Author's Note: Hello everyone!!!! Before you rip out my throat, let me explain (or attempt to) myself and my long-absence with this fic. One word: school. Here's another: classes. Maybe two more: no life. Yep, that about sums it up. So if I was too vague, school ruled my life and I had little to no time to think about how to update the fic which I had writer's block for. That said, I must thank ALL of you for being so incredibly patient and helpful readers and reviewers. I really appreciate the support for this fic and I am finally happy with how this story is going to progress.

To make up for my long absence, an extra long chapter!!!! YAY!! Please, please, please review! Even a quick one makes me want to keep writing for all of you!

Chapter 14: Boys Will Be…

The door of Marie Louise’s suite slammed shut as Marie Louise herself strode in, practically stomping her feet in a tantrum-like fashion.

She was met with the sight of Rain sprawled across her bed, her face buried in a pillow; Nastasha lounging on the nearby chair, her fingers massaging the bridge of her nose out of irritation; Shirley, Cath, Janet, and Bunny were all sitting together on the large, plush couch, each looking in a different direction.

Cecile was the only one up and about. She was currently brushing her hair out in front of the mirror, humming a tune to herself.

“Hi there!” Cecile greeted happily as she turned in time to see Marie Louise viciously throw a pile of roses in the garbage. “How’d your day go, Marie Louise?”

With a bitter laugh, Marie Louise pulled off her shoes and flung them across the room into the closet with a loud bang. “It was just fantastic!” she spat sarcastically.

Pouting slightly, Cecile cocked her head to the side. “I’m so sorry. On the bright side, at least you’re not alone,” she gestured towards the other girls, “that’s pretty much the consensus with everyone else as well,” she said, smiling brightly.

“Really?” Marie Louise looked around the room towards the others. She received several nods and a grunt from the pillow Rain was currently trying to smother herself in.

“Why? What happened?” Marie Louse continued.

In unison, the girls answered with a bored, “Boys.”

“Well you know what they say, ‘boys will be-,’” Cecile murmured.

“Clueless?” Rain offered.

“Indecisive?” Shirley chimed.

“Nervous?” Marie Louise mused.

“Stupid.” Nastasha snorted.

Cecile blinked her friends’ cynicism. “I was going to say ‘boys will be boys’… but I guess that your ideas work in this case as well.” She grinned and the others scowled.

“Really Cecile, we might act otherwise, but deep down, we’re happy for you,” Marie Louise groaned as she flopped down on the bed beside Rain.

The others nodded and Cecile smiled sweetly.

Nastasha looked at the others. “One down… many to go.”

- - - - - -

When the girls finally got around to… well, stop moping, they decided to finally uncover what happened on each of their days.

“It couldn’t be as bad as all of you think it is, right?” Cecile, the eternal optimist, said brightly.

They dead-panned as they looked at her.

“No,” Nastasha began, “It wasn’t so bad in the beginning. In fact, dinner and the movie were amazing. It was after that when things went… downhill.”

The Neo-America team giggled. “How was dinner and the movie with Argo, Nastasha?” Janet questioned innocently.

“Yeah, did ya even watch the movie or did you just have to jump him?” Bunny laughed while making eyes and puckering her lips to tease her friend.

Nastasha grimaced. “Yes, we did watch the movie,” she snapped. “Well, some of it anyway,” she added while blushing. She then proceeded to tell them about how the dinner and the movie.

“Oh, Nastasha! That sounds amazing!” Marie Louise, ever the romantic, gushed. Hearts were in her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. It was great up until Argo and I decided to grab a little privacy in his personal quarters on the ship,” she muttered and instantly hated herself for phrasing it in that way.

The girls all started talking at once.

“You went back to his room?!”

“Growl! Nastasha, you animal!”

“Well, how was he?”

“What did his room look like?”

All the questions were pretty much what she expected to hear, except the last one from Cecile. They all turned their heads to look at the blue-haired girl questioningly.

