a/n: I don't seriously have to do a disclaimer every chapter, do I? Anyway... Yes, feel free to throw me tomatoes, rotten eggs, pitchforks, etc. for hiatus-ing again. And if you didn't think of doing that in the first place, darn, I just gave you an idea. Oh well. Forgive me. Enjoy the sixth chapter and kill me when you're done. Ehehe.

Chapter 6 The Not-So-Secret Life Of Lacus Clyne

"Cagalli," Athrun said firmly, locking his eyes with his best friend's frantic, teary ones. "Are you sure it was him?"

The girl pursed her lips, holding back a sob. "I don't know. I... Maybe I was just mistaken. He can't possibly..."

She found herself unable to say any more. All rational thoughts were shoved at the back of her mind as Athrun reached for her, letting Cagalli's tears - and her sorrow right along with it - flow to his chest. Perhaps he could share her pain, somehow...

"It's okay," Athrun breathed into Cagalli's ear as he ran his fingers through her blonde hair soothingly. "You must miss him a lot."

Cagalli said a muffled "Yeah" in agreement. She sniffed, pulled away from Athrun's arms, and took a step back. "Well, that was embarrassing," she muttered, hurriedly wiping her flushed, tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand.

Athrun cracked a smug smile. "No kidding. I haven't seen you cry since we were five. Not that I mind," he added quickly, seeing the pout start to appear on Cagalli's lips.

She rolled her eyes, the pout replaced by a little grin. She formed a W with her fingers and mouthed, "Whatever."

The boy let it go then. They both walked to the grave of Cagalli's mother and laid the flowers there, beside the daisies the mysterious boy had left. The walk back home was silent, Cagalli staring fixedly at the ground and Athrun shoving his hands in his pants pockets.

"Um..."

Athrun looked up, startled that the girl had spoken. Or at least made a sound. "Yeah?"

"I really hope that wasn't Kira back there, Athrun."

His eyebrows shot up at the remark. I thought she missed him. "Why not?"

Cagalli bit her lip. Athrun was about tell her off, thinking she'd have a bloody lower lip if she kept doing that.

The blonde looked up, and he pushed the the thought away completely. "It's in the Orb constitution. An eleven-year exile from the homeland, that's the requirement to be representative of the country. If it's true that Kira has set foot here, in Onogoro..."

Athrun did not even have to hear her finish. He had already figured it out.

All those years Cagalli's brother was gone, that would've been for nothing, he thought. Because he wouldn't be able to rule Orb.

"That Lacus Clyne... Ugh, if I had no shame I would've wrung that pretty neck of hers by now!" Sixteen year-old Cagalli huffed, crossing her arms as her eyes glared daggers at Lacus's retreating back.

It had been two years since that fateful day she had seen her brother, and even then she was not entirely sure if it was indeed Kira who had stared at her with those cold violet eyes... She shook her head, hoping to shake off the memory while she did.

"You always want to wring her neck. I'm not at all surprised," Athrun said, picking up a couple of books from his locker with one hand and using the other to shut it. "You know, I feel sorry her for sometimes."

He found Cagalli's death glare divert to him at the remark, almost making him take back what he'd said. "You do?" she demanded, souding as appalled as she would have if Athrun had just confessed his undying love for her. Which will, of course, never happen unless he suddenly becomes a straight man once again, she thought ruefully.

Her darned crush on the blue-haired, pale-skinned teenager had not faded at all in the last twenty-four months. If anything, it had only grown stronger - not to mention more difficult to curb.

"Uh, yeah," Athrun answered, nervously scratching his head. "I think she's been like that because of something that might have happened in the past."

"Well, gives her no excuse to be a bitch, really."

"True, but there's no helping it if there are people like that." He started to walk away, then paused to give his best friend an "Are you coming?" look.

Cagalli blinked. She had been staring. Again. She silently reprimanded herself as she fell into step beside Athrun. "I suppose you could be right," she told him, continuing the conversation (and hoping the boy would forget she had checked him out). "I did notice her remarks today were more scathing than they usually were. Wonder what's eating her..."

Athrun let out a chuckle. The girl raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" she said through her frown.

"Oh, I just thought... You were actually enlightened, with one sentence, about a fact you'd never noticed even through years of interaction with her. That maybe, just maybe, there's more to Lacus Clyne under the surface."

"And you're telling me this, because...?"

He shrugged. "Today's her birthday," he said simply.

Cagalli's frown reappeared. Great, now I have to deal with guilt, among other things. She scoffed. "Still gives her no excuse to be a bitch."

Athrun rolled his eyes. "Some things never change."

At the end of last period, Lacus Clyne watched as a certain blonde girl and a blue-haired boy ran down the hallway, the former shouting, "Last one out pays for ice creeeeam!"

How immature, she thought, with a roll of the eyes. Yet she looked on wistfully, perhaps wanting to be part of their seemingly carefree lives.

The girl had not always been at odds with Athrun Zala (the information technology tycoon Patrick Zala's son) and Cagalli Yula Attha (the Orb representative's daughter). In fact, there had been a time when they were good friends...

Lacus banished the thought. All that had been in the past. There was no point in wondering what could have been, what would have been if she hadn't turned on them during the fourth grade. She folded her arms across her chest. I only did that because they weren't around when I needed them the most. Some friends they were.

She sighed sharply and squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to see her fourth-grade memories of her parents fighting and her mother packing playing like a slide show in her mind.

She started to make her way out of the school, taking graceful steps that only the Lacus Clyne could pull off. She smiled at the people who said "Hi" or uttered "Bye" on the way. Was she popular? Perhaps. But she wanted to think she was genuinely well-liked, not envied.

