Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

A wild ExArchmagus appears around the time of Valentines Day 2013.

ExArchmagus used 'variety' on the mix of fics made for this day.

It will hopefully be super effective.

"Content"=Speech

'Content'=Thought

February 12th, CE 75

Office of Kira Yamato, Armory One:

"Alright, Kira. You called me here... for what?" Shinn Asuka raged as he walked into the Ultimate Coordinator's office and stomped over to where the brunette's desk, putting both his hands down onto the edge of it and leaning over, looking pissed off. 'So I'm about to be put on leave for a while so I can try to 'win Luna back' and he calls me in... dammit.' Shinn thought.

"Settle down. Pull up a chair. I'm finishing this." Kira said in a calm, low tone as he looked at his computer screen as the black haired pilot scoffed and sat in a chair that was near the desk, crossing his legs and tapping his right foot on the ground, indicating his anger and impatience. After about a minute Kira turned to Shinn and looked him in the eyes. "Alright, I know you're very angry that I postponed your break..." Kira tried to say before being interrupted.

"Damn rights, considering Luna wants to break up with me and if I can't see her then that'll be exactly what happens." Shinn snapped.

"Sorry, but this is urgent." Kira said.

"So urgent that your couldn't put your partner in crime, the 'Great Ambassador to the PLANTs from ORB, Athrun Zala', on it?" Shinn said sarcastically.

"Shinn, listen to me." Kira said, giving Shinn a serious look.

"I'm all ears, but this had better be good." Shinn rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kira yelled as he got out of his chair and stood up. "Now, stop back talking me!" Kira said.

"Alright, alright." Shinn replied with a stone face, looking up at Kira as the Ultimate Coordinator sat back down in his chair.

"I need you to cover for me while I leave the PLANTs." Kira said.

"Cover for you? How?" Shinn asked.

"I'm going to have you substitute for me at the Academy. The students need to be evaluated not only by their instructors, but they need to see a high ranking pilot verify their abilities before they are officially recognized." Kira explained.

"Yeah, yeah, I know that. But... me? No... why wouldn't you go do that?" Shinn asked, the Ultimate Coordinator blushing.

"Because... I have something else to take care of." Kira said in a tone that indicated that he wanted to conceal whatever it was that he needed to do.

"What is it? I don't know of anything special happening, or of any top secret missions taking place, and by your facial expression, it has nothing to do with Zaft." Shinn said.

"It doesn't have anything to do with Zaft, but I still need you to sub for me." Kira said as Shinn crossed his arms.

"Well, I don't want to go and monitor students! Do you think they'll take me seriously? Me, Shinn Asuka the pilot of the Destiny? Considering what happened at Messiah? No, they won't, and I'd probably end up breaking arms if you sent me! I won't do it." Shinn said as the purple eyed pilot sighed.

"You do have a point with them egging you on, perhaps. If you want, I could go to the Academy, but YOU would have to cover me and do that other thing." Kira said.

"Well what is it?" Shinn asked.

"Tell me that you'll do it and then you'll know. I need to be absolutely sure that you'll do this for me!" Kira said.

"NO! Tell me!" Shinn said.

"It's either accept this task, find out what it is later, or I'm sending you to the Academy." Kira said, Shinn grunting. 'If he wants to do this, I'll let him... and suffer the consequences later.' Kira thought.

"Grr... fine then. What is it?" Shinn raged.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Kira asked.

"Yes you dumb ass!" Shinn replied as Kira spat on his right hand and stuck it out. "That's disgusting."

"It's necessary. Now swear that you'll do your best to perform the task I'm going to give you to the best of your abilities." Kira said as Shinn rolled his eyes and spat on his right palm.

"You're pushing it, asshole." Shinn said as shook Kira's hands, the Ultimate Coordinator smiling as he did. "Now what the hell do I need to do?" Shinn asked angrily.

"Spend some time with my sister on Valentines Day." Kira said as Shinn's eyes widened, the two breaking their hold on each others wet palms.

"YOU BASTARD!" Shinn raged.

"And now I need to wash my hands." Kira said calmly as he stood up. "Come on, let's go wash our hands and I'll fill you in on the details." Kira ordered.