“What? I’m curious about what Argo has in his room!” Cecile said defensively.

Shaking her head, Nastasha went back to the main point. “Settle down. It all went downhill at that point…”

Rain blushed and grabbed Marie Louise and Cecile and squashed their heads to her to prevent them from hearing more. “Alrighty then! I think that’s about enough for now! Nastasha, can you please keep it PG-13?!” she hissed.

Nastasha rose her eyebrow. “Not like that!” she snapped.

Rain scratched her head in embarrassment, “Sorry, continue please,” she muttered.

Cecile and Marie Louise looked at her questioningly but quickly refocused their attention on Nastasha as she began to speak again.

“As I was saying, again, it pretty much went downhill, fast, then,” Nastasha sighed.

“Why? You had him right where you wanted him, right?” Janet questioned.

Nastasha shrugged. “Remember before we all left to go on our dates, we all agreed that while we would try to enjoy ourselves, we would also try to get a little revenge as well?”

The others thought back quickly.

*Flashback*

- - - - - -

Marie Louise groaned for the umpteenth time that morning. “I cannot believe we lost! If George doesn’t make a move today, I swear I’ll seriously think about throwing out all of my clothes and giving my closet away!”

They were all gathered in Marie Louise’s room the night before the guys’ day would begin. Marie Louise and Cecile sat on cushions on the floor while Nastasha stood looking out of the large floor-length window. Rain was sitting on the edge of the bed while Shirley, Cath, Janet, and Bunny were together on the couch.

The other girls knew it was serious then. Marie Louise would never be willing to part with her clothes and huge closet for nothing.

She nodded her head. “Yes, I am at that point right now! Agh! It is so frustrating! If we had won, at least I would be the one making the moves today! Now, I have to wait for George to make the first move, and we all know how well that’ll go… I might as well deem myself a spinster right now!”

Cecile suppressed a giggle. They all knew it was true; the honorable George didn’t seem like he would make a move any time soon. “I kinda wish we would’ve won, also. I mean I trust Sai Sachi to have something planned… I just hope it doesn’t involve clowns, dead fish, or spiders… like our last date.” She shuddered delicately and the other girls looked at her questioningly. “Don’t ask,” she muttered.

“Well, at least you two will be doing something with your guys. There’s no promises of any sort of recreation or, God forbid, “fun” with Domon. For all I know, he’s probably planning to do nothing out of the ordinary. He’ll probably say, ‘We’re going to repair Burning Gundam, Rain. Well? What are you waiting for?’” Rain finished in a perfect imitation of the dark-haired man’s scowl.

“What? Of course Domon wouldn’t do anything like that, Rain! I’m sure he has something great planned!” Janet responded encouragingly, but in a tone that suggested that even she didn’t believe her own words.

Rain snorted in skepticism.

“Okay… so there’s always that possibility,” Janet muttered under her breath.

Rain raised her eyebrows at this.

“Okay, fine! So that’s probably going to happen… it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the day still, right?” Janet corrected herself.

The other girls looked away in embarrassment because they knew it was a very valid possibility for their friend.

Rain sighed deeply and let her face sink into a pillow on Marie Louise’s bed.

“Yeah well at least you all won’t be dragged onto a date with Chibodee, who will probably proceed to flirt with every other girl while you are on a date with him! Man, he is so insensitive!” Shirley raged.

“And stupid,” Cath noted under her breath, to which Bunny and Janet nodded their heads solemnly in agreement.

“Ladies, ladies, now there’s no need to simply give up. Just because we lost the battle doesn’t mean we’ve lost the war,” Nastasha said calmly with a glint in her eye. She turned away from looking out of the window.

“What do you mean?” Rain said curiously as she pulled her head out of the pillow.

“Just that we don’t have to surrender to our supposed destiny,” Nastasha continued mysteriously.

“We’re listening,” Marie Louise prompted as she gazed at Nastasha suspiciously.

“What’s the deal?” Cecile questioned.

