Hey there guys, it's been a while. Anyway, too tired to rant. I've gotten a decent amount of this 'one shot' written, so I figured I might as well put up the first part. Yes, it IS a one shot, just a rather over-sized one that I have split into parts. It was inspired by 'Travelling Soldier' by the Dixie Chicks. There are parts in here that may be OOC, but I think it makes it so much more fun.

If you review, I will love you forever, I promise.

I do not own Gundam Seed.

It was a typical Friday night. The regulars had all settled in, liquors of choice in hand. She heard the rowdy calls, the drunken laughter, but paid no attention to it. She was used to it now. She had been working as the bartender here every second night for the last two weeks, and she had adjusted quite well. She had only had a few run-ins with the customers, usually the sleazy old men or the cocky young ones. She rested her chin lazily in her hand as she leaned on the bar top, eyes gazing blindly at the fluorescent lights of the jukebox. And then, things changed, The atmosphere shifted, became more tense, and she wasn't the only one to shift her eyes curiously to the door. She could hear loud voices even over the ruckus within the building. And when the door opened, she knew why. Fresh recruits. Not necessarily new, but soldiers itching for a fight. It took but one glance to identify them. They were from the PLANTS. A growl built in her throat; nothing good ever came from the PLANTS. Orb was often their departure point, so this meant that soon another spout of fighting would begin. Silence fell over those that had already been in the pub as the soldiers filed in, seemingly in their own world. She straightened, eying the men warily. She had been warned about them. They told her that fresh soldiers were rowdy, loud, and typically craving the physical contact that they may not receive for some time. Was it really so hard to go without intimacy for a little while? Honestly, in her eyes they were the lowest of the low. Fighting for causes that may not even exist. She saw no point in it. But, being 'freshies', they were bound to get hammered, which meant a good profit for the pub. If they didn't destroy the place.

"First round is on Yzak!"

The cry went up from the crowd, and a silver haired man looked stunned. "What? Who said?!"

"I did." A blonde grinned back at him, challenging him.

"Your turn next then."

"Fine with me. Get going, I'm thirsty."

The silver-haired grunted and turned towards the bar. She readied herself as she saw his eyes run over her, seemingly surprised to see a female behind the bar. He leaned on the bar top, a cocky grin on his face.

"Hey there."

"What can I get you?" She plastered a grin on her face, ignoring his obvious attempts to be charming. Uniforms didn't do it for her, especially not the rather tacky red uniform of the PLANTS troops.

"Beers. Uh..." He turned around to do a quick headcount. "14. And one for yourself."

"No drinking on the job allowed." She muttered as she turned to begin retrieving the glasses.

"Surely you can join us for one."

"Nope, afraid not." She heard his disgruntled scoff. Clearly, he wasn't used to getting rejected. She slid the first of the beers onto the mat in front of him.

"Might want to get someone to help you carry them."

"Why, doesn't the service here include assistance?"

She glanced at him with a forced smile. "Not if you want the rest of these drinks poured any time soon."

Sadly though, she knew he was right. The pub owner wouldn't be pleased if he heard she had been rude to the customers. Pouring the drinks was only part of the job. She finished pouring the final beer, and placed half a dozen of them on a tray, lifting it and carrying it carefully out from behind the bar. She walked hesitantly to the table. Still, the most noise in the bar was coming from them. She edged into the group around the table, careful to keep her body to herself. She didn't want to tempt fate. She slid beers in front of the men that didn't yet have one, smiling faintly as she did so.

"Anything else, just ask." She hoped to God they didn't hear her.

God wasn't playing nice.

"Well, in that case..."

An arm looped around her waist, pulling her backwards and down, crashing her onto one of the laps. The blonde haired man that had done the nominations for drinks leered at her as he tightened his grip around her waist. Her gaze hardened, glaring at him.

"This is a bar, not a brothel."

"What, you don't want a nice tip?"

"Not from you, no."

His grin broadened. "Well there's 14 of us, so that's another 13 to pick from."

"Make that 15 of us!"

The silver-haired guy from earlier added, sending a glance towards the door where a solemn faced soldier was entering. Cagalli twisted a little to glare at the newcomer, flinching as she felt the blonde's arm tightening. The newcomer walked straight towards her, his eyes fixed on her. She swallowed nervously, testing herself against the restraining arm to see if she couldn't break away. She didn't want to go wriggling around, that could cause something... awkward. The man's shimmering green eyes surveyed her in silence for a moment, before a hand shot out to slap against the side of the blonde's face.

"Dearka, release her."

