DISCLAIMER: I do not own GS and GSD. But it's my duty as a fan fiction author to ruin the whole story with romances and the characters with OOCness :D

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO MY LORD JESUS CHRIST :D

Chapter 20: Kimi wo Mamoritai

"Phew…" she whispered as she went out from the shower cubicle to her bedroom. The summer in Copernicus was not as hot as she had imagined before so she felt like she didn't need to turn on the air conditioner in her flat. Besides, she wanted to save her wages for shopping purposes. Copernicus was a shopper's paradise and Meyrin Hawke didn't want to miss the annual discount season. Being assigned in Copernicus, she felt really lucky because she could buy any clothes of any style she wanted since Copernicus has a lot of famous boutiques and fashion districts.

She walked to her wardrobe, opened it and stood in front of it for a while thinking what she should wear. After a few minutes of thinking and wondering, finally she decided on a denim shorts and a pastel pink tank-top. This is summer after all, and nobody is going to see me in such outfit like these, she thought as she put those on her body.

She walked out from her room to the direction of the living room while wondering about how quiet her flat was. She used to live together with her sister Lunamaria, and both of them usually became very noisy during those hours, whether they were having a fight for the television channel or about dinner. She set a small smile on her face as she dropped herself comfortably onto a couch while her right hand grabbed the television remote control and then turned the TV on. She switched the channel from one to another lazily, as if there was nothing that able to satisfy her. Tired of pointlessly changing the channel, she walked to her kitchen while she wondered what she should cook for dinner. She was about to open the refrigerator to see what was inside it until she heard someone in front of her flat door was pressing the bell repeatedly, furiously, continuously until she was so sure that she would definitely kill the guy afterwards.

She walked to the door while she pressed a button on the intercom. She really recognized the guy who was standing in front of her door. So instead of greeted the guy politely, she greeted him with the most sarcastic tone she could make, saying "Gerald. It's late. What do you want?"

"YoOOoOoOoHhooOOOoooOOoOoOOOOOooooOO!!!!" the guy in front of the door replied her with awfully cheerful tone, "Meyrin honey bunny sweetie tweety donkey! Won't you open your door for me?"

"What business brings you here, Gerald?" she asked him back, knowing that her dumb superior wouldn't easily give up, "It's late"

Suddenly, the guy's face turned serious, totally different from a few seconds before saying "I can't tell you here. Please let me in, okay? Besides…" suddenly he grinned stupidly as he showed two packages in front of the camera saying, "…I've bought you your favourite noodles for your dinner! With extra roasted pork and ginger chicken!"

"Thanks", she smiled a little and then opened the door allowing the guy to come in, "So, what brings you here, Gerald?"

"Hmm, not much", the guy grinned stupidly as he sat on the couch without even asking Meyrin's permission, "They've intruded to my flat"

"HUH?" she replied with disbelief as she took two bowls from the kitchen and then filled two glasses with mineral water, "Intruded?"

"Yeah. My flat is no longer safe now. They've even tried to take the data inside my PC but they didn't make it"

"Why?" she asked as she put the bowl and the glass onto the dining table.

"It's simply because I didn't put anything dangerous inside my computer! Haha!" the guy called Gerald suddenly stood and then walked towards the dining table direction, "I always trust you to keep our research data, and then I'll do the offensive move while keeping you save at the same time"

"I'm not that weak, Gerald" Meyrin set a small pout on her face while she served the noodles to Gerald "I've gone through the same training as any other agents. Besides, I used to be a military officer so I know basic self defence"

"I know, but still, I can't put you into danger, Meyrin"

"Too late", she stuck her tongue out as she said so "Now we both are in danger. We both are on the must-kill list of ZAFT radical faction. I wonder if the newly arisen Blue Cosmos wanted to kill both of us too…"

"Hey Meyrin don't scare me"

"Ooh, little Gerald is scared" she smiled devilishly as she teased her superior.

