Chapter Ten: Prom Night
As soon as he finished the last drawer in the filing cabinet, Athrun eagerly returned home to eat dinner and dress up for the night. When he arrived, he was greeted by his mother who in turn, realized his excitement, even though it was barely visible, but still clear enough to see he was.
"Looking forward to the prom?" she asked.
"Sorta." he answered trying his best to hide it.
"But you do know there is that one drawback."
"I know."
"Do you know how you're going to deal with it?" she asked for assurance.
"Yeah, my friends are going to try and cover me. Well at least I think they are." he explained. Mrs. Zala raised an eyebrow at him.
"And what if something goes wrong? What's your backup?" she asked eagerly. Athrun fell silent for a moment.
"I'm not sure. I'll figure out something soon." he said before heading upstairs.
Athrun walked into his room and took the tux he bought last Wednesday out of the closet and set it on his bed. Something white flashed by and fell on the ground as he was doing that but he ignored it for now. After that, he headed into the bathroom to take a shower. He planned on having it earlier because his hair would take about an hour to dry, and by that time he would put on his tux and go out to pick up Cagalli.
After fifteen minutes of bathing, he came out of the shower, dried himself off, and put a bathrobe on before heading downstairs to join his mother for dinner. He glanced at the clock on his way down. "6:15" it read. Another hour and fifteen minutes before the prom started. He sat at the table and ate his dinner.
X-X-X-X-X
Meanwhile, Cagalli was overexcited about the prom and was already in her dress at 5:00pm. She just continually evaluated herself in the mirror. Two maids were in her room making sure she wouldn't ruin her makeup or outfit. Her hair had very slight green ribbons that tied the left and right sides of her hair. She had light green eyeliner on to match with her dress, and pink-tinted lip gloss on, with a bit of blush. It was a light green dress with a long bow on the front, and a wreath running across near the mid-bottom of it. She had golden bracelets on each wrist and wore the red necklace Athrun gave her. She had green heeled slippers that she wasn't too fond of. After looking at herself, she wondered if Athrun was going to like it. She turned to the two maids.
"Do you think Athrun will like this? I mean the way I'm dressed? Is it too skimpy, or too dressy, or what?"
"It's fine." the first said.
"Ugh. I want criticism here! Tell me the flaws!"
"There are none. You look absolutely gorgeous." the other said.
"Pfft I can't rely on you guys. I guess I'm going to have to wait until Athrun gives his opinion." she said before walking over to the windows and opening them. She enjoyed the cool breeze that wafted in. She stared over at Athrun's house and sighed.
X-X-X-X-X
Athrun, finally dressed in his tux walked over to the mirror, picked up his comb and ran it through his hair making sure there weren't any flaws, or at least any accountable. He took a breath mint, then walked towards the door about to leave before he noticed the paper on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it. He then remembered what it was. He smiled as he looked at the two people in it.
"My drawing, I was wondering where it was." he said to himself. It was a drawing of him and Cagalli, sleeping on his bed that Saturday. Then he thought of who must've put it in the closet. He obviously didn't. His mother doesn't dare to enter his room. His father is in the PLANTs and if he was visiting, he would've known. Then he smirked.
"Cagalli." he whispered before putting the picture back into place and left to go pick her up.
As he was walking towards her house, he noticed the couples being driven, or walking to the school. He then saw Kira stepping outside his car, and escorting Lacus out, then walking her into the school. The blue-haired boy finally made it to Atha Street, where he turned left to head towards the mansion. He made it up to the door, and rang the doorbell, only to be invited in by one of the maids.
"Hold on, let me get Miss Cagalli for you." she said as she walked up the stairs and knocked on the door to Cagalli's room. The door opened, and the princess walked out. She began to walk down the stairs as Athrun stared in awe. She started to feel a bit paranoid and nervous. She frowned.
"What?" she snapped at him. Athrun smiled.
"You look… beautiful." he commented as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She blushed a bit.
"You really think so?" she asked.