Dearka blinked, stunned, before obediently letting her go. She immediately leapt up from his lap, and shot a wary glance at the dark-haired man who was still watching her.

"Another beer, if you wouldn't mind."

She nodded quickly before skirting around him and retreating to the bar. He followed her, standing silently to wait for his liquor. She poured it quickly, hoping that speeding up now would make the rest of the night pass. As she passed the drink over to him, he caught her gaze with his.

"Ignore Dearka. And if my suspicions are correct, Yzak as well. War goes to their heads."

She blinked numbly for a moment, before nodding briskly. "I'll do that. And apparently it goes to more than their heads."

The man chuckled, still holding her gaze. She just couldn't convince herself to look away.

"I'm Athrun Zala by the way. And you are?"

"Cagalli. Cagalli Yula Athha."

He nodded slowly, before shooting her a smile. "Sorry, if I had arrived earlier I could have stopped those idiots."

Her gaze slipped past him to the idiots in question. "If it wasn't for the fact that I would be fired, they wouldn't have managed to lay a finger on me."

"Oh really?"

She nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. I've dealt with worse."

"Oh I don't know about that. Blood-thirsty and sex-hungry soldiers are on a whole new level, Miss Athha."

"I'm sure they are, but they are still just men. I can deal with that."

"I'm not sure you could."

She bristled. If there were two things she couldn't stand, it was being doubted and being thought of as incapable. This Zala was doing both. So what if he had saved her ass. "Stop being so sexist. I'm sure I could manage."

"Do you want to test that?"

The grin on his face made her shudder a little. It was a challenge, that was for certain, but oddly enough she found herself reluctant to accept this one. "I can't, I'm on the job."

"Later then."

She watched him warily as he turned away and dragged a chair over to the table where his comrades sat. She wasn't looking forward to this.

11:30 came, and the regulars were slowly beginning to file out of the pub. The soldiers were making no move to leave, even though the pub was due to close in half hour. She reluctantly stepped out from behind the bar and headed for the table, standing with her hands on her hips.

"The bar is closing in half hour. Start finishing up please." Without waiting for a response, she turned and returned to the bar. She heard the irritated murmuring at the idea of having to step out into the night and going without a drink in hand for the rest of the night. But, it didn't bother her. She just wanted to get home.

Just a few minutes before closing time, the PLANTS soldiers stood up and left. Cagalli breathed a sigh of relief as she walked out to their table, scooping up the empty glasses and any other mess they had left. She worked quickly, robotically, getting the bar ready for closing. Once it was, she fished the keys out of her pocket and left the building, locking it behind her. She took a deep breath of the still night air and turned to begin on her way home. Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw the figure standing directly in front of her, and she staggered backwards.

"Something wrong?"

She recognised the voice. Zala.

"Not at all. Do you have a problem?"

"Not at all. Just thought I'd walk you home."

She scoffed. "I've gotten home fine on my own in the past; I don't need you to escort me."

"In the past, there hasn't been 14 drunk, sex-crazed soldiers wandering around, has there?"

"And you aren't one of them?" She surveyed him with an arched brow.

"No. I'm not wandering around, I'm taking you home."

"That's so very reassuring." She stepped around him, walking as quickly as she could without being noticeably in a hurry. She heard his footsteps, slow and lazy behind her.

"So, where do you live?"

"Around here."

"Ah. I guess I'll find out soon enough."

"Are you purposefully being annoying?"

"No. I'm being a gentleman."

"Gentlemen don't stalk ladies."

"I see no lady."

"Oh what, you swing the other way then?"

"Would it bother you if I did?"

"Not at all."

"I'm sure it would. You'd be bothered by the fact that you are considered manly, wouldn't you?"

"I've never been called manly in my life."

"Really? You should have."

She stopped and turned, eyes flaming. "If I'm so manly, I can look after myself. So piss off back to your quarters or wherever you dogs live."

He continued walking towards her, stopping a few paces away.

"You're snappy. You should have had a drink, you need to loosen up."

"I don't need your advice. Now, leave me be."

She turned on her heel and continued walking. Moments later, she heard his footsteps again. "Goddamn it just go home already!"

She twirled to face him, and within moments an arm was around her waist and she was pressed firmly against his body, her lips covered by his. Her eyes were wide, and her fingers clawed at his shirt, struggling to push him away. His lips broke away from hers, allowing her glare to achieve its maximum affect since she could twist her lips into a frown.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed.

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like you are proving your comment right."

"Which one? The one about you not being up to the standards of fighting off a soldier?"

"No, the one about you being sex-crazed."

He smirked and chuckled. "I think both."

