Disclaimer: I claim no credit or whatsoever for the characters, but aye, I claim credit for m
plot line.

A/N: Chapter Six, piping hot from the computer.

Cagalli Knew

The idea of a holiday was very appealing; it always was in situations like this. Being a man brought up by a strict father, Athrun valued tidiness, if not punctuality as one of the top values anyone could have. However, with an office cluttered with files and a desk filled with maps and papers, one would wonder if he ever practiced what was rumoured about him at all.

"I can't believe she excused herself," Athrun muttered, pouring his frustration into his keyboard. "When did she have to attend family gatherings? More like dating Kira…"

Stopping to relax his aching eyes, he groaned in annoyance. The office was an absolute mess; he hated working in an environment exactly like this. The shrill ringing of the phone pierced his thoughts, but it was at the tenth ring before he reached out lazily and punched the speaker button.

Immediately a feminine and perky voice rang out: "HEY ZALA!"

Athrun scrambled for the phone cringing in the process as she went on oblivious to his discomfort. "I'm bored, and your maids treat me like a porcelain doll. I want to walk around!"

"Yes, yes…" he panted, finally picking the phone off its cradle and disabling the speaker mode. "What's the thing about my maids again?"

"PORCELIAN DOLL! I'M BEING TREATED LIKE ONE!" Cagalli shouted into the phone, ignoring the maids' attempts to persuade her to rest.

The phone was now a short distance away from his right ear. "Well, no need to shout! I can hear you perfectly if you just learn to talk slower and stop mumbling."

"Can I have chocolate then?" she purred over the phone, choosing to ignore his remark of her. "I'm starving and nutritious broth burns a hole through my stomach walls."

"You-" Athrun coughed uneasily, unsure of how he was to reply her. "Are you all right? You sound like a child who's gone terribly insane over a sudden high intake of glucose."

"Just get me chocolate!" Cagalli snarled over the phone. "I'm suffering here and you're not even sympathetic of my condition, you stupid dolt!"

"Say please," he replied.

Athrun had opened his drawer, fishing the bar of Kit-Kat out of it. Placing it on the table, he smirked into the phone waiting for her. There was a faint string of what he could assumed was curses before her voice laced with feigned sweetness and joy seeped through the phone.

"May I have a bar of chocolate, please?"

"Sure!" he laughed, hearing her punctuate his laughter with a well-pronounced 'bastard.' "Now, now, be a good girl and I'll be over soon. Misbehave and I'll make you see me eat that chocolate, nice and slow."

The phone went dead before he could even continue.

The first item that flew towards Athrun when he opened the door was a spoon. It cluttered noisily into the corridor, startling maids who were walking past him. They gasped and muttered apologies on Cagalli's behalf as they hastily picked up the projectile that could've given him a nasty bump. The pillow was next, but well prepared; he caught it with his free hand and gave the door behind him a nudge, closing it.

"What a nice welcome." He smiled, throwing the pillow back to Cagalli. "I can never get enough of your out-of-the-ordinary welcomes."

"If only Julian and Julia were here! You wouldn't be laughing so happily," she growled.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to quake in fear right now?"

"Yes," she snapped.

He grinned, much to her chagrin, replying her with a simple 'right.'

What followed was a brief second of silence.

Athrun was still standing and Cagalli was craning her neck. The sudden burst of anger she had for him and the restless bone in her seemed to have died out with his appearance. Feeling more drained than before, she slouched further into the layers of blankets.

"Are you going to sit?" she huffed. "I know you're tall and all, but just save me the trouble of craning my neck and sit." Cagalli hooked her ankle round the leg of a chair beside her, pulling it closer to her as she adjusted the sheets more snugly with her good hand.

He sat down, dropping his files of documents onto the floor and depositing the bar of chocolate into her out-stretched hands.

"How's the wound?" he asked, pouring himself a cup of water.

"Stings occasionally, but I'm fit and ready to finish my tour," she replied, with an air of nonchalance.

The hint was not lost on Athrun as he smiled into the cup, nodding in affirmation. Cagalli never striked him much as a lady who would enjoy being cooped up. He doubted that in a case of sickness or health, she was never advised to stay in bed and recuperate. It would have fell on deaf ears anyway.

"Has Kisaka contacted you?"

At the mention of the Colonel's name, her face screwed up into an expression of disgust and irritation.

