Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. Yes, the story is winding down. I've written 13 solid chapters and I could do more, but I think that would spoil the purpose of this particular story. Maybe I'll do a sequel under a different name.

Some things you can look forward to: An examination of Meyrin's feelings toward Athrun, another run-in with Meer and finally a very important conversation that sums up a lot.

You Like Me Too Much

They tried hard not to let things slip back into the same old routine. Cagalli wanted to keep making strides forward. Athrun didn't want to take a single step back.

But it was hard. The daily grind had a way of getting to them on occasion. Sometimes, they just saw too much of each other.

This was one of those times.

"Athrun Zala!"

He had said something to set her off, though it was quite beyond him what it could have been. He was being abnormally careful about it today, but he should have known better. It rarely worked. Cagalli got mad whenever she damn well pleased.

"Sorry, I'll go." Athrun placed some files on her desk. "I wouldn't want to disturb you."

He didn't slam the door, just closed it quietly. That's not what I would have done, Cagalli thought. She promised herself to make it up to him tonight.

But right now, things were difficult. It seemed as if enemies were coming out of the woodwork right and left. That wasn't the case, Cagalli conjectured. There was only one enemy and the rest were working for him.

Yuna Roma Seiran.

Those pictures came from him. Who else would give a damn about Cagalli's love life?

Cagalli wouldn't put all that past him. He might have even arranged what happened to Meyrin. He had to at least be acquainted with the thug.

That bastard. Cagalli snapped a pencil imagining it was Yuna's neck. Unfortunately, Cagalli had no way of striking back.

And it made perfect sense for him to wait until now to play that hand. There were a number of government reviews pending, which always makes things a little hectic among contracting companies. Then there were some complaints lodged with the securities commission. Apparently one of Yuna's cronies was a minority stockholder.

"I can't deal with this today," she whined at her desk lamp.

Vulcan was being investigated because, as the majority holder, Cagalli had full control of the company. Her will was absolute, at least on paper. That in and of itself isn't so much a problem, as all major decisions had to technically go through the board.

It can become a problem when minority shareholders feel as if they don't have a voice. The courts could force the company to buy those minority shares, which would bankrupt the company.

And its an even greater problem if there's no financial separation between herself and the company. She could be sued on behalf of all or part of the shareholders. She would be ruined.

Either way, she was in trouble. Everything she had was tied up in this company. Success or failure of one would greatly affect the other.

It was the perfect storm. Problems with Athrun, problems with their clientèle and now problems with regulators. The later exacerbated the middle. Both gave added weight to the first.

Cagalli had given Kira a job helping her out. That was also a problem, when combined with Athrun's rapid rise through the ranks. A few on the board viewed this as Cagalli turning the company into her own private club, like the 'good-ol-boy' mentality that brought many legacy firms down. The old saying goes, 'a family business only survives to the third generation.'

Laying her head on the desk, she tried to hide herself from the imaginary demons closing in on her. Though she covered her head with her arms, she knew a light was flashing on her phone. Cagalli couldn't see it so much as feel it.

A red dagger stabbing at her mind.

Without looking she reached out and pressed the flashing red button. "What is it?"

Shiho's voice responded, "It's a Mr. Robertson. He's here to look at our financial records, ma'am."

"Make sure Kira is there to watch, but let him look at anything he likes."

"Yes ma'am." A click and the call was ended.

This will pass, Cagalli thought. I've done nothing wrong. Unfortunately, just by being investigated our stock is plummeting and a number of our contracts have been threatened to be pulled.

Now she wished she hadn't run Athrun off. He was easily confused about these things.

When is he going to learn that when I say 'get out' I mean 'get your ass over here and hold me'? Sighing, she reached out to press that red button again. This time it wasn't flashing. "Shiho?"

"Yes?"

"Have Athrun give Kira a hand if he's not too busy."

"Of course."

Cagalli smiled. Of course. Shiho had probably already taken care of that without being told. "Shiho, you're the best."

"Thank you, ma'am. I hope you remember that at bonus time." A click followed her little joke.

It was just the thing to lift Cagalli's spirits a bit.

"Hey Athrun, I . . . well, you see . . ." Cagalli was never good at apologies. Especially when it came to Athrun. 'I'm sorry' seemed so hollow. So inadequate.

"It's alright," he reassured her. Not that he was willing to forgive her just yet, but this was a good start. "Let's not talk about it."

"I've just had so much on my mind."

"So have I," Athrun reminded her.

Blushing, she tried to apologize again.

"Drop it, please." He had cooked a nice dinner for her, but neither had touched it yet. Candles in the center of the table flickered with every phrase spoken. The wine was beginning to lose its chill.

"Sorry. I'll just stop talking then." But try as she might, her mind wouldn't deviate from work. She had a one track mind. Whenever something was bothering her, she couldn't think of anything else.

Athrun took the lead, poking the glazed chicken with knife and fork. It was tender and succulent. He had learned a few tricks from Meyrin over the years.

Cagalli always enjoyed these moments. She was a terrible cook and these candlelight dinners meant so much, as if it had been cooked with love.

Cooked with love. That sounds so stupid. Such silly phrases often floated through her mind whenever she was alone with Athrun. But then, maybe this was her way of making up for all those teenage years of going without romance. The only guy she had ever dated was Yuna, if you could call that dating.

