A/N: Finally, I have the time to write this. So, this is chapter… what? Twelve, I suppose. Well, read and review please, I really want to improve, plus I'm going to have an English test, so may I have some help from you?

Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.

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"I see, so you three used to be friends in High School?" Cagalli asked in excitement. A Mandarin, a lady and two bodyguards used to friends? That was not so imaginable.

Not exactly… The four thought, sweat-dropping. But they were lucky that Cagalli wasn't smart enough to realize that they were lying to her. (A/N: Help, she's gonna kill me!)

"But… Why did you call Sir Warill by the name 'Yzak'?" Shiho queried, feeling pretty clueless. The strange thing was, the three of them did at the exact same time, not only Kira or Lacus or 'Alex'. That could only mean one thing; 'Yzak' was his name. However, what about 'Warill'? Sure a mandarin's name could never be faked, but…? She had no idea.

"Uh oh… We… Yeah… That's…" Lacus stammered ever so badly, she tried to use all the nerves in her head to think of an acceptable reason, but came up with nothing. The four of them, included Yzak were racking their brain, literally, however the idea just didn't want to pop in. Despite the fact that they were all Coordinators, at that time their heads seemed to stop loading. It was too hard for them. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Athrun's mind, and he caught it perfectly.

"Yes, that's it! It's his nickname!" He exclaimed, trying his best not to sigh in relief, "We used to call him 'yak' for fun, but he kept on threatening to kill us, so we changed it into 'Yzak'!" Just after Athrun's lame explanation was finished, two loud sighs were heard, and one jaw was on the ground to be seen.

What on earth was that Zala thinking about? 'Yak'? He's dead, man! I swear I would kill him once we are out of this… Yzak swore mentally, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles went white. But he wasn't really surprised at that. Athrun Zala was someone who was so intelligent that he always came up with the strangest ideas, which no one could possibly think of. And sometimes, his ideas really put him into great troubles. This time was a typical example; he was going to be toasted for sure, touching Yzak Joule's spot.

"Oh, is that so…" Cagalli mumbled, apparently not believing what Athrun was blabbering about. She was really skeptical back then, why didn't Athrun tell her the truth? She once had poured her heart out to him, telling him about all her feelings, and then that was what she got? Alex's impossible! Why was I so stupid that I told him about all of my problems? From now on I will have to be careful of him… Note to self: never tell him anything… She thought exasperated, and suddenly had the urge to destroy something, or kill somebody to be exact.

"Ah hah hah, how about us going shopping now? It has been a long time since we last did that, what do you say?" Lacus laughed nervously, changing the topic abruptly. Although she tried very hard, her laughter sounded a bit strained.

"Good idea! Just not by Mister Yak's carriage." Shiho agreed conditionally, while purposely mentioning his 'nickname' that Athrun had cooked up. And she smirked triumphantly as she saw some big veins popping onto Yzak's face, which was totally red because of anger.

"What. Did. You. Say?" He hissed through gritted teeth, his fists in tight balls, and they could feel dark aura coming out from him. Without saying a word, they all backed away as far from him as possible, well at least not included Shiho Hahnenfuss, none of them had written their wills yet.

"You heard me, I don't want to repeat myself!" The maroon haired girl snapped, snickering at his infuriation. She seemed to have the nerves of steel, so that she didn't even drop a single sweat.

"You! Come out with me!" Hollering, Yzak grabbed Shiho's arm and dragged her out mercilessly. To the others' shock, they disappeared after one second.

Scary, he is… They all thought, wiping their sweats away.

"Anyway, why did Shiho bring him here?" Cagalli questioned, her voice was shaking a bit.

"I don't know, looks like they have a long history, don't they?" Lacus replied, sighing heartily. Hot-headed as ever!

"What are we going to do now?" Finally after a long while keeping silence, Kira opened his mouth to ask, absolutely bored.

"Like I said, shopping." The pink haired girl answered curtly, frowning, "Now let's see… We will leave a paper on the table for them when they return, okay?"

"Why don't we wait for them to come back?" Cagalli asked back, pulling her fringes.

"It will take them the whole day to finish their argument, trust me." Athrun answered for Lacus, letting another sigh out. Yzak is Yzak, always...