"What do you think?" she replied, eyes rolling as she cleared her throat and mimicked the deep voice of Kisaka. "Cagalli, how many times have I asked you to take better care of yourself? What exactly is Chairman Zala doing, too? When you return we shall have a much longer talk about this... you need to understand that-"

"You need to understand that?" Athrun queried, thinking she had not finished her sentence.

"Oh, that," she sniggered evilly. "I hung him up before he could say anything further."

"Why am I not surprise at your antics?" he smiled, watching her tear the red wrapper off the chocolate.

"Because you love me," she joked, tearing off the silver wrapper and gleefully eyeing the brown substance. "And because you've learned to expect the opposite of what every girl would do if it was me."

If the words had any impact on him, Athrun did not show. He would have hoped to tell Cagalli that though it had only been a week since he had met her, he most certainly did love her. However, the rejection three days ago was still fresh within the depths of his mind. He wasn't sure if he could stand to have his pride deflated and heart broken once again too.

If only he had held a meeting such as this earlier, perhaps then he would have had ample time to court her and win her in marriage. But, no, fate had outplayed him yet again. At the age of twenty-six, he knew the inevitable match-making would commence soon. His choice of bride would be deemed void then and most likely even now.

Cagalli had a resigned visage and seemed to be speaking more to herself than to anyone in particular. "Sometimes, I wonder why I was a girl and not a boy. Father told me occasionally how much he had hoped I was a boy." This caught Athrun's attention.

"But... isn't Kira your brother? He could have taken the position right?"

There was a tense in her posture as her eyes widened a fraction and her mouth opened forming and O shape. Clearly, he wasn't meant to hear that at all. Athrun wondered if he should comfort Cagalli, telling her it was all right and that she could just forget that such a blunder was made.

"Kira is my brother! Yeah, he is my brother!" Cagalli gasped frantically.

Athrun guessed there wasn't going to be a gentle or more polite way to end the topic. Curiosity egged him to voice out the nagging suspicion he had, but the sight of Cagalli nervously biting her nails and her wide eyes staring at him that seemed to say 'please don't ask me anything more' stopped him.

"You have to be more careful with words, Cagalli. It's not wise to lose your train of thought and speak this freely. Even if it is with me."

Cagalli nodded, breathing in deeply as she sought a way to relax herself.

"Calm down." Athrun smiled, patting her lightly on the shoulder. "I won't tell on you, plus the walls here should be relatively safe."

"Should be?" she squeaked in reply.

"Is," he affirmed.

"Well, I could tell you," Cagalli gushed out, refusing to meet his eyes. "But Kira wouldn't like it. He hasn't told you. Maybe one day you'll find out."

Athrun nodded, a little peeved. He had known Kira since they were teenagers; shouldn't friends be truthful with each other?

'You're one to talk,' a little voice hissed back to him in his head. 'You have a secret that you haven't divulged to Kira, too.' Indeed, it was one he scarcely would dream of telling Kira or anyone, period. It concerned his family and unfortunately it included that blasted man.

"You brought work," Cagalli mumbled, peering down at the floor. Glad to be able to shrug the dark thoughts that ensued from the memory of his past, Athrun smiled back happily.

"I've got loads, but that's not what I'm happy over. More over…" He paused, bending down to hoist up a thick and leather bounded book. "This."

Cagalli frowned and sat up straighter, reading aloud the gold words finely printed on the cover page. "'The Thesis of Coordinator and Natural Unions.'"

"I'm hoping to begin a campaign, encouraging coordinator and natural marriages," Athrun grinned enthusiastically. "What do you think?"

Cagalli was speechless.

"You hate it," he summed up gloomily. "You think it's stupid."

"NO!" Cagalli shouted, her hands moving to halt his fast retreating ones. "Argh!"

"Cagalli!" Stilling her hands, he pushed her back into the bed taking care to avoid her injured arm. "Remember the hand, the hand! You'll never get out of this bed if you continue to aggravate it."

"Yes, Grandpa."

He snorted, opening the book for her and placing it on her bed. "I don't know how Kisaka could coexist with you for several years."

"He enjoyed my company, much contrary to belief."

Two hours had flown by when Athrun finally inspected and signed the last document. Cagalli had eaten her medicine an hour earlier and it had taken a much longer time for the anti-biotic to kick in. Lifting his eyes to Cagalli, an indulgent smile graced his features. Hair ruffled, eyes closed and her lips that parted briefly every time she exhaled. She was the epitome of beauty. He loathed the idea of waking her; instead, he took his own sweet time memorizing the small intricate details of her face.

