Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD and we all know it. R&R&R please.

Chapter 15

Cagalli had insisted that she go back into the water to find a nice shell for Lacus, and maybe one for Kira too, although it was quite dark by the time they left.

She knew he had no obligation to stay behind with her, but he had chosen to, and she had been thrilled even though she tried not to show it and remained silent. He would leave soon, she had to get used to being without him once more, and she was furious at the unfairness of it all. She could get used to not having him, but only if she had a year to try and forget, but it had taken a few hours only to remember her longing for him.

Then the moon had found its way from behind the dark clouds and the water was illuminated with all the shells she could possible choose from glimmering t her from the sand at the bottom of the sea.

So Cagalli had taken off her shoes, deposited them on a nearby rock as she had before, and waded right in. She had shouted that he needn't follow her, but he had done likewise without really knowing why he wanted to get himself wet again.

And there they were, wading around in the sea with his pants rolled up to his knees in a comical fashion and her skirt hitched up and tied on one side to reveal her shorts that he had teased her about and stopped only when she threatened to punch him. He never understood why she had to wear shorts underneath, but her quirks had been like a net that drew him in. He lightly asked her, "Are you sure you can choose a shell? From what I see, you've got a tough decision."

"But I'll get that shell for Lacus, if it's the last thing I do," she assured him confidently.

She was having a hard time choosing her mind, and stunned him when she suddenly sighed and flopped down in the zone where the sea met the coast, soaking herself entirely amidst all the glimmering shells. He looked down at her and saw that her eyes were closed even while her hair and clothes were getting soaked with salty water.

"Are you alright?" he asked her concernedly, raking his eyes over her to see if she was tired or anything.

Without opening her eyes, she sighed contentedly.

"Yes. I just want to stay like this a while longer, then I'll just take the first shell my hands can feel, since I can't make up my mind. You pick one too for Kira, go on."

So he bent down and chose a delicate conch shell which had one side lined with mother of pearl which made it glimmer. Then he saw a little oyster shell which had been abandoned by an oyster with a dent in the middle.

Squinting at it, it was possible that the oyster had formed a pearl and dented its own upper shell. Ignoring the floating Cagalli, he took a small, wet rock and knocked the jagged edge against the little dent of the oyster shell and bore a hole through it. The dent had weakened the region enough for a little knock to break the centre and it was a surface with a hole in it now.

Smiling crookedly, he took the string from his neck and slipped off the ring, placing it securely in his pocket, before stringing the little deformed oyster shell on.

"Cagalli," he said softly.

'Yes?" she muttered, still not opening her eyes but flopping over to face him even though she hadn't opened her eyes as of yet. She looked like a mermaid that had been washed upon shore with her soft blonde hair drifting in the sea and her features highlighted by the moon.

"Sit up straight," he commanded, and he crossed over to her as she sat upright, dripping wet from the back on the shallow ocean bed. He knelt; close behind her and flung the string with the oyster shell strung upon it over her head and tied it securely into a knot.

Her eyes were opened now, and her fingers were accidentally entwined with the string and his own. He wrapped his fingers around hers and didn't let go.

"What's this?" she questioned inquisitively.

"An oyster shell I found" he muttered as he fiddled with the string so the knot was at the nape of her neck below her hair.

"Ah." She said, and freed her fingers from his to pick up the shell and look at it.

She was silent and he was afraid she would pluck it off her neck, but she turned herself partially around so she could face him and said simply, "I like it. Thanks."

His clothes were now as wet as hers because he was now sitting in the water and hugging her from behind and she was settling into his awkward embrace in return. Cagalli would have turned to face the sea once more, but he kept her head sideward the way she had turned it towards him previously and kissed her very gently to test the waters, trying to ignore the loud thumping of his heart.

A few seconds later, she had pushed him away and stumbled up, dripping water as she quickly ducked her head downwards and her hands found a random shell and she hastily plucked it out from the water.

"L-let's go now" she muttered, her fringe hiding her eyes from him. He was staring at her, dazed, and he reached out to brush the hair from her eyes but she swept away his hand and refused to look up or let him see her eyes.

