DISCLAIMER: I don't own GS or GSD.

IMPORTANT: Italicized words, phrases or sentences show Cagalli's thoughts.

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Of Dates and Meetings

Cagalli was already at the park and was looking for Athrun when someone tapped her on the back. When she turned around, she saw Athrun who looks stunningly cute in informal clothes. His hands were outstretched as he motioned Cagalli to take the bouquet he's holding.

"What's this for?" said Cagalli upon taking the bouquet.

"Flowers for you!" said Athrun.

"Why are you giving me this?" she said since she's starting to get freaked out by Athrun's uncanny behavior.

"Aren't guys supposed to give flowers to a girl on their date?" said Athrun, then the situation was cleared to Cagalli.

"You mean, we're on a date?" shouted Cagalli, catching everyone's attention.

"Of course we are. I asked you out remember?" said Athrun. Cagalli then started recalling yesterday's events but no matter how hard she tried she can't find the scene where Athrun asked her out. Then after remembering how ignorant Athrun is about the proprieties of the normal world, she was able to get an idea as to when and how he asked her out.

"Let me get this straight, were you asking me out when you told me that you have something really important to tell me yesterday?" said Cagalli.

"Of course I am," was Athrun's reply.

"Geez, this guy is hopeless. I might as well teach him a few Dating 101."

"Listen Zala, I know that you're totally ignorant of how people normally live but I didn't thought that you were this dumb," said Cagalli.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Athrun who was insulted by Cagalli's remark.

"You see, there's no way that any girl, no matter how sensible or intelligent she might be, could actually mistake your very formal request yesterday to be something like asking her out on a date,"

"Why did you say so?"

"Because…it's too formal. If you really want to ask someone out, then get to the point. It's easier that way and it's also better if ever your request would be rejected,"

"But…it's my first time in this kind of thing. So how do you suppose should I know this?" snapped Athrun.

"Haven't you tried asking Kira?"

"Heck no! It would be too embarrassing,"

"So where are we going now?"

"Before anything else, let me make something clear to you. I didn't ask you out merely because I have some affection for you. I only asked you out so that you can enlighten me on how this dating thing is to be done. Further more, our relationship should remain as formal as it had been before," said Athrun.

"Simply put, you want me to pretend that we're on a date so that you'll have first hand information on how it's supposed to be done?" said Cagalli.

"That's a better way of putting it," said Athrun.

"Why are you doing this?" said Cagalli as she arched an eyebrow at him.

"Well…you see…my parents informed me that my fiancé would be coming pretty soon and that I need to be as courteous to her as possible. And sooner or later, we have to go out and get to know each other since we'll have to spend the rest of our lives with each other. I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of my future wife so I need to know how things are usually done," said Athrun who was slightly fidgeting since he was so embarrassed to ask this kind of favor from Cagalli.

"You don't want to make a fool of yourself in front of your future wife huh? If you only knew…"

"So you're fine with marrying her now? What happened to the insults that you said about her when I first entered your room? And as far as I know, you really despise this idea," said Cagalli. She was wishing that Athrun would hate this proposition as much as she does so that the probability that their marriage wouldn't take place would be higher.

"I thought about it and with my parent's insight, I realized that the idea's not that bad. They told me that it's not hard to get along with Cagalli. Besides, I'm doing this for the people as well. It wouldn't hurt if I gave up one thing or another since I really don't have any power to make my own choices," said Athrun, his tone sounded hurt.

"Well, let's get a head start and think about where we should go," said Cagalli to lighten the mood.

After much arguing, Cagalli and Athrun were able to decide to spend the whole day in the amusement park. They thought about going to a bazaar or a shop but since both were not big fans of shopping they decided to do something adventurous, which led them to the theme park.

Since Athrun is a well-known person, he has to wear shades and a cap but it didn't lessened his good looks in any way possible. No matter how much Cagalli would like to disagree that Athrun does look good, she can't help but think that it's possible for Athrun to have a lot of fan girls running after him. She often steal glances at Athrun and much to her content, he wasn't able to catch her in the act.

The instant that they reached the theme park, Cagalli started pulling Athrun to different rides, leaving no time for Athrun to utter any word of argument. Cagalli told him earlier that it's not right to go against the girl's wishes when they're on a date. This will only get her intimidated making the experience less enjoyable. Cagalli said that he should just pretend that he's also having fun no matter how much he dislikes it. The first ride that they went to was the pirate ship. The ride wasn't that scary but Cagalli took the leisure to join the crowd in their shouting while Athrun just sat their as he secretly laughs as to how Cagalli's acting so unlady like.