"Grrr...mgrrrh...krrr..." Shinn groaned, his rage bar building up internally as he followed Kira.

'Hey, I offered you another job, and you didn't take it. I warned you, but you did not heed my words."

Just outside the Attha Mansion, 9:00 A.M., Valentines Day:

The black haired pilot grumbled as he walked up to the door of the Mansion, hesitating as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, a small suit case of clothes at his side.

'Kira gave me this... said to give it to someone named 'Mana'... whoever that is.' Shinn thought as he knocked on the door, preparing himself for the worst. 'Watch her open the door and stick a glock in my face...' He thought as the door swung upon, revealing a rather old, short, and portly women.

"Hello young child, just who may you be, wandering to the Lady's Manor?" Mana asked as she examined Shinn from head to foot, trying to identify if he was carrying anything that may threaten Cagalli, and finding nothing.

"I'm no 'young child', lady! I'm here to see the owner of this house!" Shinn said in a rude tone, shocking Mana.

"My! My! I'm sorry if I offended you! Not just anyone can come up to this building and just request to see Lady Cagalli on a day like this! Besides, she's meeting her brother today!" Mana replied.

"He's not coming." Shinn said in an uncaring voice.

"He's not? Then I must inform the la..." Mana tried to say as Shinn stuck out the note. "For me?"

"And her..." Shinn growled as the women took the note, opened it, and began to read it's contents, her eyes widening as she did.

"Then I guess... you speak the truth, young man. Please the... if you are this... Shinn Asuka that the Prince speaks of..." Shinn interrupted the servant once more.

"Prince? You mean Kira? HAHA! More like 'slave to the pink girl'." Shinn said as Mana put on a 'I'm beginning to get annoyed' look. "Yes, I am Shinn." The black haired pilot said as he quickly pulled out his wallet and opened it, revealing his Zaft military ID to Mana.

"Then come on in. You must speak to the Lady." Mana informed as Shinn walked inside the Attha Mansion, grumbling. However, just as they were about to walk up the staircase in the grand hall, they heard footsteps coming from somewhere upstairs, and soon Cagalli herself appeared, dressed in casual attire.

"Mana? Is Kira here?" Cagalli said as she looked at her servant and then looked at Shinn, her eyes widening as she did. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Cagalli screamed, running to the top of the stairs and riding down the railing to the bottom before marching over to Shinn and putting her right first finger in his face. "WELL?" She asked as he tried to bite that finger.

"Kira sent me." Shinn said in an angry tone.

"Kira? Sent you? WHY? Why isn't he here himself?" Cagalli asked as she took a step back.

"Because he's busy." Shinn replied.

"BUSY? BUSY? So busy he couldn't come and see his own sister and give her a damn visit?" Cagalli asked.

"On Valentines Day? What kind of incestuous relationship is this?" Shinn asked, Cagalli's face turning as red as Shinn's eyes.

"How dare you!" Mana gasped as the Lioness backhanded the sword of destiny himself.

"It's not what you think, you brat! I just wanted to visit my brother! And we were planning a day together to catch up on things for a while... but then... what the hell happened in Zaft?" Cagalli asked.

"He wanted me to go 'evaluate' some brats at the Academy, but I had already taken scheduled my time off... he didn't care apparently and assigned me to it. However he then gave me the option of going here and that he would take my place." Shinn explained in a snarky tone.

"You agreed to spend the day with me?" Cagalli asked, raising an eyebrow as she did.

"Well, not exactly. He told me I had to accept the mission before he would tell me, and... well know I'm here." Shinn said as the Princess narrowed her eyes and looked at him.

"I don't believe that for a second. Tell me the truth!" Cagalli raged as Mana stuck the note between the two of them.

"Princess... what he says is true. The Prince himself authorized this himself." Mana said as she gave the note to Cagalli, who took it and read it, crumpling it as she did before giving Shinn another angry stare.

"Well. Then. You better not ruin my Valentines Day!" Cagalli warned as she threw the note to the ground. "Escort him to one of the spare rooms... I'll be in my office. Do what you want just don't touch anything, eat my out of home... or just... don't even leave your room!" Cagalli snarked as she turned around and went up the stairs in a fit of rage. 'Kira... why? I... you're my... Kira...' She thought.

