Disclaimer: I do not own GS or GSD

Chapter 1

She sighed as she looked through the window, into the patient's room. She could not believe it. Life seemed so unfair sometimes. Still, she managed to smile as she felt his arms around her waist.

"What did the doctors say?" asked the young man after placing his head on her shoulder.

"He'll be allowed to leave tomorrow, in a wheelchair though… But in one month, he'll –"

"Let's not talk about that now"

"Kira!" turning around, she looked at him in disbelief. "How can you say that? What if –"

"Lacus…" pulling her delicate body closer to him, he continued, "He'll be alright. It's Athrun we're talking about… He's strong. Don't worry too much, he'll definitely be alright."

Truth be told, there was no conviction in what he had just said; only hope that his best friend would indeed hold on…

It had been three days since their visit to the hospital and Lacus couldn't help worrying about Athrun. So, there she was, sitting at her desk, trying to grade her students' papers, to no avail.

Athrun had left the hospital two days ago. It had been decided that he would be staying at Kira's old apartment. That would be easier for him since he would not have to deal with reporters who would surely be surrounding his house in search of a scoop about his recent accident.

Lacus fought to keep her lips from twitching. Though she'd never admit it, thinking about all this terribly bothered her… The problem was that the whole apartment thing had been Kira's idea, so she felt as if she was doing nothing to help Athrun.

"God! Please, help me find an idea to make his stay pleasant!" she silently prayed, out of frustration.

In any case, she knew it was the least she could do for him after all that he had been through and everything he had done for her.

She had first met him when they were six. Their parents had been business partners at that time. They had become fast friends and with passing years, as they grew up, so did the feeling they had for each other. They eventually ended up dating but that was before her meeting with Kira, Athrun's best friend. Athrun had introduced them and she had soon found herself attracted to that clumsy and boyish man. Though hurt when Lacus decided to break up, Athrun finally gave them his blessings and was even the best man at their wedding a year ago. After all, he had realized that Lacus considered him more like a brother than anything.

Right, Athrun had always been forgiving… But that was only one of his qualities. In fact, he was often referred to as the 'God's gift to women'. He had the looks (long midnight – blue hair (1), emerald-green eyes, a slim but athletic figure, a body you'd pay to touch… Well, you get my point), the brains, the wealth (being the heir of a multi-billion worth company, The Zala Corp), and almost everything else a woman could wish for. Difficult to believe then, that he was still single. But he was, and had even been voted The Most Eligible Bachelor of Plants by Women's Weekly, a famous magazine for women (duh).

How unfortunate then that he had long lost his trust in women… The fact that he had been tricked once had largely contributed to his desire to remain single. He had realized that they were like gold diggers and that he was the gold; they were merely interested in him for his money and his power. (Well, with the exception of Lacus…) Because of women like those, he had become bitter and even more so after his accident. He had completely lost his faith in humanity…. That was also why Lacus was so keen in helping him. She wanted the old Athrun to be back…

The sound of the bell made her snap out of her thoughts. Her students would soon be coming to class and she had yet to finish marking their papers… She sighed as she tried to steady herself. Fortunately this was going to be her last class with them before their one month winter vacation. Realizing she would never be done before her class, she decided that she'd just give them their papers back after the school break. That was one of the advantages of being a high school teacher. So, she was slowly gathering the papers to put them back in her drawer when the idea she was looking for suddenly popped into her mind.

She grinned. Why hadn't she thought about it before?

The bell rang announcing the end of the session.

"Phew" as much as she loved her job, dealing with her students on their last day of school was tiring. They were all so excited. Collecting their possessions, they were about to leave the classroom when Lacus cleared her throat.

"My dear students, would you please go back to your seats," she said in a firm but friendly tone.

They all obeyed. Lacus was the type of teacher you had to respect. She was admired by them all, not only for her intelligence, her compassion but also her extreme beauty. They said that she could have been a model or a pop singer for she also had an angelic voice. Sure she didn't find herself bad-looking, having long silky pink hair, baby blue eyes and a figure that had made some men drool. However, she had never thought about doing anything else than teaching. She had always been good with children and adolescents and after two years as a Social Studies and Human Relationships teacher, she was very proud to say that she had never faced any kind of problem with any of her students.