After all, she had to fly back to Orb tonight.

With a heavy heart, Athrun closed the book she still clutched on to tightly and moved her hands beneath the blanket.

"Zala?" Cagalli whispered, blindly groping for his hand.

Startled, he moved back beside the bed awaiting her words.

"We'll still keep in contact after I leave, right?" He could see her struggle valiantly against the drug. "You'll call me, mail me and drive me mad with anger still, right?"

He chuckled, squeezing her hand. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

The reply seemed to satisfy her as she grinned back weakly in response and closed her eyes. Athrun was still as he stood beside her bed. He ached for the need to run his fingers through her blond hair, but the likelihood of her awakening once more was too great. She clearly did not see him more than a friend. It was saddening really.

'Never mind that,' he thought, exiting her room quietly and greeting the maids with a grin. 'I'll seduce her if I have to get her to fall in love with me.'

Kira tentatively avoided the group of maids that were huddled round Lacus as they chatted excitedly about Cagalli's visit by Athrun. He had just returned from a phone call by a less than friendly Kisaka. That he could handle, but this? Well, he would just have to slip away unnoticed and maybe…

"Kira!" Lacus shouted above the chattering. "Kira Yamato!"

Muttering a prayer, he turned round and smiled. "Yes?"

"Do help me handle the butler. I think I see him coming towards us." True enough; a tall elegantly dressed man was smiling as he waved, walking at a speed far too speedy for someone his age. "Kira! Stop staring into- yes, I know Maria - space and attend– Nicole I know, of course they are a great pair - to him!" Lacus never got the chance to finish her next sentence as another bunch of young maids scuttled through the door and to her.

"Mr. Yamato! I have a brilliant idea!" the butler boomed, clasping Kira's shoulders in a tight grip.

It was such a scene that greeted Miri and Dearka as they entered the servants' quarters. Dearka groaned and closed his eyes in shame and guilt as words like 'Athrun and Cagalli as a pair?', 'I never thought so!' and 'We thought to let them kiss?' flittered around the room. Miri smirked victoriously, throwing a look full of 'I knew it!' towards his direction.

"Great job!" Yzak hooted in laughter, enjoying the spectacle.

Four months had passed since her visit to PLANT, four long and busy months. The council still had her going on dinner dates with the bachelors, talking about those faggots, she had a meeting with the council in ten minutes to talk just about them.

The intercom beeped then, and already in quite a foul mood she barked out, "What?"

"Miss Athha," Miri's voice buzzed over the intercom. "Mr. Jennings on the line to talk to you again."

A smile crept over her face at the mention of the name and Cagalli replied in a much elated voice. "Okay, put him over Miri!"

"Oink," the voice over the line squeaked.

Cagalli chuckled, replying. "Your greetings change every week, Jennings. I'm getting quite sick of it. How about a moan next time? Should prove quite interesting. I could hang up on you and bar your line."

"I took time out of my busy schedule all the way in PLANT just to call you and this is how you repay me," Athrun chided, swinging his chair round.

"Yeah, and I took time out of my busy schedule to answer your call." Both leaders shared a laugh, each unknowingly trying their best to think of ways to prolong the conversation.

"Time flies doesn't it?" Athrun sighed, as he flipped through his calendar. "In a blink of any eye, it's already December.'"

"More like I'd have to get married soon…" Cagalli mumbled, flicking an irritated glare at Kisaka who breezed past her office at that moment, tapping his watch reminding her of the meeting.

"You said something?"

"Nothing that concerns you." she snapped, trying her best to ignore Kisaka who now stood outside her glass panels.

"Ohhh! Someone is in a bad mood!" he replied in a sing-song voice, laughing as she muttered an obscene word.

"I refuse to beat the pulp out of you when I see you again."

"Oh so you do miss me!" Athrun cooed. "You can't wait to see me again!"

"I do not!" Cagalli screeched over the phone, face a bright shade of red. "Though, I'm not worth missing anyway."

"I missed you…" he replied softly and earnestly, momentarily rendering her speechless.

Not once in their four months of conversations over the phone did he ever once express such sincerity. Sure, Athrun was handsome, an undisputable fact. After all, she had long given up trying to convince herself otherwise. Cagalli swallowed hard, feeling the blood rush up her head which in turn flooded her cheeks. If only he knew how self contradicting she was herself.

She hated and liked him? That didn't even make sense to her.