"Sheesh... no need to be mad." Shinn smirked.

"Err..." Cagalli groaned.

Three hours later, dining room:

The Princess of the ORB Union walked into her dining room only to see a certain black haired male sitting at the table drinking a glass of milk and eating what looked to be a granola bar.

"I thought I told you to stay in your room. Can't even do that, can you?" Cagalli said as Shinn turned to her.

"What, I'm hungry! After the trip I was on to get here." Shinn replied.

"You should at least show some respect to me, considering I'm even letting you stay in my house tonight, rather than tossing you out." Cagalli warned.

"And what would the people of ORB think of their precious Chief Representative did a thing like that? Might give them the same disillusion about you that I have, right?" Shinn asked, biting his granola bar.

"Why you little brat! My people have nothing to be disillusioned about, at all!" Cagalli said as Shinn smiled.

"I know they don't, obviously I was joking." He said sarcastically while chewing.

"But now that I think about it, I should put you to good use." She said as he coughed, chocked a little, and then swallowed his bolus.

"W...what?" He asked.

"When you're done, ask one of the servants to escort you to my document room. We have work to do." Cagalli smiled, turned around, and walked away for about five seconds before turning back. "And you will do this, or else I'll throw you out... into the back of one of my vehicles, got it?" She threatened as he took tried to chew another piece of granola bar and stuck his tongue out at her.

'Bitch.' He thought.

'Brat.' She thought.

Cagalli's Document Room, five minutes later:

"Alright, Miss Totalitarian Dictator, what do you want me to do!" Shinn said arrogantly as he stepped into Cagalli's office, noticing the stacks of paper around the room that were both utterly massive and large in number before he quickly avoided a paper airplane coming at him, turning around and catching it.

"Shut up. Take the documents and reorganize them into piles. That note should tell you what kind of piles." Cagalli ordered.

"All this?" Shinn raged.

"Yeah, and don't look at any of them." Cagalli said as she ate a sandwich at her computer, her feet on the desk. "It's top secret information. If you sneak any peaks I'll have grounds to punish you, got it?" Cagalli warned in a laid back tone.

"And you're just going to sit there?" Shinn raged.

"Yeah, I am. Should have thought about that before you convinced my brother to let you come here."

"I didn't. He violated my time off..."

"You're in the military. Deal with it, dammit." Cagalli said before turning to Shinn and looking him right in the eyes. "Well, get to work? Take too long and I'll make you do something else." Cagalli ordered.

"Screw you." Shinn said as he walked forward and sat down near the first large pile of paper, unfolding the paper airplane as he did.

"Yeah you wish you could screw me, don't you?" Cagalli asked.

"Never."

"Yeah, keep saying that. I can tell you want me, deep down inside. Well, you'll never have me." Cagalli said as she reached for her mouse.

'Bloody Princess...' Shinn thought as he got to work.

Five minutes in:

The pilot of the Destiny gundam was shifting through the piles of paperwork, having managed to make his way through half of his first pile already. However, as time went on, Shinn got a little curious, and began to take little peaks at the documents. However, he was surprised.

'These are all written recordings of parliament sessions...' Shinn thought as he looked at the first page of one of the documents.

"Hey, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be reading those!" Cagalli said as she got Shinn's attention and looked at him with anger.

"Oh, sorry. It's just... hard to tell sometimes where these go." Shinn lied, putting the document on the proper pile.

"I see..." Cagalli said lightly. 'What's he really doing? Why would he want to read stuff like that? He hates ORB?' Cagalli thought as Shinn repositioned himself into a pose where it would be harder for Cagalli to see what he was doing, considering where she was sitting. At this time the Princess had already turned her attention back to her computer, and because of this, she failed to see it.

'Damn... what's this all about?' Shinn thought as he peeled through one of the documents. 'Made sure that after Operation Fury... ensuring the safety of all citizens was a top priority, and minimizing casualties to be a must...' Shinn thought as he remembered his mother, father, and sister. 'Still... damn her...' Shinn thought as he put that back. 'Can't save my family but tries to save everyone else?' Shinn thought as he picked up another document and read it, his eyes widening. 'After the battle of ORB in the First Bloody Valentine War she made sure that everyone who came back to ORB was taken care of properly... and now I wonder... with all these things she gave... if I should have went to Zaft...' Shinn groaned as he continued reading. 'Of course I should...' He said, grabbing another. 'Oh... what's this?' document as Cagalli leaned to her left and looked at Shinn, noticing how he was intensely reading it.

