one that clearly spells I-Don't-Give-A-Damn.

Meanwhile, Natalie and Miriallia were talking about things and the conversation eventually lead to Shiho and Yzak. Shiho was just sitting beside them and when Yzak was mentioned, she excused herself politely and went over to Athrun and Kira. Natalie and Miriallia knew how terrible she's feeling and regretted they ever said something about the incident.

"I feel bad." Natalie said suddenly.

Miriallia looked at her but did not say anything. "If only we can do something to help her… urgh! How I hate Za Burrel, he ruined everything!" she said.

Suddenly, Natalie's face lightened up. "I've got an idea…" she said and jumped off from her seat and ran to Rey.

Miriallia was dumbfounded but nevertheless, she followed her. Natalie whispered something to Rey and the three of them went out of the gym for a while, exiting through the back door. The moment they found a nice spot for a discussion, Rey's blank face changed. Natalie was determined to get to the bottom of this and Miriallia was really amazed of what she's seeing.

"What?" Rey asked, not looking at neither of the two girls.

"We just want to know why you are doing this." Natalie said simply, crossing her arms in front of her.

"And you better tell everything now. At the first place, you should've just stayed out of this." Miriallia joined in.

Rey knew there's no backing out now. It's between he tells or he ends up in much more trouble. He sighed and cleared his throat to speak. He told them about Mia and Fllay's schemes and everything that happened in between.

Miriallia was wide-eyed. "Just as we suspected! Campbell's just acting!" he said.

Natalie nodded. "So she thinks we'll not be much of a bother to her plans so she's taking on Shiho, eh? We'll see about that…" she said, her heart pounding in rage.

Rey gulped, it seems like he made a much bigger trouble. "Please… I already told you everything I know… please… I'm willing to tell Yzak that we can switch partners." He said.

The two eyed him suspiciously. "Trade partners?" Miriallia asked.

Rey nodded. "I would like to go with Lunamaria… and as it seems, I ruined everything for the two and so, I'm willing to help to get them back together." He offered.

"And just how do you plan to do that?" Natalie asked mockingly.

"Just leave it to me. I think this is the way I can apologize as well." Rey said.

Natalie and Miriallia looked at each other. The two concluded that he seems sincere enough to stick to his words but then again, they need to make sure if he'll do it or not. Miriallia went in and tried to find help. She then spotted Dearka fixing the tables and she pulled his arm.

Dearka yelped in pain. "What the hell-" he said then he saw Miriallia.

"Hey! We need your help..." she said, shushing Dearka to keep quiet.

Dearka was surprised and confused at the same time. Miriallia pulled him outside and when he saw Rey, he nearly jumped at him for being such a jerk. They first made sure that Yzak and the others did not notice them going out of the place.

Dearka scowled angrily. "What's he doing here?" he snarled.

Natalie and Miriallia, both determined to prevent him from killing Rey anytime soon took charge in the explaining. Natalie and Miriallia took turns in telling him the story and what they want to happen.

"Since we are not so sure that we can trust you Rey…" Natalie said, motioning for Miriallia to speak.

"Dearka here will beat you up when you break your promise." She said to Rey. "And not only him, we'll be telling Athrun and Kira too."

Dearka was more than willing to do so. Yzak is his best friend and surely, he'll be happy to help him out with this.

"You can trust me with this. I promise." Rey said and with that, they went inside again to continue their duties.


After many preparations, the next three days just went by in a flash. The decorating process was a success and everything is ready for the dance on Saturday. It was really fast-approaching and so, it seemed like everyone should really be preparing by now.

The girls are at a spa and salon downtown, much to the naggings of their mothers. Cagalli hated every bit of it but through some coaxing by her mother and even more naggings by Kira, the blonde girl gave in. Lacus on the other hand was a bit excited about it. Miriallia knew she better go with the flow with her mother and the same goes for Natalie. Shiho managed to cheer up and shrug the fact that she will not be going with the guy she wanted but nevertheless, she just indulged in some beauty fair for the dance.

"So, what time will your son pick up my daughter?" Lacus' mom asked Cagalli's and smiled knowingly.

"Around 7pm he said…" Mrs. Hibiki replied. Cagalli and Lacus chatted as their mothers talked about Kira.

Miriallia was fast asleep as the hairdresser fiddled with her hair. Natalie was talking to Shiho and she avoided mentioning Yzak as much as possible and was surprised that Shiho brought it up.