And then she grabbed the shell for Lacus and stumbled out of the water, tripping slightly, but he held onto her and pulled her down to him, not quite caring that they were getting wetter than before.

"Let go." She stuttered, cursing herself for not being able to form proper words and the way she was betraying her nervousness.

"No," he said obstinately although his voice was firm still, "Do you still feel for me?"

"Yes" she said with a little hesitation, "but what happens when you leave and go back to PLANT? Where will we be then?"

"Does that matter?" he cried passionately, "Why can't we be together even if there's distance between us? You know I could give up being ETERNITY's chairman if you wanted me too!"

"Because you have better people suited for you everywhere else but here with me, although we both know now that we probably could handle ourselves and our responsibilities at the same time if we tried. Meyrin or some other girl would make you as happy ormore happy than what I can do," she answered equally stubbornly, still trying to pull her hand away.

"That's not true!" he shot back, "and you know it better than anyone else!"

He managed to pull her down to him and she landed terribly and ungracefully with a loud splash and he swiftly ran his hands through her wet hair and pressed her face to his fiercely, effectively cutting off her violent protests. Then his heart started beating so loudly again he thought she could hear, because he knew she was responding to him, but something went off his mind and he cut them off and pulled both of them to their feet, swivelling his head in all directions to assess the situation.

"What is it?" she was asking breathlessly, her lips fuller than ever and swollen, but he bid her to be quiet and pricked up his ears.

"Stay here" he ordered, and although it pained him immensely, he tore her hands from him and ran towards the cliff, repeating his command for her to stay there. She was wary too, she knew something was bothering him but she couldn't identify what it was.

He knew that someone was watching them. He knew it.

"Athrun!" she cried very suddenly from behind.

He whirled around, alarmed at her cry, and saw her staring at the nearby thicket of bushes and trees in the forest beyond the other side of the cliffs.

Athrun bounded over to her and pulled her out of the water.

'What is it?" he asked tensely, seeing the way her lip was quivering and how her gun was already in her hands. If she hadn't felt threatened, she wouldn't have pulled out her gun so quickly.

"Someone was hiding there," she said cautiously, "but I pulled out my gun and he ran off."

He looked around, but there was no movement at all.

"Come on," he said confidently. "There weren't any photos taken, because I didn't see a flash or hear a click, and in the proximity, if there had been a camera, the obvious would have been seen by us."

She looked around, not quite trusting his explanation, then when she saw nothing, she relaxed and slipped the gun snugly unto the pocket of her skirt.

"I didn't know you had a stun-gun with you," he said, amused at her guerrilla instincts.

"You have one too, and I bet the one you have now is not just a stun gun, don't you?" she retorted, fetching his coat he had placed on the rock where their shoes were.

He wore the coat and put his arms into the sleeves, then grinned as she dipped her hands into his pockets and retrieved his own gun, fully loaded with bullets.

"I knew it!" she trumpeted in victory, not quite alarmed that he was equipped with a fully-loaded revolver and was ready to kill if need be. She knew Athrun was an ace crack shot, he'd never miss the arms and legs of an enemy if he didn't want to aim for the head or heart.

"Alright." He conceded. "Let's go home now."

She looked up at him, scrunching her eyebrows a little, and he was struck by how much she looked like Kira from some angles. Kira had been slightly shorter than him, about four centimetres the last time he had noticed, and Lacus was thankfully about a hundred and sixty centimetres tall next to Kira, who was a hundred and seventy centimetres tall.

But Cagalli was exactly four centimetres taller than Lacus, an the ten centimetre height difference from both the males and females, Kira and Cagalli not withstanding, was quite coincidental to say the least.

"Home?" she questioned, "I thought you were living at a different PLANT Embassy house for this trip?"

He chuckled, took her hand and led her across the sand.

"Kira said he'd lend me his clothes and there're plenty of rooms now that most of the ambassadors have left." He said, not quite hiding his glee.

"Oh," she said nervously, "Then I can't wear those pyjamas Lacus wanted to lend me today."

"What do you mean?" he asked as they got into the car.

