First of all, my sincere apoligies. This chapter is about half a day, or a day late. My computer was having uploading issues. I'll get the next chapter up a day early or something to make up for it.

Well, here we are. How fast the time seems to pass for me. I'm actually surprisingly pleased with this chapter, both in terms of the events and the writing. It's longer than the others, since the shorter chapters were really starting to get to me. So, for your reading pleasure, I bring you: Chapter 4.

"Hello again." Greeted Athrun cheerfully, as he stepped into the now familiar café and took his usual seat by the window. Cagalli approached him cheerfully, and placed a mug on the table.

"Hello to you too. How has your day been?" She asked, filling the cup with coffee.

"Up until now? Boring and regular." He sighed, leaning back into his seat and taking a swig of coffee. "But the day always seems to perk up after I come here."

Cagalli's words caught in her throat, and she found herself unable to say anything, struck from his sudden remark.

"It could just be the coffee, of course..." Athrun grinned. Cagalli's face relaxed for a moment, then she glared at him as she whacked him on the shoulder with a notepad.

"Gee Thanks. Want anything different today then?"

Athrun was about to respond, when he paused and regarded her for a moment. Cagalli stared at him, unsure of the cause for the sudden silence.

"Sit down." He stated plainly.

"Huh?" Cagalli took a step back, unsure of what he meant.

"Sit down. This table seats two, and you look stressed. Take a breather. Sit down."

"I have tables to wait on." She shrugged.

"I don't care. Sit down... just for 5 minutes even." Athrun urged. Cagalli paused for a moment, and looked at the tempting chair that was opposite to Athrun. Recomposing herself from the sudden shake-up, she dusted off her apron and took a seat opposite him.

"Busy day?" He asked, making light conversation. He took out his laptop and placed it on the table, but did not open it. Rather, he simply rested his folded hands onto it, while he watched her.

"Umm, yeah. Well just the usual too. It's just starting to take it's toll on me. I leave home early, but always get home late. I barely ever see my brother, much less the friends he wants me to meet. "

"How long have you worked here now?" Athrun raised a concerned eyebrow.

"2 and a half months." Cagalli answered effortlessly.

"Half a month ago, I first walked in here." Athrun remarked. "Feels like longer though... I feel like I've been coming here for ages."

He resumed watching her, noticing how fidgety she was. She had lapsed into her nervous habit of playing with her fingers, and not looking at who she was talking too.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, tempted to reach over and stop her hands from being so restless.

Cagalli looked up at him with a start. Her expression softened, and her gaze lowered a bit. "Same here."

"Hm?"

"I feel like... I've known you a long time too." She finally admitted, looking up and smiling a bit.

Athrun nodded. "It's strange that way... I don't know your birthday, your favorite color, or where you were born. Nor do I know what music you like, or what books you read, or even what University you go to... But I do know that... the day is more interesting if it starts with you."

Cagalli's eyes widened slightly. Surely it was no possible hat in such a short span of time... She sighed guiltily, much to Athrun's concern.

"Sorry... that I can't be a more entertaining server now. But the other tables..."

Athrun nodded as she began to rise. He looked down, and realized that he had finished his coffee without ever opening his laptop. Smiling to himself a bit, he packed it up and began to leave. Cagalli turned suddenly, as if panicked.

"Hey... Since it's been two weeks now... could I get your name?" She blurted out. Athrun halted mid step, and turned to give her a gentle grin.

"What's in a name?"

"Huh?"

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Athrun's grin widened.

"I have no idea what you're saying." Cagalli frowned, tempted to throw her mini-pencil at him for mocking her.

Athrun sighed, evidently amused. "How about tomorrow?"

Cagalli blinked, and once more found herself unable to say what she wanted to. She managed a stiff nod, and an awkward wave. Watching the door close behind him, she could only whisper under her breath...

"Goodbye..."

"And so that's what's been happening... "Lacus finally confessed. As much as she promised to keep Athrun's little secret a secret, pretty soon Kira was beginning to notice changes in Athrun as well. She tried to play it off as simply a mood change at first, then panicked when Kira suggested they find Athrun a psychiatrist.

The only problem...

Athrun still didn't know her name. Nor had he told her his...

Normally under these circumstances, one could say that Athrun and his mystery waitress were going nowhere fast. Yet from what Athrun was saying, and the way he was acting, they were going... though not terribly fast... but certainly smoothly.

And for the first time, ever, Athrun didn't mind talking about a girl. In fact, around Lacus he seems positively excited to talk about her. And so naturally, Kira began to wonder...

And wonder...

And wonder...