“I’m only saying that as women we can still fight back against the guys using… well our own techniques. We agreed to do whatever the guys wanted to do on our days, but we didn’t agree we would act a certain way,” Nastasha finished, smirking at the others.

Shirley’s eyes widened before she began to laugh. “I think I know where this is headed.”

“What? WHAT?!” Marie Louise looked from Nastasha to Shirley.

Rain looked down in thought. “I think she means that we should maybe give the guys a hard time during our dates, right?”

“Precisely.” Nastasha smiled a self-satisfied smile.

Marie Louise jumped out of her position on the floor. “That’s a great idea!”

Cecile nodded her head.

“Count us in,” Bunny winked.

“It’s the perfect plan! Make the guys sweat a little as well!” Janet clapped her hands together excitedly.

Rain frowned. “But isn’t that… a little unfair?”

“Do you really want to repair Burning Gundam tomorrow, Rain?” Nastasha reminded her.

That shut Rain up as she paled from the thought. “I’m in.”

“Good, then it’s settled. Use any and every technique you girls can think of. We’ll show those macho gundam fighters just who they’re dealing with,” Nastasha said strongly as the others nodded in newly-found encouragement.

- - - - - -

*End Flashback*

“So what happened, Nastasha? Didn’t you get Argo right where you wanted him?” Shirley said confusedly.

Nastasha scratched her nose and looked away in chagrin. “So maybe the plan didn’t go as well as I thought it would.”

“What do you mean?” Bunny asked suspiciously.

“Well, you remember that playboy bunny suit Chibodee sent me?”

“Yes.” The girls shuddered at the thought. Nastasha had been particularly hard to retrain from strangling Chibodee for that week.

“… I kinda… sorta… wore it-”

“YOU WHAT?!” Everyone, save Rain, yelled in unison.

“So what? Shouldn’t it have worked in your favor,” Rain said, her voice wondering.

“It should have!” Nastasha fumed. “But leave it to thick-skulled Argo to ruin a moment!”

She then proceeded to tell the girls what happened.

*Flashback*

- - - - - -

In a whirlwind of events, Nastasha found herself in Argo’s quarters on the ship after they had forgotten about the movie and… well… began to make out.

More specifically, she found herself on Argo’s bed. And although she loved and desired Argo, she was still sorta (very) bitter over the humiliation from their defeat at Cops and Robbers. She was definitely going to have some fun with him before doing anything… serious.

Smiling at him seductively, Nastasha broke away from his arms and stood. He raised an eyebrow at her, his breath coming out in uneven puffs from their intense kissing.

Tugging at the knot on her trench coat, Nastasha let it open and fall on the floor, revealing a very… well, revealing playboy bunny suit. The colors were black with red and yellow, an attempt from Chibodee at matching the colors on Argo’s Bolt Gundam.

“Nas…tasha. That’s the… playboy bunny suit?” Argo said questioningly.

Nastasha frowned. She expected him to be all over her when she revealed it and she was ready to make him work for it! But all Argo was doing was staring at her. And not in a good way.

“What is it, Argo?” She asked firmly.

Caught staring, Argo turned away slightly in an embarrassed fashion. “Nothing sorry… It’s just I didn’t think you would wear something like that.” He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to him again.

Nastasha’s hands gently pushed his chest away. “What does that mean?”

Was it his imagination or was she getting upset? He shrugged his shoulders. “Just that it’s very… sexy. That’s all.” He tried to lean forward to kiss her lips but she suddenly shoved him backwards. He stumbled slightly in surprise.

“Oh so you’re saying I’m not sexy enough to wear this humiliating and degrading outfit?!”

“No! I didn’t say that! I’m only saying that I didn’t expect you to wear the humiliating and degrading outfit.”

Nastasha fumed. There was no way he could be that stupid. Boy was she wrong. “Okay so now you’re saying that I’m trashy for wearing this outfit?”