"Yeah. You look like a princess." he said.
"Don't call me that!"
"Sorry." he said as she grabbed his arm.
"So are we gonna go now?"
"If you're ready. I'm ready when you're ready."
"Okay let's go!" she pleaded and they both left the mansion and headed towards the school. They had a silly, tension-breaking conversation on the way there.
"I still can't believe I'm actually going to the prom with the most beautiful girl in ORB." he grinned.
"Oh shut up about that! I'm not that pretty."
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not!!"
"Well, sure if you want to think that way. But to me, you still are."
"Yeah, to you."
"Something wrong with that?"
"No, it's nothing."
"What? Tell me."
"Seriously Athrun, it's nothing. Just forget about it."
"I can't, I'll be thinking about it the whole time."
"Augh. Athrun, just shut up okay. It's literally nothing. I just made a sarcastic response. Can't you just accept that?"
"No, not really."
"YOU RETARD!" she screamed as se punched him and he laughed. Then they finally arrived at the school. He opened and held the door for Cagalli to walk in, then he walked in too.
X-X-X-X-X
As the two entered the gym, about a couple dozen guys turned over to look at Cagalli. Most stared in awe, some cat-called, and others smirked and joked with their buddies. Athrun grabbed her hand and walked her through the crowd. He then spotted his friend Kira waving and calling him over at the table he and Lacus were sitting at. Athrun led Cagalli to the table, and joined them.
"Hey Athrun, and… what's your name again?" Kira asked.
"Cagalli." she responded.
"Nice to meet you again. I'm Kira if you forgot."
"Right. Nice to meet you again Kira." Cagalli responded.
"Why, hello there. I'm Lacus. I'm sure you've heard of me before, but it's nice to meet you." the pink-haired girl said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you too." the blonde said.
"Oh, I mustn't forget Athrun! Nice to see you again."
"Same to you." Athrun responded. He began to look at the decorations as Kira and Lacus continued to converse with Cagalli. There were streamers lining across the wall, balloons all over the place, and the stage was down with a microphone on it and some huge speakers playing some casual music as the students were still arriving. There were about thirty tables lined on the sides of the gym, most of which were occupied. The lights were dim, but brighter than they usually are at proms, again for the students arriving still. It wasn't too soon before the pink-haired impersonator walked in.
"Hey everyone! Meer's here!" she announced loudly as a bunch of guys turned away and cleared the door area. The pink-haired girl was wearing a skimpy hot pink dress, as well as her other two minions, Meyrin and LunaMaria. They walked in the middle of the gym and started looking around for their dates. Lacus and Cagalli stared at Meer in disgust, as she was their worst enemy. She then caught sight of two familiar green eyes and walked over to the table.
"Oh crap hide me." Athrun said before disappearing under the table.
"What's wrong?" Cagalli asked confusedly.
"Well… it's a long story…"
"Make it short she's almost here!"
"She called me and asked me out to the dance but I told her I wasn't going because I didn't want to hurt her."
"Pfft, why the hell would you care if she was hurt or not?"
"She might gave some creepy way of getting revenge and I don't want to deal with that."
"Good point." she commented as the retard finally reached the table.
"Hey, I thought I saw my little Athy-poo here." she said in a baby-like voice. Cagalli turned away, clenched her fist and gritted her teeth before letting out an answer.
"Nope, no Athy-poo here." she said.
"Hey look it's beast! What the hell are you doing here!?" she teased as Cagalli began to fume.
"Leave her alone. She hasn't done or said anything bad to you since you got here." Kira warned.
"Oh yeah? What gives you the authority to be commanding me to do things? This is a free country and I can do whatever I want!" she screamed back at him.
"Go ahead. I don't care if you go die somewhere on the other side of ORB for all I care." the pop princess said rather unusually rude.
"Excuse me?" she shot back at her before Shinn, Rey, and Heine appeared at the table.
"Well, you're looking awfully good tonight. Want to dance?" Heine encouraged. Meer blinked for a second.