She snarled at him. "I could fight you off easily."

"Oh really? Then why aren't you?"

She blinked numbly, before lowering her gaze a little to rest at the point where their bodies connected, namely, their chests. A blush crept onto her cheeks as she realised her body was still crushed against him. She slammed her hands against his chest, trying to tear herself away from him, but his grip around her tightened and the smirk on his face widened.

"Well?"

"Let me go."

"That's no way to prove your strength."

"I'm serious. Let me go. Now."

"Nope."

She let out a low growl as she threw a hand at his face, which he caught easily with his free hand.

"Surely you can do better than that."

"Let. Go. Of. Me." She hissed between her teeth, attempting to pull her hand out of his grip with each word.

He leaned his head towards her, holding her gaze with his. "Make me."

She grinned. Her foot lifted off of the ground and slammed down onto his instep. He winced and inhaled sharply, loosening his grip on her. Her fist then hit his stomach, albeit lightly, and he pulled away. She grinned triumphantly at him before spinning around and running. She had to lose him and get home.

She walked into her small flat and breathed a sigh of relief. She emptied her pockets onto the table before heading for the bathroom too change. She was headed straight to bed. Cagalli showered quickly, before changing into the over-sized shirt she opted to wear to bed and walking back out into the living room, stretching her arms over her head. She heard a light tapping, and turned to look towards the door for a moment, confusion on her face. It hadn't sounded like a knock, but it was the only possibility. As she turned away from the door she heard it again, and screamed, slapping her hands over her mouth. There, standing at the window across from her, was a grinning Athrun. She hurried over to the window and pulled it open, glaring at him.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I'm making sure you got home alright."

"I got home fine, so bye."

With a grin, he placed his hands on the windowsill and launched himself inside. Cagalli stumbled backwards away from him as he watched her with a smile.

"Get out."

"It's impolite to not invite a visitor inside."

"You aren't a visitor, you're a pest."

"Actually, I'm a soldier."

"Same thing, different name."

"Not really. You could probably fight off a pest. If you don't want me here, make me leave."

"Gladly." She stepped towards him and gave him a rough shove back towards the window, but he hardly budged.

"C'mon, seriously. Give it a try."

She glowered at him.

"Wearing a men's shirt suits you, Miss Athha."

She paused for a moment, staring at him. A cool breeze from the window caressing her legs made her realise what she was wearing, or lack thereof, and she flew at him with a snarl. Partway across the gap between them, she stumbled over her own feet in her fury, and fell. She let out a muted cry as she felt her body hit his, knocking him over with her. As soon as the ground was under Athrun's back, she made to pull away but his arms were locked onto her waist. He looked up at her with a smooth gaze.

"I don't much like being on the bottom."

He murmured, before almost effortlessly rolling them both over so that he was leaning over her, his legs on either side of hers and his hands by her shoulders. A grin slid over his face as he looked down at her shocked face.

"I prefer being on top."

Cagalli regained her composure and sneered at him. "Yeah? Well I prefer the top too."

"What are you gonna do about it? You wanna fight me for it?"

"Sure."

"Like to see you try."

"Give me a time and place and I'll take you down."

"Here and now."

She gazed up at him, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. She huffed and turned her head to the side, looking away from him.

"I'm not in the mood."

"I can fix that."

His lips crashed down on hers, and her eyes widened much like earlier. But this time, she didn't push him away. Her hands slid around his shoulders, her body acting on the impulses brought on by the spell he had seemingly cast over her. Her body writhed beneath him, and he slowly pulled his lips off of hers, gazing down at her with a slight smile.

"Ready to give up?"

"Nuh-uh." And she found herself reaching for him, searching for his lips.

He obliged all too readily, returning her kiss as he slid off of her and scooped her into his arms, pulling her onto his lap. She straddled him eagerly, her lips not once leaving his. All her worries and cares had disappeared. Her hatred for soldiers, her hatred for the man she wanted so badly right now, was gone. His hands caressed her body, sliding over and under the shirt she wore. He hitched it up to her waist, burying his arms in the material as his hands ran over her bare skin. Her skin tingled where he touched it, and she shivered as his fingertips trailed across her back, around to her stomach. They were both breathing heavily now, though her own breathing stopped momentarily when his hands moved to her chest. The dragon in her stomach raised its head and roared, sending heat and lust through her. She succumbed to his touch. He felt her body soften, her lips and body mould to his. He smiled against her lips and slid her off of his lap, stood, and scooped her up again, carrying her in his arms. The arm he looped under her legs served another purpose as his fingers gently caressed her thigh as he followed her breathless directions.