category: Gundam SEED

disclaimer: I don't own it.

THIRTY-SIX.

Athrun stared at his phone. He wiped his hands on the front of his pants, and drummed the edge of his desk nervously, and stood up and paced around the room, and finally ran his hands through his hair angrily. He didn't even know why he was so rattled. In a swift movement that allowed him no time to reconsider, he snatched up his phone and punched in the number he had written carefully on a small slip of paper.

"Lunamaria," came a cheerful voice from the other end after two rings.

"Uh…" Athrun opened his mouth but found that he had nothing to say.

"Hello?" Lunamaria asked confusedly. "Who is this?"

"Athrun," he finally managed.

"Oh," she sounded relieved. "Oh, it's just you, Athrun. Is something wrong?"

"No," he answered, but even as he said it he tugged his collar uneasily. "I'm fine, Lunamaria. I just wanted some, ah, advice."

"All right," she replied apprehensively. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, it's Cagalli."

She cut off the rest of his sentence with an instantaneous burst of laughter. "I can't believe it!" she continued to giggle. "Admiral Zala, did you call me for relationship advice?"

He clenched his fists defensively and tried to keep from sounding as embarrassed as he felt. "It's not that bizarre of a concept. And, I don't know, I thought you'd be the most familiar with the subject."

Lunamaria settled down. "Right, right. Okay. What's up?"

"It turns out I – I accidentally forgot Cagalli's birthday yesterday. Almost!" he rushed to clarify as he heard her titter disapprovingly. "I remembered suddenly during dinner but she was really miffed anyway. And I don't exactly know what to get her to make up for it."

Lunamaria hummed contemplatively. "First off, Athrun, I feel obligated to reprimand you on Cagalli's behalf. What you did was entirely unacceptable. Honestly? You two have been engaged for three years already. That was intolerable on so many levels." Despite the seriousness of her words, there was a teasing lilt to her voice.

Athrun relaxed and found himself smiling. He had always genuinely liked Lunamaria, even years ago when she told him off about pink-haired fiancées and tried to make a move on him. "I don't suppose an apology to you would suffice in this case?"

She laughed a little. "Not at all. You'll have to do something big for Cagalli. What do you usually get her for her birthday?"

Athrun studied his hands. "Her seventeenth birthday I bought her a handheld video game. I think everyone made fun of me when they found out, but she really liked it. And it was mostly little things that gave each other. Once I made her a coupon for one cabinet meeting that I would bail her out of free of charge. We actually had a fun time and went swimming instead."

"Don't get maudlin on me," Lunamaria said warningly.

"I got her a car for her twentieth birthday," he admitted. "Right before I gave her the engagement ring. I figured it was the closest to a mobile suit she was going to get ever again."

Lunamaria sputtered. "A car, before you were even properly engaged? Are you kidding me? For my last birthday Shinn gave me a chocolate and a handwritten card! Where can I get an Athrun Zala?"

It was Athrun's turn to chuckle. "She only got to drive it once before she was banned from being in it – it was too dangerous, they said. Zero to a hundred kilometers in two point one seconds, you know."

"Geez, you'll have to talk Shinn into buying me one." Lunamaria tapped her fingers absently against her armrest. "I honestly don't know what else you could possibly give her. Flowers?" she suggested weakly.

"She likes polyester flowers better than real ones, if that gives you any idea of her preferences."

There was a pause and then a flash of inspiration. "Get her a pet!"

"What?"

"You know, a bird or a cat or something. She's not allergic, is she?"

"No," Athrun began. "But I don't think she's the type to get attached to some animal."

"Trust me!" Lunamaria shot up from her chair and nearly shouted in her excitement. "She'll love it." She clapped in triumph. "I'm a genius, aren't I? You owe me from now until the end of time, Athrun!"

"Fine," he conceded hesitantly. "I'll buy her a dog. But if she doesn't react well, it's on you."

Lunamaria waved her hands unconcernedly. "That's not going to happen." She stopped talking to catch her breath for a second. "So, problem solved! What do you say?"

"Thanks, Lunamaria," Athrun told her, and they both knew he really meant it. And then, if only to end the conversation on a lighter note, "You probably just saved me from six months of sleeping outside."

Cagalli took very well to the small wolfhound he brought home the following day. The situation worked out nicely, until they realized a week in that it wasn't Cagalli who was allergic to pet hair but Kisaka. So the dog was handed off to the young daughter of a councilman and they never spoke of it again.

Perhaps as punishment for his slipup, Cagalli didn't buy Athrun anything at all for his birthday that October.

notes: This was supposed to be a lot shorter than this, but it got a little out of hand. Whoops! And it actually took me a really long time to think of what Athrun could give Cagalli as the apology gift. What would you all have chosen?

NEXT PHASE: Caridad Yamato cared for her sister's son as best as she could. But children grow up. Kira was gone.