"You know, it's pretty fine with me now, even if I'm not going with Yzak…" Shiho said.

Natalie was dumbfounded. "Huh? Why? Don't tell me you fancy that Za Burrel?" Natalie said.

"Oh no I don't! It's just that, maybe he was not supposed to ask me after all…" Shiho said and smiled.

Natalie smiled crookedly. "Shiho… but you still like him?" she asked hopefully.

"I guess I do… I will never like Za Burrel in a million years!" Shiho said and looked out of the window.

The hairdresser was about to fix Shiho's hair and before her mother can argue, she said that she would rather have it down. Her reason for doing so is that why should she care much about how she would look when she will be spending the night with a lame guy like Rey. The girls exchanged looks of anxiety, Miriallia and Natalie already told the other two about what Rey said.

Meanwhile, Yzak just woke up from his nap and checked the bedside clock for the time. 5pm. He reluctantly stood up and went to the bathroom. He washed his face and stared at the reflection of his eyes in the mirror.

"Jerk" he said to himself.

Thoughts run through his hazy mind. He will be going to this dance without anyone. He just lost to Rey Za Burrel in asking the very first girl he had ever liked out to this occasion. He felt miserable but in his opinion, Yzak Jule never feels misery. He has a heart of ice and it should not feel any emotion in the first place but when it comes to Shiho, everything just changes. After taking a bath, he opened his closet and chose between a black and a navy blue suit. His mother insisted on the navy blue one since wearing black will look like going to a funeral in his mother's opinion and so he obliged. It was already quarter to six pm. Suddenly, his phone rang.

"Hello?" he said lazily.

"Yzak" a familiar voice said.

"Za Burrel. What do you want?" Yzak said, his brows furrowed in severe anger.

"Look, I have to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Just go down, I'm at your gate."

"Whatever" Yzak said. He thought for a while if he should talk to Rey but he figured out he better do. He'll not chicken-out on this and so he finished dressing up and went down to see Rey standing beside his car. Yzak opened the gate and went out; he has no intentions of being hospitable at the moment.

"So?" he asked casually.

Rey started to tell him about Fllay and what he was supposed to do. In an instant, Yzak was in high temper and nearly punched Rey when he demanded he still wasn't finished in telling his story.

"And what I want you to do is… make Shiho smile again tonight." Rey said.

Yzak smirked. "Dramatic intro Za Burrel… but I don't get you." He said.

Rey adjusted his tie. "I'm not picking her up, you will. I will not cancel the date tonight but let's just put it like this. Surprise her by showing up instead of me. 7pm." He explained.

Yzak was confused. "Are you kidding?" he asked mockingly.

"I'm not. I already told Lunamaria I'll be going with her… and mind you, stop sticking up for your pride, this is your chance and I'm giving it to you." Rey said and dismissed the conversation. He went inside his car and started the engine, leaving a puzzled Yzak standing there.

"And if you're still too stupid Jule, then leave her if you can." He said and left.

Yzak thought for a while. He looked up at the sky and sighed. He doesn't know what he would do but if Za Burrel said he'll be going with Lunamaria, then Shiho will wait around for nothing. He went back inside the house to think for a while. Will he go there and tell Shiho what Za Burrel did or just leave the situation as it is and just go to the dance alone? He chose to do the first one.

Meanwhile, at the Zala Manor, Athrun was in his room, tidying up his dark blue suit. He chose it over the green one that his mother was forcing him into for it's in the shade of plain green and he will surely look like a complete idiot going to the dance in green like some other nature-freak would do. He was beginning to feel nervous when suddenly, his father walked in.

"Athrun" Patrick Zala, the chairman of ZAFT said to his son in his usual hard tone and scary facial features.

"Father" Athrun replied in acknowledgement of his father's presence.

Patrick Zala roamed around his son's quite messy room and stopped by the window wherein the curtains are still drawn. Athrun was feeling a bit uneasy for it was like 7 years since his father's last visit to his room and he's expecting a lot of criticisms any time soon.

"Your first dance" he said and turned to him. Athrun was dumbfounded. It was like a harmful dinosaur just turned out to be a harmless bunny. "Son, I just hope you'll have a great time." Patrick Zala said and went over to his son to ruffle his hair and give him a light pat on the shoulder.

After that, his father went out again. Athrun was still thunderstruck. "My father talked to me?" he asked himself over and over again.

