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

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

She never cries

The days passed in a blur, Athrun had Cagalli fully occupied with activities and tours. She never saw him after his illness, the doors had been opened sometime in the morning and she recalled herself being gently cradled in someone's arms and placed in a fluffy bed. She had stopped asking where he was or what he was doing, three days of being told the same excuses seemed too much of a coincidence to her.

The three days had been sinful, doing nothing except playing, eating and then more playing. Representatives or in her case, a leader really shouldn't have any time for fun and play. She knew better then to get use to such a lifestyle, but really who wouldn't love the idea of playing everyday for the rest of their lives.

"Miss Athha, here." Miri, who sat beside her, passed over a thick stack of papers reminding Cagalli of her duty. "No slacking…"

"What's my schedule today?" She asked, scribbling a note across the bottom of a policy recently submitted.

Miri rummaged through the pile of paper she had with her and carefully extracted a crumpled invitation card. Cagalli recognized the paper, and she definitely recognized the handwriting.

"Didn't I throw that into the wastebasket about five days ago?"

"Without this Miss Athha, we are not going anyway today." Miri sighed as Cagalli returned an expression of ignorance to her. "It's the Christmas ball today, Miss Athha."

"That's impossible." Cagalli replied, flipping open her organizer and pointing to a following date. "It's on the 26 of December!"

There was more flipping as Miri systematically extracted folders and more papers from the bag beside her crossed legs. Cagalli chewed on the end of her pen as she awaited the confirmation, the last thing she needed was to be entirely unprepared for a ball. There was her speech to finish, and not wishing to sound incompetent, she hadn't mentioned to Miri that she had yet to finish it.

"It's…" Miri squint her eyes against the words on the paper. "Seven in the evening, Chairman Zala would be personally taking you to the ball. Citizens and officers would all be present; a live broadcast would be available in Orb and PLANT."

"What time is it now?"

"Three in the afternoon Miss Athha."

Cagalli was up from her chair in a flash, picking the black diskette from her wallet, she threw it before her startled secretary. "This, before seven, it must be done. I'll go change now." Without waiting for a reply she jogged towards the closed door.

"But, Miss Athha!" Miri yelled back, relieved that the blond princess had stopped and was listening to her. "You need help in dressing!"

"Never mind!" she replied, scowling as the image of a dress floated into her mind. "I can do it myself!"

It was four hours and ten minutes later, when Athrun Zala decked out in his formal attire moved away from the stairs and turned to a troubled Miri. "Are you sure she said she would attend?"

"Yes, Chairman Zala, she rejected my offer to help dress her." She replied, crossing her fingers behind her that Cagalli had not given them the slip again. She had done that ever since the need to wear a dress for special occasions was imposed on her. "I'm sure she would be down soon." Miri quipped unconvincingly.

Athrun nodded and seated himself into the couch by the door; did women need that much time just to dress? He had taken an hour or so, much longer than his usual timing, but what exactly was she doing with four hours?

Fifteen minutes later, with a close to hysteria Miri and a last glance at the clock, Athrun stood up advancing the stairs. There was no telling what Cagalli was up to, she could have ran away, fell asleep, decided to spend the night in a tree, or worse, burned her dress.

"Chairman Zala!" Miri cried out, running to the foot of the stairs. "You can't go up there!"

"Damn straight you can't." Muttered a voice Athrun knew too well. "Quit looking at me!"

Athrun wanted to look, hell; he wanted to look at her forever and ever. Cagalli was dressed in a red gown that glittered under the faintest light, he could see the lipstick she had applied and all the other make-up women used to beautify themselves. He didn't know much about cosmetics or perfume, but the moment she descended the stairs, Athrun knew he couldn't and wouldn't fall for another.

Cagalli was feeling very uncomfortable, she wasn't use to wearing dresses and make-up, and she most certainly wasn't use to the stares of a full blooded man. Kira mentioned in the past that beautiful women had a way with men; they mesmerized men. Right now, Athrun looked like one. A thrill of immense satisfaction and pride welled up within her, she didn't know why but it just felt great to have such an effect on him.

"Miri stop looking so grieved, I dressed up didn't I?" her secretary nodded, still skeptical that Cagalli was real. "Zala, I'm waiting!" Cagalli hollered slipping into her high heels.