"Uh, sure!" she said and they went off.
"Is she gone yet?" Athrun asked anxiously.
"Yeah, that chick is gone for the next twenty minutes if you ask me." Shinn said.
"Oh thank god you guys came." Athrun said before getting out from under the table.
X-X-X-X-X
About a half an hour into the dance, Meer still didn't return, and Athrun was getting a little anxiety from his boredom. Shinn and Rey were dancing with Luna and Meyrin, and Lacus and Kira were up on the stage, as Lacus sang one of her top hits. Athrun decided he should get up and dance with Cagalli.
'Shizukana kuno yoru ni anata wo maeteru no…' she sang.
"Cagalli, let's dance."
"What!? Now!?"
"Yeah, that's kinda what we came here for."
"Uh, right. Let's go." she said nervously. They stood up and headed towards the opposite end of the gym from Meer. Athrun placed his arms around her waist and Cagalli had her arms around his neck. Cagalli awkwardly moved and almost tripped and fell.
"I can't dance." she complained.
"Come on, don't give up already! We just got started. Here I'll teach you how." he said beginning to show her the way to move her feet and avoid accidents. Nearing the end of the song, she finally started to get the hang of it, and actually enjoyed it.
"I didn't know dancing was this fun!" she laughed.
"Let's keep on dancing." he exclaimed in excitement. Cagalli smiled at him.
"Alright, now I'm going to sing 'Mizu No Akashi' as my next song!" she said enthusiastically as everyone cheered.
'Mizu no naka ni yoni ga yureteru kanashii hodo shizukana tada tsuni…'
"Here's your chance Cagalli. Show me what you got." he said to her. They danced slowly, gracefully, and didn't miss a beat. No screw-ups, accidents, nothing of the sort. They were both lost in their own minds swinging to the slow rhythm of the song until it ended. But that's just when things got crazy. Lacus and Kira left the stage, while Meer rushed up, grabbed the mic, and announced her song.
"Hey everyone, how are you all doing out there?" she called to everyone and all was heard was a grim 'good' from everyone. "Great! Now, I'm going to sing 'Emotion' so I hope you all are ready!" and a few cheered.
'Anata no kake ba hohome mi uchi shite namida no shizuku samimama no kushi temu…'
Athrun quivered as he heard her sing the overly-happy pop song being sung by his biggest fan who frankly would have a better view of the people on the stage. He decided to take Cagalli into the middle of the crowd where she couldn't see them. They started to dance to the fast rhythm, before Shinn and Luna broke it down in the middle of the gym which cleared up the crowd, hence leaving Athrun visible to Meer's eye.
X-X-X-X-X
"Omocho kito nani yu kara ima no kare-ATHY-POO!!" she screamed to the top of her lungs before Athrun grabbed Cagalli's wrist and dashed for the door. Meer moved like a hungry leopard, despite her heels.
The couple escaped the gym, and headed into the hallway, but kept running and didn't stop, nor did Meer. They twisted and looped around the hallways, going up staircases, and taking shortcuts, and finally hid behind a wall waiting for Meer to come by. When she made it around the corner, Cagalli stuck out her leg just in time to trip her. She fell flat on her face, and Athrun and Cagalli giggled before continuing to run. Meer growled and continued her chase.
The two made it outside, and ran across the field into the marshy area full of bugs and lizards which obviously Meer didn't like at all. She stopped and stared at the forest fuming.
"ATHRUN!! GET BACK HERE! YOU LIED TO ME YOU BIG JERK! I HATE YOU!!" she screamed before crying and running away.
Meanwhile, the two ventured through the muddy and wet green land.
"Where are we going?" Cagalli asked curiously.
"I dunno." he responded.
"Then why are we going this way?"
"To explore."
"What do you mean explo-!!" she screamed as they both fell in a mud puddle. They both got up and Athrun started to laugh.
"Dammit! My dress! It's ruined!" she exclaimed throwing a slop of mud at Athrun. He grimaced.