Argo couldn’t believe this. All he wanted to do was hold the woman in his arms and be able to kiss her. The outfit wasn’t helping his urges either. It was definitely sexy in a good way and he was well aware that Nastasha would only wear the outfit for him. “Umm Nastasha, ‘humiliating and degrading’ were your words. Plus I think you’re jumping to conclusions here. I only meant that the outfit didn’t seem very much like you. I don’t understand why you’re getting so upset. It’s not like you.”

“So now I can’t be angry?” She snapped.

Argo blinked. Yep, she was definitely angry. He wasn’t sure why she was getting so pissed though.

Suddenly he remembered when one of his space pirate friends was having girlfriend issues. He had said they would fight when his girlfriend became moody.

Argo laughed and reached out a hand to grab Nastasha’s wrist. She swat it away. “Oh, now I get it. This must be what my space buddies are always laughing at. How women are so moody! Don’t worry, I’ll be more sensitive to your feelings since I know you’re probably PMS-ing as my friends refer to it as.”

Nastasha’s eyes widened a fraction and her mouth fell open before she grabbed her trench coat and stormed out of the room. “Unbelievable! That’s it, I’m leaving!”

- - - - - -

*End Flashback*

Shirley groaned. “He didn’t!”

“Yeah, he did,” Nastasha confirmed with a grimace.

Rain touch Nastasha’s shoulder in sympathy. “I cannot believe he used the PMS-card on you.”

“I know! The man is unbelievable!” Nastasha growled.

After the girls had consoled… more of calmed down the irate Nastasha, Cecile went into the details of how wonderful her date was.

“Aww, Cecile! That’s adorable!” Marie Louise squealed and hugged her friend.

Cecile blushed. “Yeah it was! So let’s hear about what happened on your date, Marie Louise.”

The smile that was on Marie Louise’s face a second ago disappeared and a scowl replaced it on her pretty face. She turned to Nastasha. “At least Argo was romantic during the dinner and the movie. George decided to dive right into the ‘clueless’ category right in the beginning of the date!”

The girls got comfortable for the story.

*Flashback*

- - - - - -

The Rose Festival was a beautiful celebration in Neo Hong Kong and Marie Louise had been impressed that George would pick such a romantic location for their day. After smelling dozens of different perfumes of roses and other flowers, George and Marie Louise had gone to see the numerous flower creations that had been made for the festival.

There was a particular flower arrangement that caught Marie Louise’s eye. It was of approximately 12 dozen bright pink roses in the shape of a large heart. When she pointed it out to George, he pulled her over to show her the one that caught his attention. It was of a mixture of different colored carnations and roses in the shape of a gundam. Marie Louise fought the urge to tear her hair out in exasperation.

George bought her about 3 bouquets of different roses. He made sure to avoid the red ones that signified romance.

All day George had been the perfect gentleman. He paid for everything, opened doors, and pulled out seats.

He was too much of a gentleman for Marie Louise’s liking.

It irked her that he would avoid any and all conversation on the subject of their relationship.

What relationship? Marie Louise thought bitterly. George was practically pretending that he was babysitting her!

During their ride on the rose covered ferris wheel at the festival, Marie Louise silently counted her blessings for the small seat that the two shared and the fact that they were now 300 feet in the air. George couldn’t run from her now!

Turning to look at the man in front of her, her breath caught in her throat. The setting sun in the distance shed a bright orange light on the two of them. George’s orange hair accented with the light, almost turning it to a beautiful gold hue. His face was looking straight into the distance, the profile handsome and striking with the sun in the background.

“Miss Marie Louise?” he asked concerned as he caught her staring at him with her mouth agape.

Noticing that he was looking at her expectantly, Marie Louise shook her head to rid the thoughts. She already knew he was handsome but sometimes it just seemed to catch her off guard!

As their gondola neared the top of the ferris wheel and slowed to a stop, Marie Louise grabbed both of George’s hands, surprising him.

“Miss Marie Louise?”