It was five minutes later when a madly smiling Zala and a dazzlingly dressed and irritated Cagalli was escorted out the front door by Miri. She watch with much amusement as her leader wobbled and stumbled over the high heels, but frowned when an obscene word was mumbled by her. Miri giggled as Athrun offered to help her but was rudely rejected. The scene repeated itself till she entered the jaguar. Miri closed the door and with a squeal launched a fist into the air.

Cagalli hated balls, she hated long speeches and she hated the gorgeous Athrun Zala seated beside her. He was breath taking, the uniform, the manners and his charming smile. She was tempted time and time again by his smirks and the light touches he gave her arm, to break into a radiant smile. If this was what a date felt, Cagalli was sure she would have confessed her growing affections for him.

But this wasn't a date and so forcing her face into a calm expression, she rejected the notion that love could ever exist between the two of them. It didn't matter if he loved her or if she did, well… it just wouldn't work out!

"Getting bored?" Athrun whispered, leaning slightly towards her.

"No." she replied, and then added on hastily. "Stop talking to me."

"Why not?" He replied, looking around them. "We're in the private spectator's seat. No one can see what you or I am doing."

"No one?"

"Not a single soul." Athrun under the impression that she might allow him a few advances was taken aback when she kicked off her high heel shoes and moved her chair at least a few feet away from him.

"Stay away from me."

It paid off not telling her how she spurred him on by actually resisting him. A band had begun playing and through the curtain he could see couples dancing across the parquet floor. The spectator's stand wasn't big, he concluded standing from his chair, and neither was it small too. Cagalli narrowed her eyes at him, but he smiled back, extending a hand. "May I have the honor of dancing with you?"

She wanted to say 'no', but that confounded smile of his, the music and lighting made her reply with a breathy 'yes'. Hopefully he hadn't heard the way she replied, it irked her horribly to be caught acting like a dreamy schoolgirl on her first prom.

"Take off your shoes." Cagalli snapped, wiggling her toes for him to get her meaning across.

He slipped them off, and with a predatory smile engaged her with a strong arm to her waist and her hand in his. She on the other hand was obviously shaken by his sudden movement, and faltered when he moved in tune to the slow music.

"Let's play musical questions." He spoke softly.

"What's that?" she replied suspiciously. It was Christmas and a festive holiday she enjoyed the most, she wasn't going to give him a chance of spoiling it for her. "It better be decent."

"Oh it is…" he twirled her and pressed her closer to him. "I'll ask you a question and you must answer truthfully, and you can ask me a question and I will answer it truthfully."

There was silence as Cagalli thought it over, she had some pressing questions plus the ball itself was boring. There wasn't any harm, unless he started asking the ones she deemed personal. "Fine." She replied. "But only five questions! Each!"

"Who took your first kiss?"

There was an indignant gasp and Athrun had to tighten his hold on her as Cagalli sought a way to break through his grasp. "That's a personal question!" she scowled, wishing she brought the blade Kisaka had entrusted to her when she had been forced into the shuttle.

"Not really," he smirked, dipping her as the band struck a high tune. "you have the chance of asking me one too. Now answer, I'm dying to hear it." He lifted her again and they resumed their swaying.

There was a reason why her blade was missed; she just wanted a projectile sharp enough to be able to embed itself within his conceited face! The nerve and ego of the man was unbelievable, he bloody knew who took it. Fine, if this was what he had in mind, she would play along.

"Gregory Hirano, a very fine man who I knew from my Father's friends, he was given the permission to court me when I was near fourteen. He was a muscular and handsome man, intellectual and had-"

"You're lying." Athrun interrupted, smiling sweetly as Cagalli returned an equally sweet smile whilst shaking her head. "I was the first."

"You think so?" Cagalli laughed, internally seething with anger over his assumptions. Even if they were right, the egoistic personality within him was repulsive. She needed to exaggerate a little more. "Well, of course he was a much better kisser, his lips were as smooth as marble and when he used the tongue and all its was just…" she trailed off biting her lip as the expression on Athrun's face took a three hundred and sixty degrees turn.

"He used his tongue?" There was a sharp edge to his question and Cagalli was hard pressed not to squeal victoriously.

"One question at a time, it's my turn now…"

Athrun cursed his impatience, and sulked watching her screw her face into one of hard concentration. He could kiss her now, prove his experience over that measly Gregory guy, but that would just disrupt the game they played. He intended to use his five questions carefully. Damn, and she had just tricked him into asking an irrelevant question.

