All the streets where I walked alone have come to an end.
I.
Six in the morning is a common time for people to get up. At least during the war and if you are a Gundam pilot, that is. A real Gundam pilot would never take "a nap for an hour or two extra" if it exceeds the magical clock number.
Rey Za Burrel is not a morning person. Even though he has never got up later than six AM, he's tired as hell and this result in being grouchier than usual. A normal "good morning" will set him into a heavy mood.
His usual schedule is to eat breakfast as soon as possible, or he'll have Lunamaria to accompany him, which was something that usually happened these days.
But, he actually thought about it and discovered that it wasn't that horrible and therefore walked a little slower to the breakfast hall.
II.
Lunamaria Hawke is a real morning person. Usually, she sets her alarm at five thirty just so she can have some extra sleep but still not enough to fall asleep again. Usually, Meyrin comes and wakes her up when the clock is six AM exactly.
She then happily gets dressed as the thought of sitting down in a Gundam again excites her and she wanders around in the halls of the ZAFT building, waving slightly to the people that walk past her.
Now, if she was lucky and if she walked faster than usual, maybe she could breakfast with Rey!
Without Shinn and without any arguing. That'd be heaven.
III.
Rey sat down in the breakfast hall, seeing as more people came in to eat, just like he did.
Grunt.
It's not that he cared or anything, but Lunamaria was very late this morning. And he couldn't help but wonder if she had gotten tired of him being so quiet and never answering her questions with a response that wasn't "Hn." Or a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
That must be it.
Of course she had gotten to wake up Shinn. Yeah, but it's not that he cared so...
Oh.
Lunamaria had just entered. Without Shinn.
Rey couldn't help the little smile that made the corner of his mouth lift. She was alone.
IV.
She scanned the breakfast hall, seeing that it wasn't many that were as early as she was. She finally found her target, and as she smiled slightly, she walked to the place where she could take her food.
Maybe he didn't notice, but she enjoyed the little moments they had alone.
She took some bread and reached out to take some yogurt.
She knew that it was always Rey and Shinn or Shinn and Luna. There was never, and had never been, a Rey and Luna (or "Lunamaria" as he always says).
And she smiled again as she watched him eat from a distance and thought that they could change that together.
V.
"Hey, Rey." A female voice that Rey recognized way too easy said and Rey looked up, knowing whose face he was about to look at but still raised his head.
"Lunamaria." He accepted the request she had made even without asking and moved his orange juice so she could sit down right across the table. She thanked him silently and looked at his food.
"Hungry, eh?" She mocked him for eating nothing else but some porridge and a orange juice. Rey glanced over his food and observed hers.
"Isn't it obvious?" He raised his eyebrows nonchalantly and Lunamaria grinned at him. She never knew that being sarcastic was this fun.
But everything with Rey was funny. In a weird way.
And Rey glanced at her while hidden by his blonde hair and wondered for a second what she was thinking about.
VI.
Lunamaria poked at her yogurt with her spoon as she realized that she wasn't hungry anymore.
She had tried to get social with Rey, and surprisingly enough, he actually answered with some interest and the conversation was held alive for some time.
Rey then had gone to the rest room, and he said he would be back in a few minutes.
Lunamaria sighed. This was very boring.
She searched the room for her sister, and she finally found the red haired girl, sitting with some girls that Lunamaria didn't recognize but then sighed and admitted to herself that she didn't know the girls that Meyrin worked with so she waved the thought away. As long as she was away from any guys, she was perfectly fine.
In the corner of her eye, she saw some blonde hair and it was way too beautiful to belong to any other person than Rey.
She turned around and was prepared to mock him for being "late" (not that he had a time limit or anything) but was shocked to see that someone was following him.
"Hey, Luna!"
VII.
Rey watched Shinn wave to Lunamaria, and she looked stunned for a moment.
Maybe it was only Rey that noticed, because Shinn sat down next to her and started a normal conversation.
Rey walked around the table and sat down. He observed Lunamaria and Shinn and their conversation. It was obviously about their Gundams, and Lunamaria suddenly got a real spark in her eyes. They shined as she explained to Shinn about some troubles with her Gundam but that "the stupid people that are supposed to fix things like this was too damn stupid to do anything about it" and she actually did it herself.