Meanwhile, Dearka was already dressed, clad in a suit in a dark hue and his untidy hair neat in place, the known Dearka Elthman was nowhere to be found. This Dearka seemed to have no trace of his messy and slobby personality. He was going through some stuff printed in paper that pretty much looked like a script.

"What should I say first?" he said, going through the stapled papers. "Oh… I should compliment first then open a conversation…" he was saying to himself. He printed the documents that have been downloaded from the internet from the file collection of some guy that entitled it as 'Steps in Impressing the Woman You Like'.

Tonight, he was as determined as ever to impress Miriallia.

On the other hand, Nicol was in his house, practicing the piece he was supposed to play with Lacus but then he absentmindedly started to play the song he had written for Natalie. A small smile crept up on his face at the thought of her going with him tonight. With another press on the piano key, he stopped and checked his watch for the time. It was already six thirty p.m.

Meanwhile, in the Hibiki mansion, the twins are just about prepared. Cagalli was in her room, grudgingly putting earrings and a necklace that her father gave her for her last birthday. Her hair was accented with loose ribbons (think of the usual hair-do Cagalli has, you know, with ribbons on the side? I just thought it was really the best hair-do on her… simple but elegant! –raikendai) that outlined her face. Kira on the other hand was looking at himself in the mirror at the living room, preparing to go to pick Lacus up when suddenly the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" he called out and opened the door; the butlers have already escorted Athrun through the gates.

"Hey Athrun!" Kira said. "Nice suit…" he commented.

"Thanks…" Athrun said. "You're not bad yourself!" he said and the boys exchanged a high five.

"Come in, I'll go get Cagalli…" he said as he motioned for Athrun to sit comfortably on the sofa near their house's entrance.

Athrun was twiddling with his fingers. "It's okay… it's just for tonight… don't get too nervous…" he mumbled to himself.

Kira ran down the stairs with a big smile on his face. "She's coming down…" he said.

Cagalli slowly went down the staircase, causing Athrun to jump to his feet in shock. She was clad in a halter long evening gown in a shade of light blue. It was accentuated with sequins neatly arranged in place. She had never looked so beautiful for she had always been the boyish type of girl. She wore a necklace with a diamond shaped like a butterfly as a pendant. Indeed, she looked very pretty. (use your imaginations here people ). Both boys had their jaws hanging.

"That's an impostor!" Kira said hysterically.

Athrun sweatdropped and so did Cagalli. "Geez Kira! I was trying to make a nice entrance here and you messed it up!" Cagalli said, putting her hands on her waist.

Athrun chuckled. "Just kidding sis! I've gotta go guys, I shouldn't keep Lacus waiting…" Kira said and winked at the two of them and went out of the door.

"Y-y-you look beautiful…" Athrun said, looking at her straight in the eyes. Cagalli blushed when suddenly an interruption occurred… her mother.

"Athrun dear! How are you?" Mrs. Hibiki said as she gave Athrun a light hug.

"Fine auntie." Athrun replied. "It's been a while since Kira last invited you to come over… and I can't believe you will be the one who will go out with my baby…" she said, pertaining to Cagalli.

Cagalli scowled. "Mom…" she said in a low voice.

The other two chuckled. "Fine then, take care of Cagalli, Athrun… and don't forget to bring her home safely…" Mrs. Hibiki said.

"Don't worry, I will…" Athrun said and with that, the two of them left.

They rode in Athrun's car, which he spent a fair part of his morning to clean. Cagalli was looking out of the window then glanced at Athrun.

Meanwhile, in the other side of town, Dearka was seated at the living room of the Haww residence, kind of feeling sorry for himself that he left his script in the backseat of the car. After much ado, Mirialla came out, dressed in a pink spaghetti-strapped long gown and what really caught people's eyes was her hair, it was different from what she usually worn everyday. It was tied in a half-ponytail and the lower strands were glittered and it was really breathtaking.

"Miriallia…" Dearka uttered. His script doesn't matter now. He concluded that when you're faced with the real thing, practicing will mean nothing.

"Hey…" Miriallia said, confused of his reaction. Dearka was just staring at her as if she's some kind of picture from a magazine. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

Dearka shook his head to stop acting like a complete lunatic. "I-I'm sorry… uhm… you're very pretty tonight Miriallia…" he said and tried to smile.