She smiled. "You did not really think I'd let you off without any homework, did you?" There started to be sounds of protest within the class but it stopped when she chuckled.

"Don't worry! It's not the boring type of homework you usually do for me. Take this one as a special assignment. Your task will be to take care of an invalid or old aged stranger for this whole month, after which the latter will have to write a report on how nicely he was treated by you. Eventually, you'll be given marks on his report. So what do you think about it?"

They all gasped. She had actually been expecting such a reaction from them.

"But Madam, we won't have time for this!" exclaimed one of the backbenchers, trying to reason her out.

"I'm sorry, Yuuna, but you'll have to find time! Did I forget to mention that the grade for your finals will be affected by this assignment?"

With that, they understood there was no point in arguing with her. They'd just have to do it, willingly or not.

"Well then, that's about all. I wish you all a very nice vacation!" she added sweetly.

They grabbed their bags and started to leave. Almost all of them looked like their souls had been sucked out of their bodies. Adolescents were indeed easily depressed.

"Part one of the plan complete, now on to part two," she mumbled.

"Cagalli, could you please wait?" called Lacus for a blond haired girl who was had almost reached the door.

The latter turned back and glared at her.

"Yes Madam?"

Lacus smiled at her. The classroom was now empty with the exception of them both.

"Is something the matter, Cags? What's with the Madam?"

Another glare, but she eventually answered…

"What's the matter? It's your stupid assignment! Now those guys will all head to the home for the elderly and I'll have to see them like, EVERYDAY!!"

Though almost everyone would have flinched with a pissed Cagalli in front of them, Lacus did not.

"About that, I think it's about time you start mingling with people of your age. You can't spend all your non-studying and non-working time helping elders. Also, shall I remind you that for my assignment, you'll have to take care of a stranger? Which means that all those elderly people are unfortunately, excluded…"

"You must be joking, right?" said Cagalli, who was now understanding the situation a little better.

"Nope, but don't worry. I've found you the perfect candidate for the assignment," taking a piece of paper out of her pocket, she handed it to Cagalli. "Go there tomorrow, okay?"

She took the piece of paper but did not seem convinced.

"Why do I have to do that?"

Lacus sighed. She had known that this was not going to be easy.

"Please, Cagalli. The truth is that a friend of mine and of Kira's too by the way, got into an accident, and as you know, we won't be in Plants for the next two weeks as from tonight. So I, I mean, we need someone we can trust to take care of him. Take this as a favour you're doing us, please?"

It was Cagalli's turn to sigh. How could she refuse now? Lacus's ability to convince people was sometimes terrifying.

"Can we count on you?"

"Okay ," replied the blond, a bit reluctantly, "But make sure to go easy on Kira! It's like the fifth honeymoon trip you're having since your wedding…"

"In fact, it's only the fourth!" said the pink head defensively.

Cagalli had to laugh at this. If someone had told her that she'd become Lacus's sister in law, she would never have believed him. Her life had changed so much in the past year, and fortunately, for the better.

"Okay then, I'll be going. Have a safe trip!"

With that, she turned around and finally left the classroom, unfolding the piece of paper she had been handed. There, written in Lacus's handwriting were those simple phrases:

Alex Dino

74 years old

Injured in an accident

Cags, be at Kira's old apartment by 10 a.m. tomorrow!

He's temporarily living there...

Thanks,

Lacus

"Alex Dino, 74 years old, huh? Maybe it won't be that bad to take care of an old aged person outside the home…" she thought on her way back.

First chapter up! Sorry if it was a little boring. Please review to tell me what you thought about it or PM me if you want me to clear something up or if you have any suggestions... Oh btw, once again, I'd like to thank pinkberry for her encouragement.

(1) Not as in GS or GSD... It's much longer, hmm like Hayate's in Prétear

Till next time,

cara410