"Well, at least we should eat our dinner first, shall we?" Gerald said as he split the wooden chopsticks into two parts.

"Hey, Gerald, how do you know that I like this noodle with extra ginger chicken?" she asked as she split her chopsticks into two parts.

"Well, my detective instincts told me so" he grinned as he was chewing a few strands of noodles "Cool, huh?"

"Nope. Gerald, you are way too dumb to be a detective" she smiled a little as she said so and then started eating.

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She sighed. Again. She didn't even know how many times she had sighed. The info Kira had given to her was simply the cause of her continuous sighs.

"Hello, Cagalli?"

She closed both of her eyes slowly as her mind recalled what she had heard from Kira a few hours before.

Actually Orb was facing a difficult situation. The new Earth Alliance Secretary General was persuading Orb to join it while inside the government there were a few emirs who secretly contacted the Earth Alliance and saying that they would persuade the chief representative to abandon the old Orb's ideology and join Earth Alliance. In fact, she really feared that the situation would be similar to two years ago when the Seirans and all emirs persuade her to side with Earth Alliance. She too young and too indecisive, so immature that she agreed to them believing that it was the best way for her, her people and the whole nation of Orb.

With the people inside the government of Orb siding with Earth Alliance, she would have to make sure that those people didn't discriminate the coordinators at Orb, recalling that the coordinators are not the majority population. Even though the people at Orb were holding the same belief as hers, she was not sure if the naturals would really appreciate coordinators the same way she did. It was not she didn't believe her people; it was just she's really scared about the probability of her ministers going to do some kind of revolution (although she was very sure they would not be able to do it since Kisaka was still loyal to her) and persuade her people to discriminate coordinators.

Perhaps I should be stricter to those ministers? I'm the Princess after all, I can do anything if I really wanted to, she thought so but she immediately shook her head shooing all those crazy thoughts from her head, no, no, I won't and never be an authoritarian. I won't rule Orb with the hands of iron. I am not the female version of Adolf Hitler. Besides, Orb is a democratic country, and I'm not a communist—

The thought of her being an authoritarian and communist shivers her and she immediately slapped both of her cheeks with her hands saying, "Oooh! Stop it! I am a democrat! I am a democratic royal birth! I am against authoritarianism! Phew…".

She didn't realize that she was talking to herself making a few officers at the front desk of the hotel laughed at her. Lucky they didn't realize she was the REAL Princess of Orb otherwise they would secretly took a picture of her slapping herself and then sold it to yahoo!news or something similar to that. She also didn't realize at all that Athrun was standing by her side, staring at her terribly curiously. Why would she mumble nonsense like that in front of the hotel receptionist? Even the officer on the phone was giggling at her! Surely something is really wrong with her, he thought as he took the cards for both him and Cagalli still looking at her with more amount of curiosity.

She stopped slapping herself, took a deep breath and then let herself lost in her thoughts again.

"Hello? Cagalli, are you there?" Athrun had tried calling her twice but she didn't react to him at all. All she did was staying on her dreamland ignoring her surroundings.

Worse, Kira had told her that Orb was not going to face pressure from only Earth Alliance. Clyne Faction's spies were currently investigating on ZAFT's Radical Faction and they did find something really amazing yet concerning. The ZAFT's Radical Faction current leader, Andre Flemmington, had made contact with the Sahaku family and now was planning a certain thing, probably to get Cagalli out from her throne.

The Sahakus were planning on ditching her out from her throne in order to gain the full authority. However, they didn't do it the same way as the Seirans since they didn't have an heir, instead of an heir, they just have an heiress. The traditional way for getting full authorities was marriage but since their third generation is a female they couldn't get her married with Cagalli unless—

Imagining herself with her cousin, Cagalli slapped herself once again. HELL NO I'M NOT A LESBIAN!!, she shouted silently inside her mind, I'M STRAIGHT! I LOVE A GUY AND HE IS SO DAMN HO—. Oh wait why I think this way… There's no way Athrun is hot… Well actually he IS, no wonder bunch of girls crazy for him… WHOA! What am I thinking!, and then she slapped herself harder and faster.