Until finally Lacus told him.

And now the both of them sat on a park bench, Kira's eyebrows furrowed in thought, with Lacus' eyes wide in anticipation.

"She's a waitress?" Kira checked.

"Uh huh."

"Where does she work?"

"He never said."

"Blond hair... Amber eyes?"

"Yep." Lacus responded, slowly beginning to lighten up. Kira's eyes grew darker.

"It just HAS to be a coincidence. There's no way that it's possible..." He frowned... "But if it does turn out that... well then I've not go reason NOT kill him..."

"Kira? Kira!" Lacus called out to him. "Kira, you alive in there?" She sighed, waving an open palm in front of his face. Kira snapped out of his thoughts and turned to her.

"Yeah. That's great though, that Athrun's finally showed interest."

"But I'm worried..." Lacus sighed. "He's not going anywhere… he doesn't even know her name..."

"He better not be getting anywhere... Just in case." Kira made a mental note and shrugged, and opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly his cell phone went off.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Kira? It's me." Cagalli's voice rang clearly through the phone.

"Oh hey Cagalli. What's up?"

"Umm nothing... It's just that today's the day, you know? Would you mind picking me up?"

"Not at all." He responded.

"Um... Kira?" She asked. Her brother sensed the hesitation in her voice.

"Something up?"

"No, I'll just ask you later." Cagalli sighed, hanging up. She pocketed her cell phone and collected her belongings. Terra emerged from the back and sighed, leaning against the counter.

"It's just not going to be the same, you know Cagalli?"

"I know..." Cagalli muttered. A thought hit her, and she paused for a moment. "Hey... Terra? You know that guy..." She began.

Terra looked up with a grin. "You mean your new favorite customer?"

Cagalli blushed. "He's not my... Well you know who I'm talking about."

"Yeah, yeah of course. Why?" She asked as calmly as possible, trying to suppress her delight.

"After this... could you possibly..." Cagalli began, repeating his words of 'tomorrow' in her head. Shaking her head sharply she drew a quick breath.

"It's nothing." she said firmly. Terra raised a doubtful eyebrow, but Cagalli turned to her firmly.

"It's nothing."

Kira drove up to the cafe where Cagalli worked, to pick her up. He had just finished dropping off Lacus, and couldn't wipe the smile off his face. However, his face dropped a bit when he saw the melancholy look on Cagalli's face.

"Cagalli, what's wrong?"

Cagalli buckled her seat belt hurriedly, and looked up, as if surprised to see him. "Hm? Oh nothing."

Kira kept quiet and began to drive home, knowing that something was wrong. But if she didn't want to talk about it...

"Oh, what was it you wanted to say earlier? When we were on the phone?"

Cagalli paused for a moment, digging into her memory. "Oh!" she exclaimed, as she finally recalled. "What does 'that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet' mean?"

Kira blinked in surprise. "It's Shakespeare, from Romeo and Juliet. Basically he's saying that names don't matter, since even if you named a rose something else, it would still be a rose. It still smells just as sweet."

Cagalli seemed to react to this in a way that Kira couldn't quite figure out. Though her head dropped a little, he could swear that he had caught glimpse of a smile.

"I see... Okay."

"Any reason you wanted to know in particular?" He inquired. A flitter of a smile appeared on her face again.

"No... I was just... wondering."

Athrun parked his car in his regular spot, and headed into the cafe. Last night, as expected, Lacus called him to ask if he has gotten her name. Once more, he had to reply no… but decided not to tell her about he'd semi-refused to give his name to hers. Besides what was the rush? He came here every day anyway.

He stopped in from of the large window, pausing for a second. Frowning a bit, he noticed that he couldn't spot a familiar blonde head bustling around and taking orders. Suddenly he felt a bit discouraged from entering... usually he could spot her in there.

Shaking such thoughts out of his head, he stepped in. Besides, it's not like he went there JUST to see her, right? It was mostly for the coffee of course. Taking his regular table, he ordered his usual from a different waitress that he didn't recognize and sat, staring out the window. After a few minutes, he pulled out his laptop again, and began to start working again.

"Coffee, right?"

Athrun looked up to find the same Asian waitress.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks very much." He smiled gratefully and took the cup. The waitress nodded, and was about to walk away when Athrun suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, um... This may sound like a strange question, but where is that other waitress?"

Terra smiled a bit. "You mean the blonde?"

"Um, yeah her. It's just that I usually get a coffee from her..."

"She doesn't work here anymore."

Athrun almost spit out his coffee all over laptop screen. "Wha-What did you say?"

