A/N: Hey everyone! Here's another update. I made it mostly about Kira and Cagalli, since they too needed sometime together. The next chapter will be slightly more interesting, I promise. Sorry, if it seems a bit slow...

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Seed or Destiny, I would get A's in my English writing class. VV

Chapter 10: Friends and Crushes

The next day came and Cagalli woke up to find her lamp was still on and that she was resting on her arm ontop of a science textbook. Cagalli sleepily reached over to her watch. Then she yawned widely. Her eyes came back to the watch. "OH NO! I'm gonna be late!!!!" Cagalli exclaimed and rushed to get dressed.

Next, Cagalli grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it down as she ran out of her apartment. Cagalli ran as fast as she could and suddenly her books dropped. Cagalli bent down to pick them up and did not notice a speeding car come. "Look out!" yelled a familar voice and pushed her out of the way.

Cagalli got knocked over to the other side of the street. She saw a familar brown-haired boy over her. "Kira?" said Cagalli in surprise.

"What were you thinking?! Always check if the roads are clear!" he yelled.

Cagalli blushed in embarrassement. "S-sorry," she said as she got up.

Kira sighed. "It's okay. You really should be looking out more often. What would have happened if I wasn't here?" he said.

Cagalli smiled. "You're always beside me, so it wouldn't have happened anyway," she said.

Flashback: 10 year old Cagalli was running happily on a large field chasing a squirrel while Kira, at the same age was under a tree, reading a book. Cagalli ran and ran and then while the squirrel ran faster, so did Cagalli. At the last second, the squirrel turned and Cagalli was unable to stop. She stopped on the edge and was trying to maintain her balance so that she would not fall into a rushing river. But Cagalli, being Cagalli was not able to balance. As she fell over, her hand had shot up and fortunately was able to grab a large boulder that stuck out of the water. Cagalli's head had gone under and had to hold her breath. She came up gasping. "Kira! Help!!!!" she exclaimed.

Kira, heard his name, looked up to find that Cagalli was no longer there. He quickly stood up. "Cags! Where are you!" he yelled.

Cagalli griped the boulder harder. "I'm in the river! Hurry!" she cried out.

Kira ran over, but he was much more carefuller than Cagalli was. He ran and saw that Cagalli was weakly holding onto a boulder while the force of the water was pushing her. "Hold on, Cags! I'll get mother!" he shouted and ran to find his mom.

"Hurry! My hands are slipping!" Cagalli cried, hanging with all her might.

Kira ran towards his mom. "Mother! Cagalli fell into the river and she's holding onto a slippery boulder! We gotta help her!" he cried.

His mother nodded and ran over to where Cagalli was. "Hold on! We'll get you!" she called.

Kira looked around helplessly. Then Kira, who was intelligent as ever, grabbed a tree vine. "Mother! Tie this end to the tree while I go get Cagalli!" he yelled as he tied the other end to his waist.

His mother looked at him worriedly. "But Kira, the force of the river is too strong! You'll never make it!" she exclaimed.

Kira had a very determined look. "But I have to. For Cagalli's sake," he argued.

Finally his mom gave in and tied the rope to the nearest tree. Kira jumped into the river and gasped as the force threatened to carry him away. And it was freezing cold too. "H-hold on, Cagalli," he gasped.

Cagalli felt her hands go numb. "AHH!" she cried as her arms gave in.

As the river swept her along, Kira swam upwards. Being a great swimmer, he was able to swim towards the other end where Cagalli was being dragged. "Cagalli! Grab my hand!" Kira cried out and thrust his arm out.

Cagalli reached over and grabbed hold of it. "H-hold on!" Kira yelled as he had to double his strength to withstand being drawn away by the force of the river.

Kira's mom took this as her cue and pulled the rope. It was hard but in the end, she managed to bring them both back to shore. Both Kira and Cagalli got out, shivering like mad. "Don't ever scare me like that, Cagalli!" Kira yelled while Cagalli whimpered.

"I-i'm s-so sorry!" she sobbed as Kira's mom comforted her.

Kira's mad expression faded. No one could ever stay mad at Cagalli for long. She felt like a younger sister that needed an older brother. Kira sighed. "It's okay. Just don't run of ever again, okay?" he said as he placed a hand on her wet hair.

