Chapter 20: The Night Before Part 1

The jet black sports car came to a stop in front of the large Zala house. Lacus, who was walking around the sitting room, heard the car out in the driveway.

"They must be back now," she said to herself with a smile as she pulled the crème colored curtains back. The sunlight poured through them and into the room. She watched the happy couple get out of the car and walk up the house, their fingers laced and bright smiles on their faces.

"I'm so happy for them," thought Lacus as she continued to watch them. She waved at Athrun and Cagalli, who waved back at sighed happily. "I don't think I've ever seen Cagalli - or Athrun - so happy. The love they share is a beautiful thing…" Inside of her, Lacus had a longing to have that same kind of happiness. She wouldn't admit it, but she was wishing strongly for a proposal from Kira.

"Hello! We're back!" said Athrun gleefully as he shut the door behind him. Shinn stood at the top of the stairs. He was still in his nightclothes and his black hair was messy and unkempt. He stretched out his arms with a long yawn.

"Still in bed at this time of day, Shinn?" asked Athrun. Shinn started at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"It's 4 in the afternoon," answered Athrun with a smile. Shinn made a grunting noise, but said nothing more on the subject. Therefore, he changed it.

"Where the hell were you?" he asked arrogantly as he wiped the sleep from his crimson eyes.

"Cagalli and I were having a little alone time together," said Athrun proudly. He paused so he could flash a smile at Cagalli. "Before our wedding." Dearka whistled.

"Did you guys have fun?" asked Lacus. Cagalli nodded. Lacus leaned her head close to Cagalli's so she could whisper in her ear.

"You have to give me all the details later," Lacus whispered to Cagalli with a smile.

"Don't worry, I will," Cagalli whispered back.

"I'm hungry!" whined Kira, who was standing at Lacus's side.

"We've got a huge dinner ready in the kitchen," said Lacus.

"Yeah," added Flay. "All of us girls were in the kitchen all day preparing it."

"Thanks, girls," said Athrun with a grin. "We're really grateful."

"Mhm," said Cagalli in agreement. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"It wasn't," smiled Meer. "It was fun, actually."

"The guys kept trying to get in our way," explained Stellar.

"Some of them were pretty good at helping, actually," corrected Miriallia. "I never knew Sai and Nicol knew how to cook! I was pretty impressed!" She smiled at the both of them, who blushed at the unexpected praise.

"Yes, Sai's a great cook," added Flay. "And Nicol is, too!" The girls paused to clap for the both of them.

"There were a few guys who did get in the way though," said Meer. Her eyes darted straight to Dearka and Kira, who quickly averted their gazes to the floor.

"I think Dearka ate more food than he made," giggled Miriallia.

"Can you blame me?" he asked, defending himself. "You girls know how to make some good food." Everyone laughed.

"Why thank you," said Miriallia, faking a curtsey.

"I know of a certain boy that kept trying to lick the spoon every time I turned away from it," said Lacus. Kira's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.

"I like chocolate chip cookie batter," he explained sheepishly. Everyone laughed again. Lacus smiled and kissed Kira gently on the cheek.

"As long as you're eating the cookie dough and not wearing the lingerie, I'm fine with it," giggled Lacus. Kira's eyes widened.

"I thought you said you loved me for me and not for what I wear!" Kira stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

"I do, I do," she reassured him playfully. She kissed him on the cheek again. "And I always will." Kira smiled.

"Okay," he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"The only one that wasn't in the kitchen all day was Shinn," continued Stellar. "Which was probably a good thing."

''What makes you say that?" asked Shinn, somewhat angered by her last remark.

"You get pretty frustrated when things don't work out your way," explained Stellar.

"I do not!" he whined.

"Yes, you do!" added Meer. "I definitely would not want to see you baking a cake!"

"Why not?" he asked.

"There would be batter all over the walls and egg shells everywhere!"

"Besides, you'd probably end up getting angry at Kira or someone," said Stellar. "And there are plenty of objects in the kitchen that can cause harm, like rolling pins, forks, knives, pots, pans, sp-?"

"Do we have to keep giving him ideas?" Kira interrupted. "He scares me enough without an object that can cause harm!" Everyone laughed again.

"Well, we probably should get eating," said Meer. "Before it gets cold."

Everyone made their way into the dining room. It was beautifully set up, thanks to the girls. They wanted the feast on the eve of the wedding to be a good one, so they made sure everything was perfect.

It was a candlelit dinner, the white candles glowing in little glass orbs in the center of the table. The table cloth was a deep green in color that Cagalli believed matched Athrun's eyes perfectly.

The group sat down and began eating. Everything went smoothly, as the girls had hoped.

"Wow," exclaimed Athrun after swallowing a bite of food. "You girls have really outdone yourselves!"

"This is great!" said Cagalli in appreciation.

"We're glad you like it," said Lacus with a smile. The girls nodded.

Dinner was over in about an hour and a half. After that, everyone pretty much went their separate ways. Party games were being played in every direction, music was being blared, people socializing…it was a typical party before a wedding. After talking with the group for awhile, Cagalli just wanted some time to herself to think and sort out her thoughts before the big day, so she headed upstairs. But before she made it all the way up, she ran into Athrun, his eyes big and curious.

"Cagalli?" he asked. "Where are you going?"

"Up to my room," she answered.

"Something wrong, Cagalli-Chan?" he asked as he took her hands in his.

"No, it's nothing," she answered as she brought her eyes up to meet his. "I just want to gather my thoughts…tomorrow's the big day, you know…"

"How could I forget?" asked Athrun with a smirk. He rubbed her hands with his thumbs gently. "In less than 24 hours, you will be Mrs. Cagalli Zala." The sound of the name sent a tingle down her spine. It was something she had been longing for for a long time.

"I know," she said is almost a whisper. Athrun kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I'll see you later, love," he said to her with a smile. With one last admiring glance at his bride to be, he continued down the stairs.

Love…that nickname was something new to her, but she had to admit that she didn't dislike it. She continued up to her room, walked in, closed the door behind her and sprawled out on her bed. She didn't even bother turning the lights on.

She could see the moonlight shining through her window making patterns on her walls and floor, which, for some reason, gave her an unusually calm feeling that one doesn't usually feel so close to a wedding. She closed her amber eyes and began to catch her breath, her thoughts entering her mind like a whirlwind.

This Chapter Updated: 6/8/2011