"She quit. Two weeks ago, she handed in her two weeks notice, because she had moved and her new apartment was too far away. Yesterday was her last day. I'm sorry."

Athrun momentarily forgot how to blink, and his heart forgot to beat... until Terra's words hit him and it resumed pounding loudly in his chest.

"I-I see... Thank you, umm..."

"Terra. My name's Terra."

"Thank you Terra." He finished politely. Terra nodded sympathetically, unsure if she should say anything else. She wanted to tell him Cagalli's name, but wasn't allowed to disclose information on other employees. Backing away from his now gradually slumping figure, she resumed waiting on tables.

Athrun stared at the coffee in his cup, studying his own reflection. So this was it... She was gone. That day he'd walked in two weeks ago, was the same day she decided to quit. Was it pure coincidence? Why did he have to get to know her anyways? Why couldn't she have just been an ordinary waitress, that took orders and delivered them? Why did she start talking to him? Why did she try to cheer him up?

Why did she understand him, more than any other person had ever met before?... Once more he became lost in the argument between his head and… well all right. As much as he'd like to deny it, it was his heart…

I never even got her name.

The coffee is pretty good here...

I refused to give her mine!

The bagels are good too...

Even though I've only had them once... when she gave it to me.

Athrun's chest gave a painful twist as a lump got caught in his throat. Swallowing some coffee to wash it down, he shook such thoughts out of his head. What was the point in thinking about this? He'd known her for two weeks and she was gone anyways. He had no way of finding her. It would be better to forget that she ever...

Existed...

He looked around him. Everything seems so strange now. There was that table that she liked to lean on, That was the table where she dropped a coffee pot last week, that was the entrance to the back, where she hung her coat, and where they first talked after she got mad at him for forgetting to tip... Thrusting his laptop back into his bag, he left his half drunk coffee on the table and left.

Because suddenly he didn't want to be in there anymore...

"After weighing out the opinions... Oh sorry, options." Kira corrected, staring at his script. Lacus let out a tired sigh and threw hers at him.

"Kira, you're horrible! I've got these lines memorized and you can't even read them off paper? How am I supposed to rehearse like this?"

"Sorry, sorry!" He laughed, standing up and placing his script on his chair. "But I'm not an actor. You know that."

"Don't I ever..." Lacus teased, giving him a hug. "It's fine, you're doing your best. I just won't practice with you..."

"Ouch!" Kira grinned, letting go her and punching his chest as if he'd been stabbed. "Gee, thanks."

"You want me to get better at this or not?" she jokingly put her hands on her hips, pretending to be upset.

"Of course not. Then you'd get famous and have fan boys chasing you everywhere. And you'd dump me for some really good looking fan boy and..." He trailed off and shrugged as Lacus laughed and hugged him happily again.

"You know that won't happen." She said softly.

Kira looked down at her smiling happily, and nodded.

"So how goes rehearsal?" A voice called from the back. They turned to find Athrun's silhouette outlined by light standing at the doorway.

"Athrun! We weren't expecting you." Kira said, walking up the aisles in the audience to greet him.

"Figured I'd find you guys here so I thought I'd pop in." He shrugged, stepping into the light. "You guys ready to go now?"

"Uh huh." Lacus replied, gathering her things in her bag. Looking up, she noticed that Athrun's face didn't seem as bright as it usually was.

"Something must have happened..." She thought, looking at Kira, who seemed to have noticed it too.

Together the there of them walked into the parking lot, agreeing to go eat at their favorite Italian place. As Kira and Lacus walked towards Kira's car, Lacus gave him another look.

"Does Athrun look?..."

"I know." Kira sighed. "But don't bring it up. He'll tell us if he wants to. No need to pry."

Lacus nodded in agreement and hopped into the passenger side of the car, as Kira opened the door for her.

Athrun sat down with a heavy sigh, unable to stop thinking about what had happened this morning. It was a bit much to digest, in such a short amount of time.

Wait a minute.

What was he THINKING?

He can't see a girl he barely knew anymore. So what?

He laughed to himself, refusing to let his emotions win this time, and tried to start the car.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Even his car was mad now... Frowning, he whipped out his cell and dialed Kira's number.

"So then... you wanna take my car?" Kira suggested, after hearing the situation.

"No it's fine. You two go ahead. I'm going home... today's been a pretty messed up day anyways." Athrun sighed in submission.

"Want a ride home?" Kira offered.

"I'll take the subway, then just call for a tow truck to haul my car to a shop or garage or something. No problem. You guys go ahead." He insisted.

"If you're sure..." Kira started.