"I want an honest answer." She grinned, but paused as a loose strand of hair fell into her eyes. Athrun was fast, pushing the strand of blond hair behind her ear. His fingers traced the shell of her ear before he dropped them to his sides and gently cradled her free hand back into his palms. There was an awkward silence as Cagalli coughed uncomfortably and murmured how the air conditioning seemed to have broken down.

"You were saying…" he prompted her, voice husky.

"I want an honest answer!" she snapped, furious with herself for blushing. The git was a rake; he just couldn't keep his hands to himself! "Do you think I look fat in this gown?"

Cagalli waited, she knew he would tell her seriously his judgment. He wouldn't laugh at her, he wouldn't dare.

But Athrun laughed, he laughed loudly, and Cagalli burned in embarrassment. She clamped her hand over his mouth, dragging him to the curtain and parting it till it was possible to peep through. Most of the crowd had their heads turned towards them and she pulled them both from curtain glowering at him.

"What's so funny, just answer the question!" she slapped his arm and tensed as he swept her into another dance. He seemed to have controlled his laughter, but his shoulder still trembled now and then. "Oh forget I asked it! You're being insufferable again."

"No," Athrun choked a little, smiling. "Sorry about that, I just didn't think you would ask such a question. It was unexpected." He cleared his throat, and allowed the music's soothing tunes to smoothen her ruffled feathers. "I think you look ravishing." She snorted and looked away, he went on unaffected. "You reminded me of angels I could only dream in dreams and filled out the gown so fully it was hard for a man like me to not stare. I felt like having my way with you on the stairs, in the car and right now."

Cagalli paled, her eyes were wide with shock and for a moment Athrun wondered fearfully if she would faint. "Having my way with you?" she whispered, her whole face reddening under an emotion she couldn't describe. Part excitement, alarm, or was it lust?

"Yes, of course I could elaborate." He grinned seductively. "I could use either theory or my practical knowledge. How about I choose one of the two for you?"

"Next question!"

"Were you lying about Gregory Hirano, there is no Gregory Hirano. I took your first kiss didn't I?" he sighed as Cagalli continued to shake her head and deny the obvious. "Be truthful Cagalli, it isn't fair if you cheat. This game can't go on then."

She tightened her grip on his fingers, cutting off the blood circulation for a few seconds. He would have howled in pain if she did not release her tight grip and with a slight cock of her head, biting out a fierce 'yes'. Immediately his arrogant smirk was in place, the night couldn't get better!

"Are you having issues with the council over marriage?" she asked as they swayed a little too close to the pair of chairs.

Athrun tugged her away from the chairs, amused over her questions. None of them were personal. "Yes, I'm afraid so. There seems to be a slight disagreement over whom I should be courting and whom I should not. Are you sure you're not going to ask me anything personal?"

Taking the chance given to her, she popped the one question that had plagued her for the three days.

"I've watched the news." Cagalli replied, digging her foot into the ground and stopping their dance. "I've read the news." Something in her tone and facial expression told Athrun this wasn't going to be a topic he would like. "What really happened to your mother?"

A guarded look appeared on Athrun's face and he distanced himself from her. The jovial mood was now gone, replaced by a more serious and morose atmosphere. "She died, that's all you need to know."

"I know what I saw!" she shouted, oblivious to the thin ice she was treading on. "You were posing beside her and the date-"

"It doesn't matter!" he replied angrily, cutting her off with a wave. "You didn't see anything, and it's not your business to pry. Stay out of my family business."

That shut Cagalli up, she controlled her anger by deterring her mind from his piercing stare and counted from one to twenty. She knew he was right, it really wasn't her place to ask, but she knew, she was confident that Lenore Zala never died. If she had seen correctly, Lenore now currently resided in a country house just off the coast. It was deserted, and the backdrop Athrun had posed in with her was one of the sea and sand.

"I was just curious…" she mumbled, putting on her shoes.

Athrun shook his head furiously, eyes narrowed to silts. "You always are, why can't you just be satisfied with knowing what people have told you! Don't you have a mother? What's so damn bloody special about mine? Just leave her alone and stop asking about her!" There was silence as Cagalli slowly stood from the chair numbly. But he wasn't finished. "It was probably curiosity that did your father in, if it wasn't because of your curious nature, he wouldn't have died!"

He didn't mean to shout, but he did. He was just sick of people butting their heads into his family, sick of the paparazzi comparing him to his father and sick of the word 'curiosity'. Anger won over his good sense and without thinking of the words he would say, he had unintentionally hurt her.

