a/n: This might sound a little silly…but read and review, please?

Disclaimer: I don't own gundam seed or Destiny…

Chapter One – When They Met

It was a warm, sunny day, and seventeen-year-old Kira Yamato was lying on his back on the cool grass outside their house, lazily watching the clouds float by. His lavender eyes had a distant, dreamy look in them, and he didn't notice a blue-haired boy approach until he was standing over him, peering down at him with a curious look on his face, eliciting a loud "whoa" from the startled boy.

Kira sat up as quickly as he could, then he glared in mock anger at the one who had startled him, making the other boy put up his arms in a gesture of sham surrender. "Hey! It's only me!" Athrun Zala said, grinning because he'd caught his best-friend off-guard.

"I know. Don't scare me like that!" his friend retorted weakly.

They were quiet for a few minutes, and then Athrun suddenly said, "Hey Kira, I'll race you to the corner!" With that, he jumped up and ran as fast as he could away from the slightly surprised boy.

Kira also got up and started running, all the while screaming, "You cheated, Athrun!"

Athrun only laughed and said, "You're just making excuses! Bet you can't catch me!" he yelled back.

"Oh yeah? How about the winner buys the loser ice cream after!"

"No problem! Just make sure you have enough money to buy me a banana split!"

"No way! I'm going to beat you this time!"

"In your dreams, Yamato!" Athrun shouted, looking back at his friend.

"That does it, Zala; you're buying me a banana split!"

"You have to get to the corner before me first, and that's not happening!" Athrun said, turning around and running straight into a tree.

Kira dashed past him, running backwards and laughing his head off as he left Athrun's line of sight...then he heard a loud "ouch!" followed by the sound of a girl's alarmed voice.

Athrun quickly stood up and stuck his head out from behind the offending tree and saw Kira's still form lying on the pavement, a pink-haired girl who he supposed the voice belonged to kneeling beside him and staring intently at his face.

"Uh…hey…what happened to him?" he asked.

The girl looked up at him. "I think he stepped on this and fell." she replied, picking a small orange ball up and holding it out for him to see.

He was speechless for a minute. The girl was very pretty; he knew immediately that she wasn't from here…but she looked strangely familiar… "…Are you, uh, new here?" he asked finally.

"Why, yes. We just moved here a few days ago," she answered, smiling at him.

Just then, they heard a low groan from Kira who sat up, rubbing the back of his head, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked, surprising Kira for the third time that day, making him open his eyes.

He stared at her.

She stared back.

It would've gone on like that for a while, but then Athrun walked over to them, breaking their staring match as the girl looked up at him, reminding his best-friend of his presence. "You okay?" he asked.

His friend only nodded slightly in reply. He turned to their new friend. "So, uh, what's your name?"

She smiled. "I'm Lacus Clyne. Nice to meet you, Mr.?"

The name rang a distant bell. He knew this girl! "Lacus! It's me, Athrun. You remember, don't you?"

She thought for a moment. "Athrun…Zala?"

He nodded.

She grinned. "How have you been? It's been so long…"

"I know! I haven't seen you since…grade school!"

"Has it really been that long!"

Athrun nodded.

Lacus shook her head. "Time really does fly…" Just then, she felt a tingly sensation on the back of her neck, and she turned around to find that Kira was still looking at her, making her blush slightly. Desperate to break the awkward silence that ensued, she asked the brown-haired boy what his name was.

When he didn't answer, Athrun did so for him. "He's Kira Yamato. You'll have to excuse him, he took quite a hit." he said.

She nodded at Athrun and turned back to face Kira. "Hello, Mr. Yamato," she said, smiling.

Kira heard his name mentioned and finally stopped staring at Lacus' face. "Uh…hi."

Since neither Kira nor Lacus seemed to want to talk, Athrun decided to take the initiative and asked Lacus if she'd like to get a tour of their neighborhood.

She looked up at him and smiled slightly. "That would be wonderful."

Athrun grinned as Kira slowly stood up. "You wanna come, Kira?"

His friend's lavender eyes finally started to focus, and he nodded.

Lacus turned to him. "Are you sure you're alright, Mr. Yamato? You took quite a fall."

Kira blinked. "Fall?"

"Yes, you stepped on that ball over there and fell," she said, pointing to the object in question which was now rolling about on the pavement.

He stared at it, and everything that happened started to flood back into his brain. "Oh."