"I want to whisper things..."

"Cagalli..."

Tension snapped into place across her back, making her shoulders stiff. Sighing softly she turned to look ver her shoulder down the hall at Athrun, who was just stepping out of his room, buttoning up his dark blue shirt.

She swallowed a knot in her throat, nerves aking her dizzy. "Yes?"

"could i talk to you for a moment?" he asked quietly, looking more solemn than she had seen him for the last twenty four house.

He usually had a smallsmile on his face along with the thoughtful expression in his dark eyes, which made it look like he was generally in a good mood and controlled.

At the moment he looked almost like hws struggling with his thoughts.

"Could we go for a walk, do you think?" Before dinner?" he asked sfotly, eyes avoding her face.

The young princess nodded slowly, though she figured they would probably be late for dinner if they did that.

"Sure... Come on."

Sheturned a corner idly, slipping past the foyer and into the gardens in th back that surrounded the pool. The ight sky was winking into existence. The stars blinking at them and the moon grinned down as well, cheshire cat style.

Cagalli rbed her arm slightly, suddenly very aware of her sleeveless black turtle neck and ankle long black skirt.

She pushed the thought aside quickly, wary of the knotting growin in her stomach.

"What did you want to talk about?" she finally asked, turning to look at him. Truth be told she had wanted to talk to him too, which had been the leading factor in her agreeing to this odd walk. She didn't like talking to people... they hardly ever agreed with ehr and more often than not they denied her the chance to let her views be heard and known.

Conversation was something she tried to keep away from, but this was a hard thing to avoid.

All evening he had been clouding her mind, making her heart beat horribly and making her head swim witht he pain of worry nawing at her mind.

The possiblity that she was attracted to him was unfair and it made her sick. She didn't like the diea and was determined to rid of it before it bloomed into a bigger problem.

It didn't matter what Kira and LAcus were doing. She wasn't like them... one day wasn't enough for her to put so many things into danger. One day of being with a person and feeling like the rest of the world did not matter... didn't care the way he did...

She frowned at herself, turning away quickly as the blush she was beginnig to detest decided to make itself known once ore, crawling over her neck and cheeks.

Athrun watched her, wondering what she was thinking. The small pearl drops dangling from her ears glittered by the light of the moon, along witht he large green eyes he was so addicted to all of a sudden.

"I.. look, I'm..." he sighed an drubbed his face, his hands feeling cold in the night wind. This was so hard, he coudln't figure why...

"Miss Cagalli, I don't know if you've...realized, that I've been having trouble..." he sighe dand rubbed his face yet again, really struggling now. It was the knot in his throat, he was so sure of it. Or maybe the way her expressionw as softening... God why couldn't he just tell her?

"I've had trouble, well... talking to you and..." He stopped, shifting his weight. What do you tell someone you like? I love you wasn't the right thing at that moment, but... God, she was so sweet and watchful and had the most beautiful smile.

Cagalli looked up suddenly at his tone of voice, wary but still not strong enough against this soft of attack to keep herself from weakening. Her expression changed softly to a small smile of understanding as she watched him stammer.

Athrun looked back down at her silently, for a moment, the smile giving him courage. He had to tell her.

" I want to whisper things... i want to tell you how I think you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." he whispered soflty, touching her cheek with a trembling hand, adraid that she might pull away.

She didn't.

Cagalli just watched him, a soft breath of surprise escaping her full lips. The soft sound made his knees weak.

gently he ran a hand over her lips, feeling the sfot little gasps against his fingers. "I'm so sorry,Cagalli. I tried not to... but..." he murmured, realizing he was endangering the position of her country and drawing her into ZAFT politics by breaking the bond between himself anf Lacus for her.

Suprising herself and him, Cagalli shushed him softly, her whole body trembling at his touch.

Athrun's eyes drifted to her lips, the urge to kiss her making him dizzy. His hand slid to her lower back, supporting her gently.

Cagalli's senses were ablaze, her whole body reacting to his touch. Her hands lingered on his face for a moment.

Orb...

He kissed her softly, lips gently brushing hers in a tentative almost frightened carress of affection.

The electric shock that rushed through both of them left them dizzy and very nearly disorriented. Cagalli felt as though she would fall if he hadn't been holding her in place.

Softly she returned the touch, trembling all over. Athrun deepened the kiss, though gently, making her gasp softly against his mouth in shock.

He pulled back fist, his breath coming in short surprised gasps. he nuzzled her neck, trembling with the frightening pleasure of situation in which he had never been and very nearly didn't understand.

Cagallis' wide green eyes looke dup at the sky, her arms tightening around his neck lightly at the feel of his lips gainst her skin.

"Athrun..." she whispered, and he loved the way she said his name. "I can't."

He couldn't help but make a small sound of pain. The shock of hearing her say it left him cold and feeling small, like she had taken something he had thought he had gained.

Gently Cagalli pryed herself from his grip, looking at the ground solemnly.

"I'm sorry, Athrun. I just can't." she whispered.

Athrun looked at her silently, his eyes tracing the lines of her face, the small frown of worry and pain.

She looked up finally, looking sad. She gently touched his cheek, her fingers soft like ivory against his skin.

"I'm so sorry."

Quietly she started away, hugging herself as she slipped into the castle again, closing the door quietly behind her.

As she disappeared from view Athrun groaned softly and leaned against the nearest tree, a hand to his forhead.

"Damnit."

Inside the castle, Cagalli leaned against the wall in the hall, gasping softly with the shock of what had just happened. It wasn't fair... it wasn't right either.

How could things go like that? It didn't seem right.

A door opened behind her and she spun around, wiping angry tears from her eyes.

Lacus stepped out of the library, followed by Kira. They stopped short in surprise. "Cagalli... are you okay?" Lacus asked quietly, walking towards her.

Kira followed, frowning in worry. "What happened?"

Cagalli blinked at them, forcing herself to smile. "Huh? What are you talking about? I'm fine."

Lacus frowned slightly and touched her arm. "All right, Cagalli... Come on, we'd better go to dinner."

She and Kira exchanged a quick look, frightened.

Things were starting to get complicated.

Hehe, so i did a lot of Cagalli/Athrun stuff. i figure i should take a break and bring on the Lacus/Kira stuff, starting next chapter. Mwuahaha, the fun begins. ...sorry, i've had a lot of sugar. /forces self to go back to brooding/

Anyway... review please.