Realizing that Cagalli was daydreaming again, he tried to snap her out from her thought but he didn't make it. She didn't wake up from her daydreams, and she kept on staring blankly on the marble floor, wondering something he could not know about.

Gosh!, she thought as she stared blankly on the floor, Kira said that the Sahakus had made a few secret meeting with Andre Flemmington without my knowledge. The Sahakus were definitely on ZAFT's side and they were planning to ditch me out from my throne! Man! What are they thinking now? After encouraging Morgenroete to produce weapons for Earth Alliance four years ago, now they are planning to side with ZAFT? But I don't have any proofs to bring the Sahakus to the national court! Perhaps I should tell Kisaka to investigate them… Or maybe—

"Cagalli! Wake up!!"

Perhaps being an authoritarian was the only way to maintain peace in Orb… But I don't wanna be the second Marie Antoinette! Oh wait I'm not a typical Princess who always spends national budgets for buying marvellous dresses, she thought while she unconsciously bit her lips thinking hard about getting rid of the internal affairs inside her country.

"HEY! Ca-ga-lli!!!!" Athrun grabbed both of her shoulders causing her to gasp suddenly to express her surprise as he gazed deep into her amber eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Huh!? Athrun? Am I okay? Yeah, I am. What's wrong with you?" she asked him back with an innocent expression which made Athrun sighed heavily, as heavy as he could.

"I think I am the one who should be asking about your condition, Cagalli" he replied as he held her shoulders tighter.

"Huh? Why?" her eyes widened in childish manner as she replied him.

"Because you have been daydreaming for the past twenty minutes"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you did"

"Really?" she gaped at him. He wanted to remind her not to daydreaming in front of the hotel front desk but seeing her gaping at him somehow made him smile and wanted to caress her face but he wouldn't do it since the hotel officers were still giggling at her stupidity.

"Yeah. Now you should get into your room. You need to rest" he held her hand and then walked to the elevator as he pressed the close button and then he handed her the card key she would need to get in to her room.

She received it dispiritedly saying "Thank you".

"What happened with you?" he asked feeling curious about her sudden slow reaction.

"Nothing, Athrun"

He gazed at her while pressing the buttons for their destination floor and then examined her look. She had been setting that kind of desperate expression ever since their dinner at Lacus' mansion. He wondered if Kira had told her something bad or horrible but he didn't bother himself to ask her since he had no rights to tamper with her business. She was the Princess of Orb after all and he was just an ordinary commoner, moreover he wasn't an Orb citizen to begin with. He looked at how her eyes shone with full of worries and he was really tempted to ease her worries. However he didn't know what the cause of her worries were so he decided to remain quiet, trying his best not to tamper with her business even though he really wanted to see her smile cheerfully as if she had no burdens.

Meanwhile on their journeys to the twenty-third floor, she didn't speak anything to him. She just pointlessly playing with her card key while her mind was wondering to somewhere else nobody knows. She was really worried that she didn't even realize that someone who was standing before her had become uneasy just looking at her fully-burdened face. She sighed heavily as she kept playing with her card-key, until she finally decided to break the silence occurred between those two.

"Athrun?"

"Hmm?" feeling a bit surprised at her calling him suddenly "What is it, Cagalli?"

She gazed at him dispiritedly and then replied "Nothing. I just wanna call your name"

Actually, what scared her most was not her emirs' plan to persuade her to join Earth Alliance or the Sahakus' plan to ditch her out from her throne. She wasn't scared to face another war again. What she feard the most was her not being able to call him "Athrun" again; she didn't want to call him "Chairman Zala" or something like that. Being together with him had brought her old smile once again and had brightened her cloudy days.

Athrun looked at her amber eyes and he found out that she was feeling terribly uneasy inside. He moved closer towards her and then suddenly pulled her inside his embrace.