"Uhm… Right, then let's go!" The blonde nodded enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. They stood up and got out of the room, not forgetting to leave a piece of paper on the tea table. Then they walked out, heading toward the stable. The local market was not so far, so they decided to ride horses. The stable was not too large, because there were not so many horses there. Only two horses of Lacus, and a horse of Athrun.

"Do you know how to ride a horse, Cagalli?" Lacus asked, cocking her head to one side. Her lips were curving into a small smile. Eventually, it had returned to her, after all those nervous moments.

"Yes, of course I know!" The blonde princess nodded proudly, grinning. She had the right to be proud, not every princess could ride a horse, could they?

"Very well, then you will ride one, Kira and I will ride one, and Ath…" But she was cut off by Athrun whose face turned pale as she mentioned his name:

"I will ride one, is that alright?" He knew it was rude to cut in while a lady was speaking, but he couldn't help. His name had to be kept secret to Cagalli, for his plan. Though he didn't like it, but it was an essential thing that he wasn't allowed to miss.

"Hey Alex, don't cut Lacus off like that!" Cagalli winced, hitting him on the shoulder. Hearing the name, Lacus got startled and realized her mistake. My, I almost revealed his real name!

"Ah, it's alright Cagalli, don't worry about it." The strained smile returned to her lips as she waved her hands. Then quickly, she told Kira to release the horses from the ropes that were tying them to the stable. Fifteen minutes later, they were ambling down the road that led to the market. Kira and Lacus were on one horse, and Athrun and Cagalli on two horses left. They were enjoying the gentle breeze blowing across the fields, making the grass sway lightly. Although it was in the winter, the sky looked clearer than ever and had a crystal blue color, just like Lacus' beautiful eyes.

"Kira, what do you think?" Lacus whispered to Kira secretly, obviously didn't want anyone to hear it. She was sitting in front of Kira on the horse, her body was only a few inches away from his, and she could feel the warmth of his body. To her it was heaven, but she tried to stay calm, she had an important problem to ask him that didn't allow her to enjoy herself full-heartedly.

"About what?" He asked back in a quite informal way, well they weren't in the town, so he didn't need to be too polite to his girlfriend like when they were with somebody else.

"Athrun. Don't you think it's weird that he's here?"

"Well, he told me that he was on mission, however he didn't tell me the details, so I didn't know it very clearly." Kira answered thoughtfully, wincing.

"Ah, I see. But… Err… There's one more thing…" Lacus' face went slightly red as she spoke the latter part, and though Kira didn't see her face, he still could be told that she was blushing. He had known her too well, every time her voice went smaller, it was when she was blushing crazily.

"And what's that, my lady?" He bent down, questioning sweetly. His hot breath was tickling her cheek, but at the same time his eyes were still focusing on the road.

"I… Erm… Are you okay? I mean… Athrun used to be my fiancé back then…" She said difficultly, blushing even more as she felt Kira's face was only millimeters away from hers. Their body moved even closer. It was not like that she minded it, but they were accompanied by Cagalli and Athrun, so she didn't want to embarrass themselves.

"Oh, that. To tell the truth, I was a little jealous of him, but then it's alright, because I know you love only me, right?" He gave another sweet smile, and her face had done transforming into a real ripe tomato.

"Guys, what's so funny there? Mind telling me?" Cagalli caught up with them and laughed, giving them tics followed by tics of winking. That was right; Lacus and her bodyguard had a secret relationship, just like what the talkative maids in her palace had been gossiping about recently. But what about her? It looked like she had, too, only that her bodyguard didn't like her back. Snapping it out, she looked back to the road only to see a tree lying across it. In a split of second, her horse flew over it, without announcing to her. Losing her balance, the blonde nearly fell off it, just right when a hand pushed her straight back on the horse addle.

"Alex?" She turned around; her hazel eyes met with a pair of clear green ones. It was no one other than her bodyguard who saved her.

"Next time please focus on the road when you are riding. It's dangerous to let your mind wander around, you know." He warned, frowning. If something happened to her, he would indeed be doomed.

"Th… Thank you…" Cagalli replied, and feeling the heat rushing to her face, she turned away, not daring to look at him, or his face, anymore, especially his eyes. Stupid Cagalli, why do you blush so easily like that? She cursed herself mentally.

"And they seem to have a secret relationship, too." The other two snickered silently, peeking at the blushing blonde.

To be continued.

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