"I am. Go ahead, and have a good night guys." Athrun confirmed, then hung up and got out of his car, heading for the nearest subway.

Cagalli sat in the subway car, with an open book in her lap, but not really reading it. Instead, she simply stared at the pages, random thoughts drifting in and out of her head. Sometimes when the train pulled into a station, she'd look out the window at the people standing there.

Sighing, she looked back down at the book. What was wrong with her today?... The image of a certain blue-haired, laptop-toting, young man sprung to mind, but she blinked it away.

"Should have told him my name anyways..." She muttered grumpily.

Athrun grabbed his train token and pushed his way through the gate, just as a subway car pulled up. Glancing at it for a second, he checked to see where it was heading. North... Nope not his. About to take a seat in the waiting area, he suddenly froze as his eyes caught sight of blonde hair...

And a very familiar face...

Her!

Diving towards the train, he broke into a run, trying to thread his way through the torrent of people rushing out of the train. Even though it wasn't his train, and he had no idea what he'd do if he ran in there…

If I could just catch her attention somehow…

But she had just turned away from the window, looking at something in her lap...

If only she would turn around, just look in my direction…

If he could just catch her damned attention!

How had he done it before? Agh that wouldn't work, he couldn't order a coffee from her at a subway station!

Athrun bumped into someone too hard, almost knocking them over. Stopping momentarily to steady them, he turned to see the doors closing. He opened his mouth to shout, but what? He didn't know her name!

"H-HEY!" Athrun called out desperately. Something, anything to get her to notice him. To his surprise, she suddenly jerked her head up, as if startled.

Cagalli stared at her book, trying to remember what she had been reading... Was this even the right page?...

Absorbed in her thoughts, she was pulled out of them suddenly, as a familiar voice called out. Scanning the crowd, she looked out the window to see...

Athrun's heart lifted a bit, as he saw her turn in his direction, her eyes widening. He made another mad dash for the doors, checking to see that her gaze was following him. He wanted to call out again, but... what was her name!

Scrambling towards the train car, he watched in horror as the moment he reached the train…

The doors to shut securely in his face.

Jumping back quickly, he looked back through the window, and found her sitting there and staring at him.

Cagalli sat there, frozen to her seat. She didn't know what to do... There he was. Just standing there and looking at her. She felt the train him a slight jerk and begin to pick up speed, as she was gradually pulled away from him.

Unsure of what to do, but wanting to do something, her automatic reaction upon seeing him was to bring him a coffee… what the hell? Smiling slightly, Cagalli lifted her hand and waved a bit at him instead. Time seemed to slow, as she watched him gradually wake from shock, then smile a little and wave back. Suddenly, he cupped his hand around his mouth and shouted something that:

"Ath…"

"run…" He finished…

... Just as she disappeared from view.

Frustration set in as he remembered that as soon as he called out, she'd noticed him. And if only he'd known her name, he could have called out earlier. But the time went too fast, and before he could react... She was gone.

Feeling tired, Athrun walked over to a bench, and crumpled onto it, not caring about the fact that he had just scared 50 odd some people that were waiting for a train by screaming like his life depended on it. Truth be told, he had no idea why he had been so desperate either… Steadying his shaky elbows on his knees he looked down at the hand he had just waved to her with, his hair falling forward and blocking sight of his face. He drew in a deep breath and frowned a bit.

"I told you yesterday… that I'd tell you today..."

"My name is Athrun…"

((dodges raw eggs thrown by disgruntled readers))

Sorry! But it had to happen sometime! They can't just live happily ever after! And I'm not going to separate them one chapter, just to bring them together again at the end. I hope that was still somewhat suspenseful though. Heh...

As for this chapter in general, I do believe that I'm getting back to my usual lengthily chapters now. No idea how long the next chapter will be though, as I haven't really planned it out yet.

Thank you very much to those who reviewed the last chapter. The time you took to drop some thoughts was very much appreciated. I thoroughly enjoyed reading such lovely comments:

rain angst , Lems, purple1, new moongirl, Belle, Athrun-n-Cagalli , kura52, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, astrocosmos, daisukechibi, KiraFreedom, gseedlover, taijiya-sango88, psycogirl234, Freyris, XxbuffyxX, mariad, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, Smoke-Angel, Cagalli-01, MXCrocks, koali alolao, The Angels' Princess, Maryam Khanoom, Torri-Chiobie, Living Arrow, stuntsheep, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, animemistress419

Much thanks to the readers as well, for following through with the story. I know it's been rather slow, but I'm hoping from here I can get it to pick up a bit. Other than that, there's not much else to say.

Until next week then!