"Athrun! What the-", she was terribly surprised by his sudden action and she was about to push him away from her since her mind was so cloudy that she couldn't think anymore.

"Hey, don't push me" he said as he gently caressed her hair and inhaling her delightful scent "I want you to know something, Cagalli"

"What, huh? Hey, Athrun will you let me go? What if someone suddenly pressed the open button and they saw us in this position-"

He smiled slyly as she said "I'll tell you if you don't push me away until we reached the twenty-third floor"

"Huh? What kind of request is that?"

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Meyrin took a few strands of noodles with her chopsticks as he took a glance at her so-called superior who was eating his noodles happily as if there were no burdens.

Gerald Harrison. The first time she met him, she was a bit surprised. Gerald was much taller than her and he was quite good looking. He had dark brown hair and yeah, his hair was a bit scruffy but you could tell that he liked his hair being a little bit scruffy since he wasn't the type that cares about his appearance very much. Apparently, he had a pair of emerald eyes, the exact same eyes as Meyrin's first crush, Athrun Zala. However his personality was VERY different from Athrun. Gerald was always incredibly cheerful and sometimes he mocked himself that would make him look even stupider. Despite his foolish behaviours, he was a very sharp detective and everyone in the ZAFT investigation bureau respected him.

The first time she met him was rather unpleasant to be remembered since Gerald keep commenting about her clumsiness. However Gerald really admired Meyrin for her unbeatable hacking ability and her strong will despite her gentleness and her childish side. Sometimes he would tease her for her passion for shopping as well as her clumsiness. Being teased by her superior, Meyrin tried her best to ignore him and teased Gerald back in reply.

"Meyrin, how's the noodles?" he suddenly asked as he took another fried wonton to satisfy his hunger.

"Hmm? Yeah I like it. Why did you ask?" she replied as she took another ginger chicken. Gerald really knew Meyrin's preferences even though they knew each other only for a year or so.

"Because you are staring at me. Am I that handsome?"

"Hell no!!" she quickly stuffed a piece of chicken into her mouth to prevent another insults out from her mouth. Seriously Gerald was way too narcissi to be her superior.

"hey Meyrin" he started changing topics "You're not afraid?"

"Huh? What for?"

"Getting fat"

"Gerald, you're getting on my nerves but…" she stared at her noodle then continued "…well this noodle is way too delicious to be ignored…"

He stared at her for a few seconds and then chuckled. Meyrin who was enjoying eating her noodles suddenly get pissed at Gerald and then put her chopsticks on the top of her bowl saying, "What are you laughing at?"

"Huh? Ha-ha. Nothing. Really nothing. I just thought that you are a unique girl"

"What makes you think that way?"

"Well, you like being fashionable yet you hate diet very much. Besides, you are a true gastronome! You can easily find nice places to get delicious foods! That's why you are unique, Meyrin! Ha-ha! That's what I like very much about you"

Meyrin smiled gently at him as she ate her noodles again saying "You know, you are the first person who said that personally to me"

"Heh? How come?"

"Because in my whole life people always keep comparing me to my sister Lunamaria. They keep saying Lunamaria this, Lunamaria this, Meyrin this, Meyrin that. Lunamaria is taller than Meyrin. Lunamaria is more attractive than Meyrin. Lunamaria is a red coat while Meyrin is just an ordinary officer. Lunamaria is cheerful while Meyrin is shy. Lunamaria is bold for wearing miniskirt while Meyrin is kinda boring for wearing standard style uniform. Gosh. I'm sick of them"

"Really? How cruel"

"Well, thanks to think that way because sometimes people don't realize how I'm feeling deep inside at all. They keep comparing…" she paused for a while to let a heavy sigh out from her mouth "…they even say that Lunamaria is prettier than me just because I weigh more than her… I did want to punch them right in front of their nose but I did nothing…"

"Then what did you do?"