Cagalli nodded and managed a weak smile. "Okay!" she said.

End of flashback. 16-year old Kira got up and handed Cagalli her things. "Here, c'mon let's go, the bell is about to ring," he said.

Cagalli nodded and took her things. "Kira?" she said quietly.

Kira turned towards her. "Yeah?" he answered.

"Thanks, for saving my neck so many times," she said.

"No problem. If you ever need me, call me and I'll be there beside you," said Kira and together they ran towards the school. Luckily they both made it just on time.

Afterschool, Cagalli and her team was practicing for the upcoming track meet in Korea. Athrun and Kira sat watching. As everyone stretched, Cagalli realized that they needed a timer. "Hey Athrun!" Cagalli called.

Athrun, hearing his name went over. "We need a timer, would you mine being our timer?" Cagalli asked as she took a stop watch out of her pocket.

Athrun took it. "Sure," he said.

Cagalli flashed him a grateful smile and got back onto the track. Kira looked down enviously. He wished that Cagalli had asked him to take it. "Okay, I'll go first. Athrun you record my time and then Lunamaria will go. Just tell me my score and I'll note it down," said Cagalli, pointing to her binder which had all of their names on it.

"Okay, on three. One... two... THREE!" said Athrun and Cagalli took off.

She had to do three laps. Cagalli aced the first lap and went onto the second. C'mon, I gotta get a good score. I got first place and I have to maintain it, she thought and continued to run. About halfway, her head started to hurt, but she shook it off and kept running until she finally finished. "S-so.. what's my time?" she asked.

Athrun looked amazed. "Wow, a minute and forty-six seconds," he said.

Cagalli frowned. She wanted it to go under a minute. Athrun saw her frown. "H-hey! That's really good," he said and Cagalli smiled.

She noted it down and the others took their turns. Lunamaria got a minute and fifty-nine seconds and Asagi got two minutes and fourteen seconds. Meyrin noted them all down and took her turn which got two minutes and twenty seven seconds. "Okay, great job every-," said Cagalli as she saw blurred colours.

The next thing she knew was that she was back at her apartment. Cagalli sat up in her bed. "Wha-?" she said.

A brown-haired boy turned to her. "Hi, Cagalli. You feeling better now?" asked Kira.

"Ugh, Kira? What happened to me?" Cagalli asked, ignoring his question.

Kira blinked. "You fainted. Athrun wanted to take you back here, but he couldn't since he was the captain of the soccer team. He wanted to take you back first and see if you're okay, but I said I could do it and that he should go. So how are you feeling?" he asked.

Cagalli shrugged. "Okay I guess," she yawned tiredly.

Kira fixed her a glance. "You stayed up all night again, didn't you?" he asked.

Cagalli looked away. "Maybe..." she said.

Kira sighed. "Don't lie to me, I know you did. How many times have I told you not to stay up the whole night stressing out. I mean last time, that I was there, you ended up at the hospital after going several nights without rest," he said.

Cagalli said nothing and turned to face him. "Promise me, promise me that you won't do that ever again. You scared the hell out of me," he said fiercely.

Cagalli blinked. "Why?" she asked.

Kira blushed. "Um, well we've been friends for a while and you feel more of a sister than a friend, so I feel responsible for looking after you," he lied hoping that he face wasn't too flushed.

Cagalli smiled tiredly. "I just feel tired. I want to just sleep for a while," she said as she lied down.

Kira nodded. "Okay, you do that. I'll go," he said and started to walk out of her room.

"Kira!" Cagalli called and Kira turned.

"Yeah? You need something?" he asked.

Cagalli shook her head and kept her smile. "Thanks," she said.

Kira smiled. "No problem. Anytime, I'll always be watching over you," he said and went out of the building.

Cagalli sighed happily and went back to sleep. She dreamt about the two boys that were most important to her.

A/N: Yeah yeah I know... Cagalli is totally out of character, but let's just say what she really wants is for someone that'll protect her and be with her always. Please tell me what you think and who Cagalli should be with. And Kira's last name in this story is not Yamato. It's Hibiki, just to let you know.