The rest of their day wasn't spent purely on the rides. Sometimes they would just be walking around as they share on a single cotton candy, which Cagalli insisted that Athrun should try. Athrun was hesitant to try the sweet at first but in the long run; he was able to enjoy it as well. When their stomachs began to grumble, they decided to eat in a nearby fast food chain. They were sure that they gave their orders very clearly that's why they were so surprised when they saw a waiter place a huge size platter on their table. It was filled with food of several varieties. The food was not the problem rather it was the thought that they should share the food that was creeping them out.

"Excuse me, I think you gave us the wrong food. This is not what we ordered," said Athrun when the waiter came with the platter.

"It's true that this is not your order sir but our diner currently has a special promo for lovers like you two so we decided to let you try our latest offer," said the waiter. Cagalli suddenly looked up towards the waiter after hearing her words. It was not what she said that made Cagalli look up rather it was because of how familiar her voice sounded. Cagalli's face was filled with awe when she saw who the waiter really was. The waiter seemed to notice the look on her face and flashed a smile at her, and then she took off.

"Murrue Ramius! What's she doing here? She should be in Orb trying to hide the fact that I'm not there. Kisaka didn't tell me anything about her coming over here,"

"I guess, we have to share this food then," said Athrun, snapping Cagalli from her thoughts.

"Huh? What were you saying?" said Cagalli.

"I said, we have to share this food since the store insisted that we try their latest promo,"

"What? Are they insane?"

"I think they thought that we're…lovers,"

"Which we're not! They didn't even give us two chopsticks. Don't tell me that we're supposed to share the same food AND the same utensil?"

"Shall we find another place then?" Cagalli thought about the suggestion but the grumbling of her stomach told her that it couldn't wait any longer.

"Even if we want to, we can't. I'm too hungry to even stand up," said Cagalli.

"Yeah, me too," said Athrun.

"Let's eat then," said Cagalli. She picked up the chopstick and placed a generous amount of food on her mouth. She took some more food and asked Athrun to open his mouth but Athrun appeared a little distressed about what's happening.

"What's the matter?" said Cagalli.

"I'm not really hungry, so why don't you eat up and I'll wait till your done," said Athrun. Cagalli saw that he was lying and got a little pissed when an idea of what Athrun might be insecure about came to her head.

"Why? You can't use the chopstick that I just used? Afraid that some germs might get you killed?" snapped Cagalli.

"No it's not that," said Athrun.

"Then what is it?"

"Well…I can't use the chopstick that you used because…because…if I do…it will seem that…we kissed…indirectly," said Athrun who was having a hard time choosing the right words. Athrun's idea was too embarrassing for Cagalli to imagine that she blushed furiously. Although Athrun does have a little point there, she couldn't stand having him starve just because of her.

That's why she scooped a generous amount of food and said to him, "You will eat this food no matter how it might appear, because if you won't I'll beat you up just to make you open your mouth." Cagalli looked really scary that's why Athrun was left with no choice but to open his mouth.

"There, it's not that hard isn't it?" said Cagalli and all that Athrun could do was turn crimson red.

Athrun doesn't seem to lighten up a bit so Cagalli said, "Listen to me, there are certain things that might appear like a kiss but they're actually not. Like for instance, in CPR you place your lips on to the lips of another but that's not a kiss. It's just something necessary to save a person's lives. And if that's not even considered as a kiss then what more if we just shared the same spoon or fork," and sure enough, Athrun began to lighten up and they were able to eat as lightly as they like.

They were walking around the theme park as they thought about what ride to try next when an old man grabbed their hands and pulled them to some funny ride. He shoved them inside a boat, which is shaped like a swan and told them to enjoy the ride.

As they were traversing through the river Cagalli said, "What ride is this?"

"I think it's the Tunnel of Love," said Athrun nonchalantly.

"WHAT?"

"What's the matter? What is this ride all about anyway?"

"This ride is something that only couples are supposed to try. That's the reason why it's called the Tunnel of Love. But I don't have any idea what actually happens in here so we'll have to find out for ourselves later."

"I hope no one saw me entering this ride."