"Instead of expressing my anger, I tried wearing her mini skirt to ensure myself that I'm not fat but…"

"…but?"

"…it didn't fit me" she said as she continued eating, "Then I realized that being together with my sister won't make me be recognized by my surroundings"

"I see. So that's why you really wanted to quit the military as soon as possible"

"Well, there is one more reason actually?"

"What is that?" he quickly finished his last strands of noodles and then brought the bowl to the sink.

"I won't tell you"

"What if I knew it already?" he grinned evilishly as he stared at Meyrin, "I am a detective after all, Meyrin. And truth to be told, you are the newbie not me"

"But it's not detective's task to tamper with someone's love life is it?" she was about to glare at him but she realized that she had accidentally revealed her secret to her dumb superior.

"Eureka! Little Meyrin has just revealed her secret! So tell me who's the guy?" he grinned naughtily as he walked to the direction where Meyrin hanged her photographs.

Meyrin had a lot of photographs. Most of them were taken during her assignment at Minerva, so basically the people inside the photograph were Shinn, Lunamaria, Vino, Rey Za Burrel and a lot of her CIC friends. However she managed herself to take a photograph of Athrun without him noticing her.

"Let me see…" He carefully examined the people inside the photograph "…I wanna guess-"

"Gerald, I'll definitely tell you if I feel like doing it" she said as she finished the last strand of noodles and then she cleaned the bowls inside her kitchen.

"Actually I can investigate it but…" he walked further from the photographs and then headed closer to Meyrin, "…since you're going to tell me about him, then I guess I have to suppress my detective instincts, right?"

"Well, I wonder if I can survive from ZAFT's radical faction again… You know, being poisoned once isn't a pleasurable experience"

"Then all you have to do is trust me" he grinned as he pat Meyrin's shoulders saying "because I will protect you with all that I am! Trust me"

Protect me?, she wondered as she was busy washing the dishes. She set small smile on her face as she felt her cheeks were turning hotter.

"Thanks. I'll do my best in this investigation too, Sir"

"Finally! You called me 'Sir'! I like it"

"Only special occasions though" she turned to him sticking her tongue out to tease him.

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Walking beside her, Athrun accompanied Cagalli to her room but deep inside he could still feel her uneasiness. They kept walking in silence, no one tried to bring a topic up to be talked together. She was really deep in her thoughts. She had a lot of worries and problems to deal with after she finished her stuff at PLANT. Keep walking; keep walking until finally both of them reached the door of her room.

"Athrun, thanks for accompanying me…" she turned to him to thank him but she was surprised by his sudden hug. Athrun who was desperate to ease her uneasiness suddenly hugged her, hoping that he would be able to reduce her worries although he knew he wouldn't be able.

However, there was one thing he wanted to tell her.

"Athrun?"

"Cagalli, listen" he tightly yet lovingly embraced her as he continued, "I don't know what's going on with Orb but…"

He loosened up his embrace so he would be able to look at her face and when he found her gaping curiously at him, he gave her a gentle smile saying "…I'll be by your side, protecting you with all that I am"

Cagalli just stared at him, her eyes widened as both of her cheeks grew redder and redder. He caressed her cheek with one of his hands as he suddenly felt her hugging him back in reply. She didn't care if there were anybody else in that hallway staring at both of them; all she wanted now was staying inside his embrace.

"Thank you, Athrun. I'll be protecting you as well"

Author's note: Hey GUYZ!!! NII IS BACK!!! Say. Before you guys review please answer my question. Which one do you prefer, metre or Inches? I'm going to make a scene that will involve distances so I hope you will answer my question in your reviews. Thank you very much.

Kimi wo mamoritai: I want to protect you

Sorry if this chapter is crappy, I have to re-type this thank you to those malicious Trojans :p and i hate writing the same thing twice :D

MORE ROMANCE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

To my friend SamuraiGirl7, perhaps i'll need your help on next chapter... :D i'm counting on you :)

God bless you all.