Title: Inquiry
Pairing(s): Athrun/Cagalli
Genre: Romance/Angst/Fluff/Humor
Rating: K+
Spoilers: none
Summary: A talk late one night leads to more questions than answers.
Author's Notes: A simple ficlet written for NaNoWriMo Redux. A little angst with a touch of humor and fluff never hurt anyone.
Disclaimer: The characters used in this fic aren't mine. They belong to Sunrise, Bandai, and whatever other company has a say in their fate.

"Athrun," Cagalli whispered.

It was black in the little niche where the beds were. After being in an office everyday which offered plenty of light for so long, it was a nice respite for her and Athrun gave no complaints.

Cagalli laid her head back down on Athrun's chest. She had been silently crying, using his bare chest as a pillow. Dreams didn't want to be nice to her. They had a habit of telling her how inadequate she was.

"Athrun, if you're awake...I want to ask you a question."

She could feel him move; feel that he was conscious in some part of his mind. Poking him, she brought his attention to her.

"Cagalli?"

"Athrun...do you hate me?"

His mouth hung open like a goldfish. What a way to wake up.

"Cagalli?" He blinked a few times to make sure this wasn't all just some dream that he was in. "That's a childish question. Besides, I couldn't hate you, ever."

"I...I just had some strange dreams."

Athrun put his arms around her back and started rubbing in a soothing gesture. "What kind of dreams?" he asked. But he already knew.

Cagalli could feel that he knew and didn't answer. After a few minutes, Athrun asked her, "Do you love me?"

It didn't come as quick as his response, but she answered, "Of course. I just..." She looked down at his chest for a moment and then looked back up to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry. I feel terrible. I can't even remember exactly what I did, but I think you have more reason to hate me than I do to hate you..."

"I asked a different question because I'm not worried about your hate or my hate. I can deal with hate. If you didn't love me, though..."

Cagalli interrupted him. "Why does everything feel artificial all of a sudden?"

Athrun cocked his head to the side. "In what way?"

She occupied herself by playing with the fabric of his t-shirt, drawing invisible symbols on his chest; as if she was trying to communicate something she could not explain. "I just...it feels like something went wrong and didn't get fixed."

"Will it go away if we ignore it?"

"It might...if we don't accept it, then maybe it can't exist."

"What is 'it'?"

"Whatever it was that went wrong."

"Okay..."

"Let's try to sleep. This day has been exhausting enough." She paused. "I love you."

Athrun kissed the top of her head. "I love you more."

"Oh yeah?"

Athrun moved his hands to two very vulnerable spots and would have seized the attack if Cagalli hadn't whispered, "You won't tickle me."

Simple as that.

Aw, he would get her in the morning that was for sure...

end