“George,” she started softly, looking at his hands in hers, “when will you stop calling me ‘Miss’ or ‘Princess?’ We’ve known each other for years now. I would like to think we’ve gotten over the formalities.”

Was it her imagination or had his eyes softened a little? “But you are a princess and I am obliged as a knight to show you respect.”

“George, I know I have your respect. But there’s something else I want from you,” she continued as she leaned her face towards him.

“And what would that be?” he mumbled somewhat distractedly.

“You know what,” she whispered.

He gazed at the girl in front of him who was getting closer and closer. Her eyes drooped closed and her soft, pink lips seemed to pucker a little as she neared him. And he couldn’t seem to move away or provide any excuse to get away this time.

Frankly, he didn’t want to. Almost like a magnet was attracting him to her, his face inched towards her, his own eyes slowly shutting.

And then the ferris wheel jerked alive and the two sprang apart in shock to hold onto the edges of their gondola. George remembered his senses and looked over the edge of the gondola, scooting as far as possibly as he could from the girl. He needed to remind himself of what he was doing. “Miss Marie Lousie, I wonder if your father would enjoy this ride? If I remember properly, he wasn’t too partial of heights, correct?” George rambled on in a cheery tone.

Marie Louise drummed her fingers on the side of the gondola. “He wasn’t too partial of cowards either,” she muttered to herself so he couldn’t hear.

- - - - - -

The rest of their day had been the same. Every time Marie Louise thought she had the gundam fighter cornered, he would somehow squeeze out of the situation and bring up her father, as if to remind himself and her of what was proper.

You should have just asked him out then! Marie Louise wanted to yell to him. God, get it together Marie Louise! You can do this! A little flirting ought to loosen up her knight in shining armor.

Pulling the strap on her sandal open when George turned around, Marie Louise straightened up as he turned back to her. Being as coy as she could, she then casually dropped her straw hat on the floor.

Ever the gentleman, George quickly knelt to pick it up for her. Allowing herself a small victory dance in her head, Marie Louise made a show of looking down as George handed her the hat.

“Oh George, it looks like my sandal strap came undone! Can you please just fix it?” Marie Louise practically purred.

Oblivious to the mischievous girl, George smiled. “Of course, Princess! It would be my honor!”

Marie Louise hiked up her skirt and put her foot out towards him. Concentrating on the shoe, George didn’t notice her pull her skirt slightly higher to show a generous amount of leg from where he was stooping.

“All don-” George stopped in mid-word as he was met with the sight of a pale, creamy leg.

Marie Louise fought off a satisfied smirk. Womanly wiles came in handy. “George? Is something the matter?” she asked innocently, bending her torso down, allowing him a view of her bare shoulders and collarbone.

A faint blush appeared on the handsome gundam fighter’s face. I wonder if her skin is as soft as it looks, he vaguely thought before his eyes widened at his less-than-innocent thoughts about the pretty girl in front of him. She’s the princess, she’s the princess, she’s the princess! he chanted to himself.

“I umm…. N-n-nothing’s the matter! I just was… I was thinking about… how… how this crack on the pavement should be filled up! Yes, that’s it! It’s quite dangerous, you know! You could trip here! We should report it to the authorities immediately!” He stuttered as he quickly straightened up and proceeded to walk towards the security booth to report the “dangerous” crack.

Marie Louise’s eyes were frozen in the place George was a moment ago. A. Crack. In. The. Ground.

A damn crack in the ground had beaten her in catching George’s attention! You have got to be kidding me! She nearly screamed out loud in frustration.

- - - - - -

*End Flashback*

The girls gaped at her. Marie Louise nodded her head in confirmation of what they were all thinking.

Rain cleared her throat. “A crack-”

“-in the ground?” Shirley finished for her.

Again, Marie Louise nodded her head.

Then all of them started laughing out loud.

“It isn’t funny!” Marie Louise shrieked.