"HEY! STOP IT!" Cagalli yelled, Shinn's head quickly turning to look at her.

"No... this is... this is interesting." Shinn said in a slightly sincere tone.

"NO! Give it here, now! Besides, don't you hate ORB?" Cagalli asked.

"I... I..." Shinn tried to say as Cagalli got up out of her chair and stomped over to him, grabbing the document out of his hands.

"I told you not to look at any of them!" Cagalli said as she began to read it. "This is where I keep all my personal recording of any meetings that occur, for quick reference. I thought that something like this would bore you to death but apparently..." Cagalli said as she realized just what it was that she was looking at. "Why are you reading a copy of the meetings that took place after the Minerva arrived in ORB?" Cagalli asked.

"Because I was curious." Shinn responded in an angry tone and got up.

"You shouldn't be reading this, at all. HOW DARE YOU!" Cagalli said as the red eyed male stepped back.

"Why not? Wouldn't you want me to hate ORB a little less?" Shinn asked.

"'That's why I will never believe a word that you say. I'll never believe in Orb. I'll never believe any of your self-serving lies again.' YOU SAID THAT. TO ME. On the Minerva!" Cagalli replied, her words pushing Shinn back a little.

"Well..." Shinn said.

"Well what?" Cagalli said as she slammed the document onto her desk. "Or are you saying that you now... like ORB? How? Why?" Cagalli said angrily.

"Well! It could have something to do with what you said, with how you acted! When the Minerva left ORB... I thought you guys were being complete hypocrites by joining the Alliance!" Shinn said.

"AH! I get it! So now you realize just how much of a naïve fool you are, don't you? You got mad at me... even though I did everything I could to hold off the signing of that treaty; fighting tooth and nail in a futile battle of words yet never giving up, only to be yelled at by some punk Zaft pilot! You know what it means to be me now? Do you know how much your words... hurt on the inside when you did that?" Cagalli asked.

"I... I... I'm sorry, I guess." Shinn replied. 'I... didn't see things from her perspective... she's... just a girl who was given too much responsibility at a young age and was told 'little girl's playtime is over'... even then she made great use of that power, to do what she thought was right... do... to save a lot of lives. No, it didn't work... but then again not everyone is all powerful. I tried to stop the meaningless loss of lives forever... and failed. I guess that's how she felt. Me being defeated at the end of the war... and her failure to keep ORB in line... same sense of having no power... but not having enough, but still trying...' Shinn thought.

"You're sorry? Pah!"

"YES! I AM! I get it! You did whatever the hell you could to stop the treaty, but couldn't!" Shinn replied as Cagalli raised her right arm and pointed towards the door.

"Just... go back to your room. Think about how you've acted up to this point, how I FELT doing all the things I did in the Second War. The interference at Crete and the Dardanelles... everything!" Cagalli ordered.

"OH fine then!" Shinn raged as he walked towards the door. "I'm guessing you want me to be locked up, considering the rage filled animal that I am." Shinn said.

"I'll come see you later, but for now, stay in your room!" Cagalli responded.

Shinn's room, six o'clock:

The red eyed coordinator sat in his room, on his bed, thinking about random things, the television on at a moderate volume level, yet ignored, as Shinn lay on his bed.

"Wow... I just never thought about it that way..." Shinn said as he thought about Cagalli, when suddenly the door opened and the girl in question walked in, her eyes searching for, and finding him as she walked closer.

"Hey... I'm sorry about what happened earlier." Cagalli said as she sat on the bedside next to Shinn.

"You're sorry? Am I... I must be daydreaming, no, I must have died, gone to hell, and am now being tricked by Satan himself." Shinn said as Cagalli giggled a little, but then put on a serious visage.

"No, you're not. I overreacted. If I didn't want you to read those things then I shouldn't have asked you to organize them. I guess I just wanted to punish you, but human curiosity was something I didn't factor in." Cagalli explained.

"You're admitting to your own overreaction? WHAT?" Shinn asked.