Opening her mouth to reply, she was interrupted when Kisaka entered the room, reminding her loudly about the meeting. Athrun strained his ears picking out bits and pieces of the heated exchange like marriage, bachelors, could care less, git and council.

"I-I have to go," she huffed; eyeing Kisaka's retreating back with distaste.

"So do I," he replied, signing an invitation card and tossing it into the pile beside his left arm. "I'll call you soon. How about tonight?"

"Hmmm," she pondered aloud, opening her organizer. Hopes of getting a decent rest and some more time with Athrun were dashed when she viewed the bold letters written on the white paper.

'REMEMBER, DINNER WITH A BACHELOR OF YOUR CHOICE TONIGHT. DON'T YOU DARE REFUSE. KISAKA.'

"I think not. I've got things going on," Cagalli growled, tearing the page off the organizer and crushing it savagely. "Talk to you tomorrow. Duty calls."

With the line dead and a meeting to rush for, Cagalli could hardly suppress the idea of destroying her office through various measures. Throwing the chair through the glass panels seemed to her as the best resort, so far. Smirking at the thought of deducting bonuses from several ministers, especially Kisaka, brightened up her day as she strode out her office.

"Too short…" Cagalli drawled as the screen flashed and another slide took its place, this time displaying a man posing beside a yacht.

Again she shook her head. "What a poser, too cocky, next…"

A man with teeth that Cagalli cringed at flashed across the screen. His hair was… it looked like Athrun's hair… Hope lit up on all ministers present when she failed to dismiss the candidate promptly unlike the rest.

Their hopes as fast as it came, went.

"Next…" she said, flipping through the files before her with a new ferocity.

"You have already viewed three quarters of the men we have flashed for you." Kisaka said, eyes furrowing. Motioning for the lights to be switched on again, he spoke with a new urgency. "What exactly are you looking for, Cagalli? If you specified what characteristics you are searching for in a man, we won't have to hold such meetings as often. I know you don't like them."

Not thinking about what she was saying the sentence spilled out, "I want someone like Z-" When it finally registered in her mind what she was about to say, it was far too late - she had aroused the interest of all the seated in the room.

"Yes?" Kisaka prompted.

"Nothing. It was a random thought."

Cagalli barely paid attention yet again as a sermon was issued from Kisaka's lips coupled with the inputs the ministers added in occasionally. What exactly was she looking for in a man? Or more accurately, why in the world was comparing every candidate to Athrun. It wasn't just about the way they looked, in the past four months. Cagalli had been guilty of comparing their mannerisms and actions to Athrun.

They never smiled as genuinely as Athrun, their eyes didn't hold the same warmth, their voice never held the same deep and alluring baritone of Athrun's, they never bothered listening to her unlike Athrun… The list just went on.

No way… she couldn't!

"MEETING ADJOURNED!" Cagalli yelled suddenly, shooting out of her chair, shocking all the ministers and even Kisaka who halted his speech, unused to such an authoritative tone from Cagalli. "I WANT ALL MY APPOINTMENTS CANCELLED TODAY AND NO ONE IS TO DISTURB ME."

The office was deadly silent, even with the hundreds of working personnel currently in the room when she briskly exited the board room and into the lift. There wasn't a single soul who had not heard her voice, and she was positive no one would dare intrude on the much need space and privacy she had to have. If any did, she would just enjoy mutilating them.

Stripping her uniform and donning on more casual and sporty attire, she entered the empty training room and began pummeling the punching bag with punches and kicks. Minutes passed and slowly the kicks and punches ceased and before she could even comprehend her actions, she found herself hugging the punch bag, half panting and crying.

Cagalli knew the signs; she had seen those months before.

Cagalli knew he meant every word he said, she knew he was hell bent on attaining her.

Cagalli knew they would never work out even if she liked him very much, and tried.

Cagalli knew a lot of things…

She knew she had unknowingly fallen in love with Athrun Zala…

A/N:

Yes, it's finally said and done with, the moment I think most of you have been waiting for? I hope I didn't turn it into a cheesy moment and made you all wish to destroy me utterly. May this have been satisfactory, and last you a tad longer too as I'm going to go on a short break to compete in a contest for AsuCaga writers on LJ.

Thanks to my beloved beta, you deserve a hamper!

Wish me luck :D

No the break won't be long. However, I wonder how Cagalli's going to ever face Athrun again, will things change? Or will they just end up snogging each other.

Review and feedback to me, they make me happy and complete my day. How was this chapter to you? Did you feel I could have left out something? Or have I done a poor job at her realization of love?