"Don't cry…" Athrun plead. He moved forward attempting to comfort her but she stopped him, throwing him a look of contempt and utter loathing. Tears clouded her vision and the feeling of stupidity and humiliation washed over her.

"Stay where you are!"

Still Athrun moved, and she shrieked at him.

"Don't come any closer you bastard! Don't you understand English!" Cagalli had begun inching to the door. "I never cry! Never! No one ever made me cry, no matter how horrible the things they said. Only you!" She cried out, hands searching for the door knob behind her. "I hate you for evoking such a response from me. I hate you Zala! I hate you! Did you hear that!" Cagalli screamed the sentence, roughly rubbing her tears away with the back of her hand. Without warning she jerked the door open and ran out.

"Cagalli!"

There was a loud crash and Athrun who had not been in time to warn her cringed at the sight. Plates scattered the ground, some broken and others shielded by the carpet, unharmed. Both the waiter and Cagalli groaned as each tried to stand. People had begun murmuring, and out of no where sprinted out two ladies and Kira. They paid no heed to him, instead cast Cagalli a worried look.

That was when it hit them hard, she was crying.

Kira was first, muttering a stern 'take her away' and with slow and steady steps, he cornered Athrun back into the room. He had seen his best friend in an angry or depressed mood, but he had never seen such a fierce amount of rage in his friend's eyes. Therefore when they were both alone, he steeled himself.

Kira did not disappoint him, the fist that plowed into his face took his breath with it and had him gasping on the floor. Groaning with pain, he hardly registered the hands that gripped his collar and pushed him against the wall.

"What did you do to my sister!" Kira hollered, pulling and pushing Athrun into the wall as he spoke. The plan on match making both Athrun and Cagalli had long been forgotten. He'd be damned if he let Athrun get away with whatever caused his sister's tears. "You made her cry, she never cries!"

"So I've heard…" Athrun coughed painfully, smiling. His smile vanished when Kira threw him onto the floor and punched him again in the face. God that really hurt.

"You bastard! I trusted you not to hurt her!" Athrun smiled painfully, nodding as if it didn't matter to him. This infuriated Kira more as he swore, disbelief shining in his eyes. "What did you do! Answer me!"

Athrun chuckled mirthlessly, gripping Kira's collar too. "I said horrible things Kira, thus her crying. Or do you want me to say I raped her?"

"Athrun!" Kira roared, pulling him up from the floor and releasing one of his hands only to punch thin air.

"I didn't mean to hurt her Kira! But you're to be blamed partially too!" Athrun ducked from the well aimed kick and parried the punch sent to him, all the time avoiding but not returning the blows.

"I didn't do anything." Kira stopped, dropping both his hands. "What are you talking about?"

He panted, half relieved and annoyed that his friend couldn't remember what the heck he had sent him. "The e-mail remember Kira? Or has it just flown out of your head on occasions like this." The blank look was returned to him. "The e-mail, you sent me Kira! You sent me an e-mail containing Cagalli's biography, it described all the fortunate and unfortunate events that happened in her life. Kira?"

This wasn't what he expected. "What e-mail? Athrun in all seriousness, if you're lying now's the time to tell me. I promise not to shout at you."

"I'm not lying." He gritted his teeth, speaking in a frustrated tone. "I can show you if you're that desperate to prove me wrong."

"Was there a message?"

Maybe they should just continue punching, because he wanted to punch Kira hard and now. "You asked me to use the information to good use. Whatever uses you meant I hope it sure wasn't for me to piss her off just a moment ago!"

Kira turned round, running through the number of times he had typed a mail the last three days. None came to memory, but he wouldn't dismiss the possible truth of Athrun's words. Be it true or not, he would get down to the bottom of it. Suddenly a flare of recognition lighted up in his eyes.

"I think I know who did it, but you're not forgiven. Common sense is what you lack; no one speaks like that and gets away with it. You should apologize."

Without a backward glance he was out the door and through the crowd.

A/N:

Athrun is a jerk and so am I. Work as usual is busy, my lady boss complains I'm not being productive (laughs). This might have been short, or I feel, could have taken more of my angst, but never mind. If ANYONE has an idea that's not too fluffy on how Athrun makes up with Cagalli, I'd be more than happy to hear it.

Really, tell me how I did for this chapter, reviews are requested )

If the plot needs work with, or any other tit tat you wish to share with me, send me a review!