Lacus was only ever mean to Cagalli and Athrun; everyone else could not possibly imagine why the two hated her the way they did.

"Ms. Lacus, are you ready to go?" the chauffeur asked politely. "Your father requested that you accompany him to the Attha house this evening," he added.

"Really, Jack?" The pink-haired lady looked at him quizically. She said a quick "Thank you" as the car door was opened for her. "Is there some sort of occasion?"

Jack waited until he was at the driver's seat and turning the key on the ignition before he spoke. "I suppose it's a small gathering for Representative Attha's friends."

Lacus sighed, at the thought of having to encounter those two again. Where Cagalli was, Athrun would be close by. It was an established fact of life, practically.

She would have to be obliged to raze hell on both of them again. But truth be told, for her the whole thing was getting old. She had been fed up with launching hurtful remarks towards Cagalli and taunting ones to Athrun a long time ago. Yet she could not just throw in the towel and let them off that easily. They deserved what they got from her, for being conspicuously absent when she had need of them. Not that she would ever tell them. The reason she was vindictive to Athrun and Cagalli would remain her own little mystery.

"Lacus?"

She blinked, looking at Siegel Clyne's reflection in her vanity mirror as she brushed her pink tresses. "Yes, Father?"

The man smiled, and Lacus knew then who she inherited her own from. "Nothing much. I'm just a bit shocked at how much you've grown... You're still my little princess, and yet you're not at all little anymore."

His daughter laughed lightly. "Oh, Daddy. What made you say something like that?"

Siegel's smile remained, though it came out a little sadder. "I'm not sure. Maybe it's because you've just turned sixteen..." He ruffled Lacus's hair playfully. "Now come on, then. When you're ready, we're going straight to the Atthas' for dinner. And we'll have our own celebration when we get back."

"Speaking of the Atthas, what's the occasion?"

"Well, apparently, Uzumi's son is back from an eleven-year trip from a neighboring country," he answered, crossing the room and heading out the door. "I'll be waiting downstairs."

Lacus stood up, straightening nonexistent wrinkles from the hem of her simple but elegant white cocktail dress. "No, let's go, Father. I'm ready."

She could have cared less about Cagalli's brother being back from some country or other; so she could not possibly be excited to go for that reason. And yet, it was as if something inside was urging her to hurry or she would miss something. Something synonymous to "once in a lifetime".

And God knows how tired she was of wondering what could have been...

The girl's gaze fell on the Attha mansion doors, as the Clyne limousine slowed to a stop in front of it. She noted the presence of two particular individuals barely inside the stately place.

Now or never, she thought, stepping out through the car door Jack had opened for her. After she and Siegel greeted the Representative, her father gave Lacus a gentle squeeze on her arm, signalling that she could go off on her own.

Of course, she made her way to Cagalli (who was obviously uncomfortable in her dress) and Athrun (who was obviously trying to take his companion's mind off her dress situation) to initiate the second argument of the day - and win it, as she always did. The ghost of a triumphant smile was on her lips, then, when she felt her arm brush against someone else's.

"Oh! I'm sorry..." She looked up, meeting a set of eyes the color of aubergine. She found herself unable to say any more.

"Ah, no, it's my fault."

Lacus moved her eyes away from her new acquaintance and noticed his other features. His hair, a dark shade of brown, was unkempt, and the girl had a feeling it had always been that way. His skin was of a slight tan color, as if he had spent most of his life on the beach.

No, she most certainly was not familiar with this person.

Be polite, say something, her good-mannered mind prodded. She gave him a little smile. "I don't believe we've met? I'm Lacus Clyne."

She held out her hand, which was taken graciously. "Nice to meet you, Lacus. I'm-"

"Hey, hey, stay away from him," Cagalli cut in, suddenly appearing beside the boy.

"Hello, Cagalli." Lacus tried to sound icy, but of course the greeting came out as sweet as it always was. "Perhaps you'd like to introduce us?"

The Orb princess groaned. "Fine. But only when you're done shaking hands," she added with a slight sneer in her voice.

Lacus was taken aback at the remark. She hastily removed her hand from the boy's then.

"I'm sorry," they said together.

Cagalli couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Well, as you already know, this is Lacus Clyne," she said, turning to the boy - who looked quite like her, Lacus noted.

"And Lacus, this is Kira Yula Attha. My brother."

Her brother. So this was the cause of all the celebration. "I see. It's nice to meet you, too, Kira."

To her surprise, Kira stared back at her in a seemingly detached manner. Was it something she said? "Um, I'm sorry, I have to excuse myself." With a quick, half-hearted smile he said, "It was a pleasure, Lacus," and brushed past her.

For some reason, the girl felt her chest tighten as she remembered those cool eyes. If looks could kill... She shuddered.

She looked at Cagalli, who looked as shocked as she felt. She even looked on the verge of tears, and Lacus almost wanted to console her for whatever her problem was.

Almost.

Instead, she said, "I noticed you don't have the best brother-and-sister relationship."

Cagalli didn't seem to mind, right then, that Lacus was making a judgmental observation. Which was unusual for her, since most anything Lacus said was likely to tick her off.

"Eleven years apart does that to you," was all the blonde said before she turned on her heels (yes, heels) and walked away, looking for Athrun most probably.

Lacus frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps there was a lot more to the tomboyish Cagalli Yula Attha than she knew. A secret, maybe? Something she could use to her advantage?

Whatever it was, Lacus Clyne would certainly find out.

a/n: Well, I'm saving the Athrun-and-Kira interaction for the next chapters. So yeah. Hope you liked. And I still write on a whim, so the next update is... indefinite. (dodges tomatoes, rotten eggs, pitchforks and other unknown things) I need to have my thoughts collected through meditation and other whatnot. Haha. Till then. :)