Bunny wiped tears of mirth from her eyes as she calmed down, gasping for breath. “Sorry… Marie… Louise… it’s just that… he haha… he used the… lamest… excuse…”

“I know, I know!” Marie Louise wailed, throwing her face in her hands.

Cecile patted her back while fighting the laughter that threatened to spill from her lips.

“What about Chibodee?” Marie Louise muttered from her hands.

That shut Shirley, Cath, Janet, and Bunny up immediately.

Marie Louise turned to look at them in surprise. “What happened?”

Shirley had fire in her eyes as she spat, “Well, while George was having trouble showing his feelings, Chibodee has none.”

“He also has no restraint,” Bunny chirped.

- - - - - -

*Flashback*

Chibodee and the girls were sitting in the little cart that would take them through the haunted house. The girls were all giggling and huddling close to Chibodee.

They were all in a giddy mood really. Their feelings for the goofy, but caring blue-haired man had only intensified during the gundam tournament. They all loved him for saving them so many years ago and offering them a different life. But they all knew in their hearts who was in his.

Shirley.

The feisty red-haired girl and self-proclaimed leader of their little group had managed to surprise and keep the cheery gundam fighter on his toes.

Bunny, Cath, and Janet all knew that Chibodee would eventually fall in love with a girl, and they were more than happy that it so happened to be Shirley. The rest of them would never stop loving Chibodee, they would simply find their own soul mates. Shirley and Chibodee were destined to be together. They all knew it.

At least they all thought they knew it. Chibodee seemed to be having trouble remember this oh-so-important bit of information.

And so the girls found themselves beginning the ride with Chibodee’s arm slung casually over Shirley’s shoulder on one side while the rest of the girls sat next to Shirley. Yet when the ride started, a young woman in the seat in front of them turned around to wink at the famous Neo-America gundam fighter.

Unable to resist flirting, Chibodee leaned forward and scared the girl, making her giggle ridiculously. Grinning widely, Chibodee took his arm off of Shirley’s shoulder and stood up while the cart moved slowly on the rails.

“I’m just gonna move up. You gals don’t mind, right?” Chibodee asked as he threw his leg over the seat dividers and began to chat with the flirty tramp in front of them.

“Of course not,” Shirley spat as the other girls sulked. They spent the rest of the dark ride , alone, screaming at the fake blood and skeletons that popped out of the darkness.

Unable to see anything wrong with the situation, Chibodee dragged the other girl along with them on their date. He even bought her to dinner!

By the end of the day, the other girl had given him her number and he had promised to give her a call.

Janet felt like punching the girl.

Cath was close to punching the other girl.

Shirley was close to punching Chibodee.

Bunny did punch Chibodee.

- - - - - -

*End Flashback*

Rain gasped. “No he didn’t flirt with another girl on your date!”

Shirley nodded her head stiffly. “He did. The jerk can’t see what’s in front of him!”

Marie Louise patted Shirley on the arm while Cecile hugged the other girls.

“There has to be a way for you to get Chibodee’s attention for good,” Cath said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, maybe I should try Bunny’s technique and punch him. That seemed to get his attention for, oh a few minutes,” Shirley muttered nastily.

The other girls sighed deeply with the revelations of their awful days. Then suddenly remembering they hadn’t heard all the stories, they turned towards the brown-haired woman, who was staring off in the other direction, apparently trying very hard to keep the attention off of her.

“Rain,” Nastasha’s voice said firmly.

Rain flinched. “Yes?” she asked feebly.

“You haven’t told us about your day yet,” Marie Louise reminded her as the others crept closer to the now visibly fidgeting Rain.

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be too boring to hear,” Rain said, laughing weakly.

The others raised their eyebrows and glared at her expectantly.

“Spit it out.”

“…fine… well, it all started after we got into the core lander together…”

I changed the set up for this chapter and had the girls basically describing the details of their dates by looking back in flashback instead of having them be on the dates in the present time. Was it easy to understand the transitions? Did ya like it?! Let me know! Thank you! :D