After a minute of waiting Cagalli concluded that this particular ride was actually very boring. You'll just have to sit there and listen to mellow music. The tunnel was a bit dark but at the same time, it was bright enough to allow her to see Athrun. She was getting sleepy when she saw that the couple in front of them was doing something out of the ordinary. Cagalli rubbed her eyes to see clearly and sure enough her eyes didn't fool her. Because there in front of them, the young couple was busy caressing each other and was lost in their own world.

"I wouldn't mind if they look for a more appropriate place to do that,"

She shifted her gaze at Athrun, when he suddenly pulled her by the waist causing their faces to be inches apart. He lightly caressed her cheek before he whispered, "Do you want to do something exciting?" Cagalli grabbed her bouquet and whammed it straight at Athrun. She pushed him aside and threw him a look, which says: Stay away from me. You pervert!

Athrun then started laughing and said, "You actually thought that I was going to do something to you! You should have seen your face. It was hilarious."

"You better shut up if you don't want to be thrown out of this boat Zala," snapped Cagalli.

The day was coming to an end and there's one last thing that Athrun wanted to do. He dragged Cagalli to a photo booth and shoved her inside.

"What are we doing here?" said Cagalli.

"We're going to have our picture taken," said Athrun.

"I know that. What I wanted to know is why?"

" I want to have a memento,"

"You sure you're not going to use it to blackmail me?"

"If there's anyone that's going to be blackmailed, that would be me,"

Athrun inserted a coin and the machine started counting from 1 to 10. Athrun removed his cap and shades and told Cagalli to smile. Cagalli positioned herself beside Athrun so that they were standing side by side. Much to her surprise, Athrun went behind her, wrapped his arms on her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. Cagalli was about to argue but the countdown was almost finished so she decided to place both her hands on Athrun's hands and smile at the camera. Her questions would have to be answered later.

When the picture was developed, Athrun couldn't help but admire how it came out. "Don't we look good together? No wonder, a lot of people mistook us as a couple." He said.

"Give me that," said Cagalli as she snatched the picture from Athrun's hands. After seeing the picture, she can't help but agree with Athrun because no matter how much she deny it, they do look good together. Cagalli placed her copy in her wallet and Athrun did the same.

"Where are we going next?" said Cagalli.

"We're going to eat in a first class restaurant. I want to make sure that nothing unnecessary would happen."

While they were waiting for their orders to be served, Cagalli noticed that Athrun was also wearing a necklace with a ring as its pendant. She saw him touching it every now and then and she remembered how much she adored her mother's ring as well.

"Whose ring is that?" said Cagalli.

"It's my grandmother's ring," said Athrun. He took the ring off the necklace and inserted it on Cagalli's ring finger. Cagalli admired it in the light as she observed how the stones sparkle in different colors.

"My grandmother told me that I should give it to someone whom I'll spend my whole life with," he said. Cagalli stared at it a little longer before she decided to take it off. Just when she was about to remove it, a surprise visitor came to their table.

"Athrun! I didn't expect to see you here," said a middle-aged woman, who upon closer observation is unmistakably Athrun's mother.

"I was just having dinner with my secretary here Mom. I've told you about her haven't I?" said Athrun.

Lenore looked at Cagalli and said, "It's nice to finally meet you Ms. Yula." Lenore outstretched her hands for Cagalli to shake as she said this. While Cagalli was shaking her hand, Lenore grabbed her hand and moved it up to her nose.

"Isn't this your grandmother's ring Athrun?" said Lenore.

"Yes it is," said Athrun.

"If Yula's wearing this then I suppose I'm holding the hand of my future daughter-in-law," said Lenore. Athrun and Cagalli looked at each other as they try to figure out their way out of this misunderstanding. Cagalli tried to get the ring of off her finger but it won't bulge.

While Cagalli was busy with the ring, Athrun is distracting her mother. "By the way, what are you doing here Mom?" he said.

"Haven't I told you? We're going to meet Lord Uzumi and her daughter today,"

"You mean, they're coming here?" said Athrun.

"Yes. Actually they're already headed where we are," said Lenore. When Athrun and Cagalli followed Lenore's gaze, they saw Lord Uzumi accompanied with his daughter coming to their table.

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sorry if it took a very long time for me to update. i actually thought of leaving this fic for good but i came up with a great chapter so i continued. anyway please read and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!