"Yeah, I am. You admitted that your hate was unjustified, didn't you?" Cagalli asked as Shinn blushed.

"Yeah, I did. But... it's just... so frustrating... to see your entire family... your loved ones..."

"Die before your eyes? Yeah, I got the same feel when my father decided to burn both himself, and most of the upper echelon of ORB's government in the first war, leaving me alone... stating that Kira of all people was my brother." Cagalli said as she looked up, but then down at Shinn. "But... we'll talk later. You snuck into my pantry earlier and now I have to wonder... are you hungry now?" Cagalli asked.

"Sorta..." Shinn said as his stomach growled.

"Hehe..." Cagalli giggled. "I'll take that as a yes. Come with me... I had my head chef set up a dinner on the outside balcony." Cagalli said.

"Really? You're inviting me to diner?" Shinn asked.

"Well, it is Valentines day, is it not?" Cagalli asked, the red eyed pilot smiling as she gave him her hand, helping to pull him up, even though it wasn't needed.

The sun was beginning to set on the ORB skyline, a progressive shift between red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple covering the roof of the world above the island nation, projecting a natural beauty that even those in the PLANTs could not experience. As Shinn and Cagalli sat on the balcony of the Attha Mansion, the red eyed teen scanned the area with wandering eyes as some chefs brought out a well-crafted platter of pork ribs, as well as other items.

"Wow... all of this? Why would you have this done..." Shinn said in awe as the chefs left, Cagalli thanking them as they left the two alone, the black haired male and golden haired female sitting in their casual clothes.

"Well you do realize... I was expecting Kira to come and visit me, it's just... I decided not to cancel the plans for today. I was upset. Now, however, I think that canceling the plans would have been a good idea." Cagalli said as she took a large bite out of a rib.

"Uh huh. Why do you want to see your brother anyway, Cagalli? What's so special about him? And why not Athrun?" Shinn asked as he did the same, his eyes looking up to her as she swallowed and began to explain.

"Well... Athrun and me... let's just say we've drifted apart now... I don't think I have a future with him. Kira... he's my brother, and I've known him for longer than Athrun. Even though we're siblings... we do share a special connection... I feel better protected... like I can be at ease... when he's by my side sometimes, even if we are blood." Cagalli said as she drank from a glass of water.

"I see. Wow... that's nice." Shinn replied in a melancholy tone.

"Shinn..." Cagalli said in a sincere tone. "I... I'm really sorry about what happened to your family... I really am. I'm sure... that if..." Cagalli tried to say.

"It's okay. Now I realize... it was an accident. A casualty of war. In these times... the title of being a civilian means jack shit, especially in the eyes of the Earth Alliance. They don't care..." Shinn raged, but in a controlled voice.

"I know what you mean. We trade with Eurasia more than anyone else, but I can never truly find myself in a position to do anything... serious with any member of the Earth Alliance. No big deals... no Alliances... nothing besides being a trading partner most of the time." Cagalli replied.

"Good for you. After seeing what they've done, between the two wars..." Shinn tried to say.

"You never want to be associated with them?" Cagalli said as she finished swallowing a piece of meat, Shinn chomping down another on his own. "Yeah, I get that feeling too. Unfortunately, the whole idea that a nation can isolate itself and be completely independent is a thing of the past, period. Doesn't work... hasn't worked... not in a long time. Even then, ORB is a cluster of islands, not a prairie for farms... we wouldn't be able to grow food anyway..." Cagalli said.

"Yeah, that's bad." Shinn replied.

"So... I have a question. How did you feel... when we showed up at Crete and the Dardanelles?" Cagalli asked.

"Dardanelles? Surprised and stunned, and then pissed off when a new pilot that had just joined our team was killed... Crete... pissed off completely. Although now that I think about it, it was kind of necessary to have Kira perform his last minute save on the Minerva. But still." Shinn said.

"Yeah, they were kind of stupid. The funny thing is that although I wanted to go and intervene at the Dardanelles Kira was actually opposed to it... at first." Cagalli said.

"Kira? Opposed? To going and being Mr. Benevolent Intervention?" Shinn asked as he swallowed.

