JC: Well, I managed to edit this during my free time. I seriously need to watch out for errors. I just hate proofreading, because I'm so darn lazy. I hope this is much better now. Please R&R, understand?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed/Destiny.

Love Fulfilled

Phase 09: Betrayal

Cagalli was getting ready for a dinner date with Rey. She really didn't want to date him, but Rey insisted on it. "I can't believe I'm going on that date! I should've said no!" she yelled in her room. She opened the closet and sighed when she saw the pile of dresses. It was a formal date so she had to wear something nice and lady-like. "I really hate dresses. Why should there be dresses in the first place?"

She crossed her arms as she looked for the right dress to wear. Since her favorite color was green, she decided to wear a green gown that was given to her by her father on her birthday. She slipped it on and it fitted her perfectly. "This dress isn't so bad. I don't want to believe that father actually picked this one for me."

She faced the mirror and smiled at her figure. "I look good for some reason," she murmured. "Now should I tie my hair or not?"

A loud knock came from her door, drawing her attention to it. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Athrun," a voice from the outside answered.

"Come in, Athrun."

Athrun entered the room and closed the door behind him. When he saw Cagalli, he just froze in silence, because he was so amazed to see how beautiful she looked wearing the gown.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Cagalli asked as she blushed madly.

Athrun snapped back to reality and let out a small laugh. "I'm sorry about that."

"You were staring at me weirdly."

"It's just because you look very beautiful. I was so surprised to see in that gown."

"I look beautiful? Well, for me, I look really weird."

Athrun shook his head. "Nonsense..."

She sighed. "I'm sure Rey will say the same thing."

"Rey?" Athrun murmured.

"I'm going on a date with him."

Athrun's eyes grew wide. "So, does this mean that you've accepted him as your fiancé?" he asked, feeling jealous.

"No!"

Athrun stared at her in surprise. "What are you saying?"

"Actually, I'm planning to talk to him about our engagement. I'm sure Rey will understand my feelings."

"Does Rey treat you only as a friend too?"

"Rey and I are good friends. I'm sure he only sees me as a friend too. There's no way he would fall for a girl like me."

"From my point of view, I think he really likes you more than a friend."

"I hope you're wrong Athrun, because I don't want him as a fiancé."

Beach

Shinn sat on the warm sand, staring at the clear blue water and the seagulls flying above it. The wind blowing through his hair was calm and refreshing. His eyes wandered around the place and came across a blonde girl dancing around. At first, he thought it was Cagalli, because of the hair color, but he realized that it was a different person. "I wonder who she is," he muttered.

The girl kept twirling around until she tripped and fell on her butt. Because of that, Shinn immediately rushed towards her. He knelt down to her level and asked, "Are you all right, Miss?"

The girl glanced at Shinn and smiled. "I'm all right. I just tripped that's all. Thank you for worrying about me."

"Um... yeah..."

She pulled away from him and twirled around before turning back at Shinn. "Have you come here to watch the ocean?" she asked.

Shinn shook his head. "I just came here to relax."

"I see," she said. "Well, as for me, I came here because I like the sea very much!"

"You like the sea? Why?"

"It's because it reminds me of the happy memories I shared with my parents."

Shinn frowned after hearing the word 'parents'. His past memories with his parents and younger sister flashed through his mind almost instantly. He shut his eyes closed at the memories and clenched his fists.

"Hey! Are you all right?"

Shinn snapped back to reality and turned to the girl with a false smile. "Yah, I'm all right," he replied.

"Are you sure? You seemed a little sad a while ago. Did I say something bad to offend you?"

He shook his head. "No, you didn't."

She sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet."

"You're right."

"My name is Stellar Loussier. What's yours?"

"I'm Shinn, Shinn Asuka."

"What a nice name..."

Shinn blushed and turned his head away from her. "Um... thanks... Your name is... nice too." He was talking in a stuttering voice, much to his dismay.

"Thank you very much," she replied cheerfully. "Hey Shinn, can we be friends? Well... um... if that's okay with you..."

Shinn smiled and nodded his head. "Of course, um... Lou..." he said before he got cut off by Stellar. "You can call me Stellar," she told him.

"Is it really okay?" asked Shinn.

"It's okay."

"Then you can call me Shinn."

"That's good to hear since Asuka-kun sounds weird to me, no offense there, Shinn."

"I'm good," Shinn said.

"So let's get to know each other... I'll start by telling you my hobbies..."

"Okay."

Restaurant

Rey and Cagalli were at a restaurant near the beach. The food had already arrived so they started eating peacefully. After the meal, Rey told something to Cagalli, which surprised her greatly.

"What did you say?" Cagalli's golden-brown eyes were as wide as marbles.

"I love you..." Rey said, his voice serious and soft.

"Wait... a sec... Do you mean to tell me you love me as in 'love' not 'like'?" she questioned as her hands trembled under the table.

Rey nodded his head. "I have always loved you since childhood."

Cagalli blushed furiously at what he said. She lowered her head and stared at the floor. "No, that can't be."

"Cagalli-san, do you love me too?" he asked.

She faced him seriously. Her hands trembled in fear of Rey's reaction to her reply. She really didn't want to hurt Rey, but she had to tell him what she really felt about him.

"Cagalli-san?" murmured Rey, growing worried.