"Don't throw mud at me!" he teased as he threw another slop back at her.
"Hey! You can't do that to a girl!" she screamed as she flung a whole load of mud at him.
"Oh yeah?" he said pushing her into the mud.
"Bastard!" she screamed pulling him in with her. He willingly fell in and starting kissing her.
X-X-X-X-X
After about five minutes, they decided to head to Athrun's house and wash off. With the hose. Athrun's mother was a bit of a neat freak so she wanted them to be rinsed off before stepping back into the house. Athrun headed into the backyard with Cagalli. He grabbed the hose, and turned it on.
"Do you want to be cleansed first?" he asked.
"Whatever." she said as she grabbed the hose and started to wash herself off. Goosebumps appeared all over her arms as she shivered. She shook it off and continued to wash herself but stopped again when she noticed Athrun was watching. "Do you mind!?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry." he said before turning around. She finished washing herself off, then turned to Athrun and grinned as an evil thought crossed her mind. All was heard was a high-pitched squeal and a wet blonde on the ground laughing.
"Shut up! That water's really cold!" Athrun frowned in embarrassment picking up the hose and rinsed himself off. Cagalli was on the ground rolling around for about five minutes until she actually stopped.
"Athrun you scream like a friggin chick!!" she just barely got out before continuing to laugh.
"You shut up okay? I was warm and not expecting you to squirt me with ice cold water. It was shocking."
"I don't know what was more shocking, the cold water or your feminine squeal." Cagalli laughed. Athrun sighed and shook his head and aimed the hose at her face and soaked it. She coughed and gagged on the water.
"GIVE ME THAT HOSE!!" she screamed angrily and at the same time playfully. Athrun sprinted away from her, shooting water at her every now and then until she finally caught up and tackled him. She grabbed the hose and squirted it all over him. He grabbed it too and the two had a water feud, that is until Mrs. Zala came and turned off the hose.
"Okay guys, I see you've washed yourselves. No need to waste anymore water now." she said giggling at the position they were in. Cagalli was sitting on top of Athrun who was currently on his back and they were both looking at her, then at themselves, then scrambled off each other to head towards Mrs. Zala who was holding the towels.
After wiping themselves off, they got undressed, and into some other clothes; Cagalli having to borrow some of Athrun's old clothes, as Mrs. Zala washed their formerly beautiful, but now soaked and slightly dirty outfits. Cagalli was in a really baggy shirt that went down to her knees, and some old shorts that went a slight bit higher than her mid-upper-leg. The three sat on the couch in the living room talking about their experience.
"So how did the prom go?" Mrs. Zala eagerly asked.
"It was so fun! Half the time we weren't even at the prom!" Cagalli cheered.
"Glad you enjoyed it, what did you think of it Athrun?" she asked the smiling boy.
"I thought it was the best experience ever. I'm also pleased to hear Cagalli enjoyed it too." he said putting his arm around Cagalli. She smiled at him and kissed him at the cheek.
"Thank you Athrun." she whispered in his ear.
X-X-X-X-X
Later that night, Mr. Atha picked Cagalli up after her and Athrun talked about the party Kira invited them to the next day. They decided to go together, as usual. Little did they know what the next day would turn into.
A/N: Alright, hope you guys liked this chapter because it's mostly the climax of the story. I sure enjoyed writing it. Anyway, I'm still writing up chapter 11, and I'm at a stump of ideas. I know it's supposed to be Kira's party, but I don't know how to go about it. I got to a part where Athrun and Cagalli went to his house and then I lost my ideas. I'll think about it. Sadly, this fanfic is coming to an end, but it was my most successful fanfic I've ever wrote so I'm proud. After this one ends, I'm planning on making one about Athrun and he 'mysteriously' has a clone of himself created. How fun XP. I might make one about the aftermath of Athrun and Cagalli's break up which will only last maybe 2-4 chapters. Only for those fans who are upset about it like I was. Okay, I'm done talking, please review!