"Yeah, he was. It was actually Lacus who convinced us to go at go at first. And at Crete it was her words that Kira took to heart. Although now that I think about it, and considering what actually happened... I think it was a bad idea." Cagalli said.

"Bad idea? Yeah, I didn't like it." Shinn replied.

"But then again... Lacus said do it... and therefore we mindlessly obeyed her. As a high ranking member of the Supreme Council she's actually getting on my nerves now. No, not just mine, she's tap dancing on the nerves of the entire ORB government." Cagalli said.

"Why? I don't hear that much about foreign affairs back at the PLANTs." Shinn said.

"Compromise. The word is.. she gives off a sense that the word is not in her vocabulary. She is right, and if you disagree, you're wrong, period. She knows what is always right, what is always good, all the time, based off of her opinion, and no matter what you do, you cannot convince her to budge on anything. I was that way... when I was a teenager. Now that I'm actively involved in ORB's government, I realize that I cannot be stubborn and expect to get everything I want. And to top it off.. she comes off as a sweet and innocent girl despite her many skeletons." Cagalli said.

"Like giving Kira the Freedom? Like hijacking the Eternal? Like having her secret organization sneak into Zaft and steal the blueprints for the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice? Yeah, she did all of those." Shinn replied.

"And even though she used them for 'good'... she thinks that it's not a crime anyway, and doesn't want to admit to her own faults... gah. Sometimes I wish my brother would dump her. Kira outright deserves better. But enough about Lacus." Cagalli said.

"Yeah, enough about that. Although... back to Dardanelles and Crete... I know it failed... I know I got mad at you." Shinn said.

"YOU OPENED FIRE ON ME WITH BLOODY MISSILES!" Cagalli slammed her fists on the table and got up, Shinn smiling and laughing.

"Yes, I did. But still... now that I think of it, rather than being a raging asshole... you did what you thought was right... just like what I did at the end of the Second War..." Shinn said.

"Yes, I did. Everyone does what they think is right. That's human nature..." Cagalli replied as the two finished eating their meals, the Princess looking out beyond the balcony to the sea nearby.

"What is it?"

"I want to go out to the beach. Should be nice..." Cagalli said. ORB didn't really have a 'winter' in a sense, due to it's location in regards to the equator, and because it was in the southern hemisphere, the seasons were different from in the northern hemisphere.

"You do?"

"After our half an hour is up and it's 'safe' to do so." She turned to him. "Want to join me?"

"Umm..."

"After all... Kira sent you here... that makes you my valentine, I guess." Cagalli smiled.

"I guess it does..." Shinn smirked.

Eleven forty five, Cagalli's living room:

The two of them were sitting on the couch together wearing their swimming attire watching an action movie on a big screen television. No, they were not cuddling, but they were sitting next to each other. However as time went on, Cagalli began to lean onto the Destiny's pilot, who was surprised at this development. Unlike the coordinator, she was tired after playing for hours in the water with her valentine.

"Cagalli?" He asked.

"I'm just... a little tired." She said, yawning.

"Oh, but we're not done watching the movie." Shinn said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll just use you as a pillow... unless you want to go sit on another couch. I want to lie down, is that a problem?" Cagalli asked, yawning as she did.

"No, it isn't?" Shinn said as he grabbed the blonde and positioned her so that her torso was on his upper legs and her head on the armrest nearby, and seemed to back into him as they continued watching the film. However, after a while the blonde went to sleep in his arms, and shortly after, he followed.

The next morning:

The camera slowly pans from outside the Attha Mansion to inside it's living room, where the two of them lay together on the bed, having slept in their bathing suits. Groaning, the Princess of the ORB Union wakes up, and before too long, so does Shinn.

"Ugh... ugh... happy... post Valentines day? Is that right, Shinn?" She said.

"Yeah, it is." Shinn replied as the two turned to look at each other, and before too long, locked lips together for a while, until breaking their bonds and staring into each other's eyes.

"You want to..." Cagalli tried to say.

"What about Kira?" Shinn asked.

"Screw Kira... if he let you do this then he'll just have to understand the consequences of what can happen on a day like this. Besides, we're already in very light clothing." Cagalli said.

"You have a good point..." Shinn replied as the two sealed their mouths together again, preparing to take things to the next level...