"Rey, I..." she started. "I'm sorry, but I only see you as a friend and nothing more."

At that moment, Rey froze in silence.

"I'm really sorry!" Cagalli said as tears poured out of her eyes.

Rey slowly stood up and looked at her. "I... I understand..." He wanted to cry, but not in front of her. He quickly ran out of the restaurant and went to his car. When he got in, he started crying as he leaned on the steering wheel.

"I thought she loved me... but I'm only a friend to her. I'm only her best friend and that's it!"

Cagalli really didn't expect Rey to love her. It was all too sudden. She felt bad for hurting his feelings. She wanted to follow him, to comfort him in any way, but her heart told her to leave him alone to think. "I hope Rey's fine..." she murmured as she thought about her blonde friend. "I hope he could still be my friend after this."

Next day, Gil's room

"I'm going to do it tonight," Rey said as he stood before the chairman. He had a serious expression on his face that even intimidated Gil a bit.

"I thought you were going to wait for my orders," Gil said.

"I'm going to kill him as soon as possible!" Rey uttered as he clenched his fists.

"What's wrong with you, Rey?" Gil asked, pretending to be concerned for his nephew. "Did anything happen to make you this restless?

"Nothing is wrong with me!"

"Then if you're planning to do it tonight, be my guest. Just don't fail me, Rey..."

"Don't worry, I won't, I swear on it."

After that, he stepped out the room and slammed the door behind him.

Garden

Athrun and Cagalli were having breakfast in the garden, and the bodyguard found it to be awkward having breakfast with the princess. He was bothered because of the fact that he was only a bodyguard. Normally, someone like him should not be even dining together with the princess. But Cagalli told him that it was okay since they were friends.

Suddenly, Tori came and landed on the table. Cagalli greeted the little mechanical bird and it started jumping around. She patted its head as she giggled. "He's really cute, right, Athrun?"

"You're right."

Cagalli noticed a piece of paper tied to Tori's leg. She took it and opened it. There was a message written on it that says, "Cagalli, meet me at headquarters at 1400 hrs." As Cagalli read the bottom part, she realized that it was from Miriallia. "I wonder what Miriallia wants," she said.

"No idea..." Athrun replied. "By the way, how was your date with Rey?"

Cagalli frowned. "Not so good... We ended up crying..." she said.

"What happened?"

She took one deep breath before she spoke. "Rey told me that he loves me..."

"I knew it. From the way he looks at you, I can tell that he really admires you."

"And I'm blind enough to even notice that. He's my best friend for crying out loud! I'm supposed to know him best!" She raised her voice.

"Cagalli... please don't feel that way..." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I feel so bad for rejecting his feelings. I really feel so bad!" She suddenly hugged Athrun and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Athrun wrapped his arms around her waist and gently rubbed her back to comfort her. "Cagalli, it's not your fault, understand? Why don't you try talking to him again?"

Cagalli slowly pulled herself away from him and looked straight at his emerald eyes. "I want to talk to him, but what if he avoids me?"

"Then be persistent."

"You're right... I have to settle things with him. He is still my best friend..."

Cliffside

After a long day's work, Kira went to the beach by the Cliffside. He stared at the wide blue sea, thinking of his only sister. "I should have brought Cagalli along with me," he murmured. He sighed as he stretched his arms.

"Kira-sama..." a voice called his name.

Kira turned around and saw Rey. He smiled at his good friend and approached him. But he stopped when Rey pointed a gun at him. "Rey, what's the meaning of this?" he asked, staring cautiously at the gun. "What are you planning to do?"

Rey stayed silent as his eyes focused at him.

"Rey!" exclaimed Kira, "answer me!"

Rey smirked. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to kill you, Kira-sama."

Kira's eyes widened in surprise and in confusion for he couldn't believe what Rey had just said. He took a few steps back until he was at the edge of the cliff. He realized that he had no way out but to fall into the deep blue water.

"Don't even think about jumping," Rey told him.

Kira narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "I can't believe you're doing this. I've always thought that you're my friend."

"I'm not the Rey you knew before. I'm different now, Kira-sama."

"I want to know your reason for doing this."

"I'm just an assassin. Don't ask me that."

"Assassin?" Kira murmured. "Then who's the mastermind behind you?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that."

"If you kill me, are you going after Cagalli next?"

"No, I can never kill the girl I love. She will be my wife in the future."

"Cagalli doesn't love you! In fact, I'm planning to cancel your engagement."

"That's one of my reasons for killing you..."

"Rey!" Kira yelled as he charged at him.

Rey immediately pulled the trigger and shot Kira in the chest. Blood spilled out as his body fell off the cliff. He raised his hand as if trying to reach for something in the air. At that time, Cagalli's image flashed in his mind. Before he fell into the water, he muttered her name and finally his vision blackened.

Rey dropped his gun and fell to his knees. He wrapped his arms around himself and trembled in fear. He stared at the ground, wide-eyes as ever, as tears filled his clear blue eyes. I wished this was all a dream. I've killed a dear friend, an irreplaceable friend. I'm so pathetic…

To be continued...

JC: End of chapter 9, at last. Finally, I'm done with this. I know there were OOC moments, especially with Rey, but please just bear with me. Don't worry about Kira, okay? I'm not going to kill him off. Please let me know what you think through your reviews and don't give me flames.