"W-ell, they're pink and pink's not really my colour so…" she trailed off, a little embarrassed that he would see her looking as if she had been hired to advertise cotton candy or something like that kind of thing.

He snorted with laughter and turned to key to start the engine.

When they finally got home and rang the bell, since neither of them had keys, they heard a rush from the inside to get to the door, and in an instant, Kira had thrown open the door and announced, "I have good news! We're getting engaged!"

They stood, shivering the cold and staring at the beaming Kira who had his arms akimbo and a smile that didn't look like it would ever disappear plastered across his face.

"Umm, I hate to break your bubble," Athrun began cautiously, "but Kira…"

"Yes?" the brown-haired coordinator said excitedly.

"Hell's freezing over and we want to come in!" Cagalli yelled impatiently.

Kira noticed them shivering pitifully for the first time and said very calmly and wisely, "Ah."

When they got in and shut the door so the cold night winds of Berlin couldn't get in, Lacus bustled up to them; smiling so dazzlingly that Cagalli rushed and hugged her so tightly that the songstress squealed like a child.

"Congrats!" she cried, and pressed the shell she had taken from the beach into Lacus' hands, Lacus beamed, even though she was now a little wet from Cagalli's dripping hug and said, " I'll treasure this, Cagalli."

Then he remembered the shell he had taken for Kira and casually handed it to Kira who knocked the little corners and promised to tinker with it the next morning if he had spare time.

And then Lacus abruptly turned to Athrun and said seriously, "We need to finish up the last of the list."

He didn't mention the fact that she was the one who got distracted because he was afraid Kira would go all weird on them, so he promised to finish it up that night after he took a shower first.

But by the time he got to the shower, the door had already been closed and he could hear some horrible tuneless singing issuing out from it.

"Cagalli?" he bleated piteously as he stamped his legs in an effort to be warm.

"Uh-yes?" she gurgled.

He sighed and muttered, "forget it," and slumped off to set up his QUINd and finish up the last three names although he could feel salt crystals forming in his hair already.

A few minutes later, Athrun sat in the meeting room, staring hard at the QUINd, still wondering what to do about Finn Amaris. Then he made a decision there and then and put Finn's name on the finalised list of approved candidates. He wasn't about to deny a fifteen-year-old the chance to start afresh in a new environment where he had a chance to make new friends again. Who knows what might happen?

Another name was disturbing him. The final name he was dealing with was a twenty-two year old working adult, Jun Thornier. Jun Thornier had been living in America, EA territory for his whole life, and he had relatives who supported the Blue Cosmos in ORB, although they had died in the war.

Jun wasn't particularly fond of Coordinators though, and although he had personally volunteered to join the Relocation Project, Athrun wasn't quite sure that someone who regularly suppressed his chronic depression with drugs could take the newfound stress o living in a foreign environment permanently. He sighed and placed Jun Thornier under the list to be re-evaluated.

Then Lacus glided in as he finished, and she saw that he had completed his task and giggled at his mangled, wet hair, saying that she'd combine their reports and send it together while he took a shower.

He gratefully stood up and took Kira's spare towel and some comfy looking flannel pyjamas he wouldn't have worn normally, and moved quickly to the bathroom.

Cagalli had been blowing bubbles, he realised.

Although she hadn't flooded the toilet like he would have half expected, there were bubbles on the ceiling that must have floated up and got stuck there. As he lathered himself well, Athrun evaluated his chances and knew the time was almost right. The ring was still in his pocket, the ruby still like a single drop blood, but fiery and tireless.

When he had bought the ring, he had used two month's entire pay as a redcoat, but that hadn't quite deterred him when he had left for ZAFT when they had been eighteen, but not before awkwardly presenting it to her by taking her hand and slipping it on clumsily and kissing her goodbye.

He wondered why it had to be so ironic that the day after tomorrow was the day he was leaving for PLANT again.

He finished showering quickly and rinsed the remaining salt out of his hair, then dried himself, dressed and stepped out, keen to see if there was anymore work assigned by his secretary so he could complete it during the night and have his day off with her tomorrow. He would have to leave and she would similarly go back to ORB and then they'd be apart.

The truth was, he didn't want to leave without her with him.