Miriallia giggled. "Let's just go… you wouldn't want to get in an interview session with my mother again…" she said, taking his hand and leading him out of the house.

Dearka looked at his hand grasped within hers and found it hard to breathe. It was the first time he ever got this close to a girl.

Nicol on the other hand was already in front of Natalie's house but still, he wasn't ringing the bell. He was walking back and forth.

"What should I say… what?" he mumbled then suddenly, the door opened and revealed the metallic-blue-haired girl dressed in a one-shoulder long gown in a blue-gray shade that clashed with her hair color. Her long hair was tied in a half ponytail but instead of a scrunchie, she used a silver barette to tie half of her hair.

"Nicol!" she said, rushing to the gate, opening it to let him go in. "What are you doing staying out here?" she asked him, restraining her laughter.

"Well… I…" he stammered for the right words.

"Shall we go now, then?" Natalie asked him.

"Oh, yeah… are you ready?" Nicol asked, he cannot take his eyes off her.

"Yup… c'mon!" she said then they proceeded to Nicol's car.

Meanwhile, Kira was waiting for Lacus at the Mansion's living room. He fidgeted anxiously then after some time, Lacus went down. She looked like a perfect angel with her turquoise strapless dress and her hair tied in a ponytail. (remember the one she had in gundam seed? The one with the braid as the ponytail? That one!)

"Hello Kira…" she said and smiled sweetly.

Kira was in a loss of words but he tried to speak. "You look fabulous…"

"I'll take that as a compliment… shall we go?" she asked him and he nodded and they went to the party in Kira's car.

As for Shiho, she just remained in her room, thinking of what may happen tonight. She gently combed her long brown hair and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Stupid… why the hell did you say yes to Za Burrel?" she cursed herself for doing so.

Her bangs were tucked with a clip and her hair was arranged in a sort of half-ponytail but it's not tied, a braid was did to keep it that way. It was simple but a really elegant way to do with her hair. Her mother was very happy and repeated over and over how pretty she looked especially with her strapless lavender long gown that was accentuated with a pattern of sequins. She promised herself to go home early for she doesn't want to be stuck all night with Rey Za Burrel.

Her mother knocked on the door and came in. "Honey, there's a boy waiting for you downstairs… he looks handsome!" her mother said.

Shiho rolled her eyes. "Oh puh-leez… give me break…" she mumbled and slowly went down the stairs and looked up to see someone else standing at the foot of the stairs, with his back to her.

She nearly slipped due to shock but composed herself. "Yzak?" she asked and he turned around.

He did not know what to say. He had to admit she looked strikingly beautiful and he couldn't hide the blush on his cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously.

"Za Burrel told me you might need a date tonight…" he said, staring at his feet.

It was Shiho's turn to blush. She can't believe Rey would do such a thing and that Yzak would ever oblige to what he says. "But… I don't understand… I…" she muttered.

"Then don't bother understanding it." Yzak said flatly.

Shiho raised a brow on him. She missed their usual bickering and was happy to be in one again. She smiled to herself. Yzak was getting impatient about just looking down at his feet and so he looked up.

"So are you going or what?" he asked with a smirk.

"Fine." Shiho said, pretending to be irritated but deep inside, she was really happy and from then on believed that miracles do happen.

Meanwhile, Mia and Fllay were at the Alster Manor, dressing up and preparing to go. Mia will be going with Yuuna Roma, the one that Cagalli dumped and Fllay was going with a guy who was courting her, Sai Argyle. Mia dreaded the fact that she will be going with someone whom the girl she hated the most dumped for the guy she wanted to have. Fllay on the other hand did not mind, as long as she won't go to the dance alone.

"Keep this in mind Mia, this is the day we destroy them." Fllay said with a wicked smile.

For a while there, Mia was getting tired of all these scheming that never equaled to success but she thought it would not do her any good if she argues with Fllay.

"Uh-huh…" she said and combed her hair as Fllay criticized her outfit.

Once everybody was at the gym, Mr. La Flaga gave the opening remarks for the dance. It was quite a long speech though. The group was huddled up in a table, far away from Mia and Fllay's. Almost every student present in the gym was fussing about how they look and who their dates are but in this particular table, fun is abound for Dearka just can't stop cracking jokes about Mr. La Flaga. After his speech, Ms. Ramius took over and a soft music played.

The first dance of the evening.