Athrun couldn't quite get his mind off of their problems either. He didn't view any of this as something for Cagalli to deal with on her own. He was a part of this, too.

After picking over their dinner in silence for a while, the two gave it up. Athrun cleaned up the half-eaten food, placing what he could of it in the refrigerator for another time. Cagalli tried to lend assistance, but her efforts were unsuccessful. Athrun didn't want her to help.

They settled down on the couch. Cagalli had changed into her favorite casual clothes before coming over. The jeans and t-shirt were not only more comfortable, but they allowed for her to entrap Athrun in one of her favorite sitting positions without having to reveal her undergarments.

On the couch Athrun lay back against Cagalli, sitting between her legs. She played with his cobalt hair while pretending to watch TV. Athrun was pretending as well. And after an hour, he had enough of it and just turned the TV off.

"Okay," he sighed.

"Okay what?"

He pulled one of her hands around and kissed it. "Let's talk about it."

"Oh, Athrun," she sighed. "You're a sweetheart."

He had no response to that.

"Well, I'm scared. What if they find something? It's really easy for internal auditors to miss little mistakes in a big company. It's really starting to get to me."

"I know. Don't worry about it. We can make it through anything they throw at us."

"And with our stock falling, there is a lot of selling going on. The Seirans are buying up all they can. They even filed last week to state their intention of purchasing over twenty percent." Cagalli wasn't surprised. They had to do that by law if they were going to buy a significant stake.

"I see."

"There's another big group, too. Lenore Holdings; probably a dummy corporation formed by Yuna. My people haven't found out anything about them other than the fact that they filed yesterday."Cagalli slumped forward to rest her chin on his shoulder. "It's like the sharks smell blood in the water."

"I don't think you have to worry about the last one," he patted her cheek.

"Why not? I worry about everything else. I only own forty-eight percent. If Yuna can get over fifty then it's all over."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes it would." Cagalli couldn't believe he was talking like this. "After all our hard work, you're just going to give up?"

"Who said anything about that?"Athrun sat up to turn and face her. "But would it be so bad to retire at the ripe old age of twenty-six?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, Athrun. It would."

"I see," he only smiled.

"I can't believe you," she tried to get up but Athrun restrained her.

"I was going to save this until Christmas, but since you've already got people working hard on it I'll just let you in on a little secret." The gleam in his eyes caught Cagalli's full attention. "That holding group you mentioned . . ."

"Lenore?"

"That's the one. It's mine. Named it after my mother."

"Yours? I don't understand."

Athrun went over to dig something out of his briefcase. He handed her a bunch of legal stuff, but it only took a glance to glean the gist of it. "My parents left me a lot, but I've kept it tied up in investments since college. I rearranged things a little to form a small holding company with a partner. Seeing that the Seirans are trying to get off cheap buying at market value, I had my guy bidding high. As of the closing bell today, I now own ten percent."

"Really?

Athrun smiled as the sparkle returned to her deep brown eyes. "Really. Merry Christmas."

"Christmas came early this year." She hugged him with all her might.

"But I can't go any higher. I'm straining as it is."

Cagalli didn't know what to say. Athrun was throwing a lot of his inheritance into her dream. If it didn't work out, he could lose a lot. Maybe everything.

He saw her struggling to find the words. "You don't have to say anything. It'll be alright."

Cagalli was floating on a cloud. She felt as if all the stones being thrown at her was being blocked by an invisible shield. On cloud nine, she felt invincible. Well, from external forces anyway.

A press conference had to be held announcing Cagalli's intention of proceeding with business as usual. The chairman of the board was also on hand to declare that the efforts of the Seirans to acquire them were most certainly unwelcome. Their confidence and conviction impressed the members of the press in attendance. This would made a lot of positive noise in the markets.

A release from Lenore Holdings, LLP, also made big news. It stated the holding company's intention of blocking any hostile acquisition attempts.

Vulcan's stock rose ten percent that day.

Things were going so well that Cagalli took a little time to personally see to the preparations for the company Christmas party. As her favorite guy, Athrun was also present to help a bit. And being a guy, he was of little help. Decorating and planning wasn't exactly his thing.

But no matter how well things were going now, Cagalli still couldn't shake her doubts about herself. About her ability to run this company.

"Athrun, are you sure you want to be doing this?" Cagalli had done some rough calculations and figured he had lost at least a million in bidding so high. Of course, he would make that up with today's bump up.

"It's fine. I've got my fingers in other things. Besides, it's not like we're going to tank. This is a solid company. Remember that." His confidence was unwavering.

Unfortunately, hers was not. And the added weight of Athrun's finances on her shoulders was a bit much. What if I screw this up? Athrun's stunt bought us some time, sure. But can we hold out forever?

"Hey, cheer up. Party, remember?" He reached across the desk to lift up her chin. "We've been through tough times before. We'll get through this, too."

"I'm still uneasy about it. We shouldn't both be out on a limb like this. What if . . ."

He had to stop her by putting a finger over her lips. "This is what I want to do. Let me help."

"You have no idea how much this means to me," she whispered. "I won't let you down. And I'll make it up to you somehow."

You'll never leave me and you know it's true. 'Cause you like me too much and I like you . . .