Silence encapsulated the atmosphere around the table. Kira looked around. Some students are already in the wide dance floor, dancing sweetly to the music. He caught Nicol's eye but he gave no reaction. The girls were just staring at one another and kept quiet. Kira swallowed and gathered all his courage to ask Lacus to dance. He offered his hand to her.

"Wanna dance?" he asked and smiled. Lacus looked at Cagalli beside her who gave her a slight push to stand up. In less than a minute, both of them were already dancing.

"Aww… I wish I had my camera…" Miriallia said, looking at the two lovebirds dancing there.

Then it was Dearka's turn to offer a hand and ask Miriallia to dance. "Uhm… c'mon, let's dance." He said, not looking at her in order to hide his reddening face. Miriallia was surprised he even knew how to dance and she took his waiting hand. "Sure" she said and the both of them proceeded to the dancefloor.

Nicol was conditioning himself for this when suddenly, something unexpected happened. It was Natalie who asked him to dance. She tugged on his arm excitedly. "Let's dance!" she said and pulled him there.

Athrun and Cagalli laughed at Nicol who looked utterly astonished with what happened. Then realization hit Athrun. He looked at Shiho who was tearing up pieces of tissue paper as Yzak drummed his fingers on the table. He sighed.

"One… two… three!" Athrun counted in his mind. "You wanna dance out there Cagalli?" he asked and smiled. Cagalli was taken aback. "Huh?" she asked absentmindedly. "Come, let's dance." Athrun said again.

Cagalli was out of words. First, she was forced into dressing up for this particular occasion and now she had to dance. Athrun chuckled at the blonde-haired girl beside him and took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

Shiho and Yzak realized they were the only ones left in their table. Shiho looked around. Even the teachers were dancing around and out of all the students, almost ten were still seated down. Yzak realized it too.

"Should I? How will I?" he was asking himself when suddenly, a guy approached. Yzak gulped. "Damn it! Don't ask her to dance you moron! I'm just trying to take control of the situation!" Yzak thought as he looked at the guy the same time Shiho did.

"Hey… do you want to dance?" the guy asked Shiho. He looked nice but somehow, Shiho did not feel like dancing at the moment.

Yzak felt crushed. For the second time, another guy got ahead of him but call it coincidence, Shiho refused. "Sorry, I just don't feel like dancing at the moment… maybe later." She said cordially. The guy was disappointed but left with a smile.

"Why did you turn him down?" Yzak asked her curiously.

"Damn it! This guy certainly can't understand why I did that… urgh!" Shiho thought in her mind. She sighed and said, "I'll go out for a while." By that, she left Yzak.

"Was it something that I said?" he asked himself and after a few minutes of thinking, he followed Shiho outside.

As for the others in the dance floor, they are certainly having fun. Kira and Lacus were dancing sweetly and obviously in the verge of falling in love. Nicol and Natalie were just hanging around and dancing and having fun. As for Dearka, he could notspeak. All he seems to be doing is to look at Miriallia.

"Uh... are you okay Dearka?" she asked him.

Dearka was shaken back to reality. "Oh... yeah... i'm perfectly fine." he said.

Miriallia giggled. Even if he doesn't speak that much this time, still she knows she's having fun. Athrun and Cagalli on the other hand were just fooling around for neither of them are really experts when it comes to dancing.

"Don't you think we should go and sit down instead?" Cagalli said, both of them restraining their laughter. "We don't even know how to dance!" she added.

Athrun chuckled. "Let it be! At least we had the guts to walk up here!" he said and they laughed again. "And you're with me..." he whispered.

"Huh? Speak louder, can't hear you... the music's a bit too loud..." she said, obviously, she did not hear what he just said. Athrun just smiled. He thought that at some point, he better not say it again. "It's nothing... don't mind it..." he said and they continued dancing.

Mia was getting tired of Fllay being so obsessed in getting back at Lacus and she was starting to feel like giving up on Athrun; he doesn't like her one bit so why bother? But still, she can't help but feel very jealous whenever the two of them are together. Plus, she's starting to feel sympathetic for Sai who's drop-dead head over heels for Fllay.

It was starting to rain and it can be seen through the windows but the students did not mind it at all... only one person did seem to mind...


haha! cliffie! i'll continue it on the next chapter... now who could that person be, huh? hehehe... watch out for chapter ten, the rest of the dance will be told there! anyway, feel free to send me reviews and speak your mind... haha! i accept anything... as long as you don't give me death threats! please review! thanks!