She was very proud. He could see it in her eyes. He almost snorted and a part of him wanted to tell her that it's not that hard but the other part of him wanted her to feel happy.
Rey shook his head. These conversations that he started to have inside his head was really creeping him out. And instead of discussing Lunamaria's happiness with himself, he looked at her.
VIII.
Sure, Luna liked Shinn and he was a nice person and social and happy and funny but he wasn't like Rey. When she was with Rey, his presence calmed her and she always felt at ease. She felt like the war was over and that this was an ordinary day that started with two friends that ate breakfast together.
Why couldn't it be like that?
And Lunamaria wonders if Rey was like this ('this' being so quiet and not able to open up) when the war was over too. Maybe she could ask him to 'hang out' with her when all of this was over.
But she didn't dare to ask because then he would think that she didn't take this war seriously but she did and maybe he would think that she took for sure that she would survive and the he would survive too but nothing was sure in this world so she didn't ask him.
But she was still confused why he brought Shinn with him. Was it that he thought that she was boring and wanted to take Shinn with him to help him survive the breakfast or did he want to bring someone that could talk to her, because he couldn't?
Augh! Rey was so impossible yet intriguing at the same time.
IX.
Rey knew that she probably wanted to know why Shinn was suddenly at their table at their breakfast time when usually just him and Lunamaria was sitting, eating and talking.
It's not that he could explain it. He didn't look after Shinn so he could follow him to the breakfast hall. No, Shinn found him. But, he couldn't tell Lunamaria that now.
And what was he was supposed to tell Shinn when he asked if he could join him to eat breakfast?
"No, I am very sorry but I am spending some quality time with Lunamaria. If you could excuse me, I have to return to her now so she doesn't have time to worry about my well-being and think that I'm having some trouble with going on the toilet."
Yeah. Because that would be so in character. Rey snorted and got the attention of the teenagers in front of him. He looked at them and averted his eyes from the questioning eyes.
Especially Lunamaria's.
X.
Luna sighed and returned her attention to Shinn. They didn't have time to talk much because suddenly, Meyrin's voice was heard in the building.
"Pilots, be ready to enter your Gundams. Please hurry."
Some people in the breakfast hall stood up and said a swift 'goodbye' to the people they sat with and walked out from the building and made their way to the hangar.
Automatically, both Rey and Luna stood up and started to walk away from their breakfast, and Luna turned around to look at Shinn and motioned with her hand that he should come with them.
The three of them walked to the changing rooms, and after that, they were ready to enter their Gundams. Shinn's Gundam was a bit further away from Rey's and Lunamaria's so he waved goodbye with a smile plastered on his face. Lunamaria smiled slightly and sighed.
As she was about to go to her own Gundam, Rey's hand stopped her.
"Wha-"
"Lunamaria. I didn't invite him." He said slowly and Luna widened her eyes as she realized what he was talking about. She smiled at him, a little touched that he actually noticed that she was bothered with it.
"Yeah. I thought so." She told him, looking at him. This was their secret conversation; both of them knew that it was said so much more than just the things on the outside.
"Good."
And so, he released her arm.
And Lunamaria knew that it had taken Rey a lot of courage to say that little thing to her. And she was proud over him.
'Rey..!'
And when they both were inside their Gundams, preparing to launch, Lunamaria and Rey closed their eyes at the same time and Rey wondered briefly why it was so important for him to tell her the fact that he thought was so obvious.
(...)
And Lunamaria hoped that someday, after the war, she would be able to talk with Rey without any chance of being interrupted by Shinn.
Just a normal day and a normal conversation between two teenagers.
Two friends.
At that time, it seemed almost possible.
But Rey never had those wishes. He didn't dare to wish. But, in secret, he dreams of a future where he could live a life without any fears.
A life where he could live with happiness.
And maybe...maybe with Lunamaria accompanying him.
And as he used his dying breath to whisper his mother's name, he dedicated his last thought to Lunamaria.
To these things that they had.
And to the things that could've have been.
(and cursed himself for wishing and dreaming and hoping for a ending that wouldn't end like this)
...
...
...
FIN.
Ah. I actually like this story. And I happen to be a very huge RL fan and so, I enjoy making these stories.
Hoped you enjoy Ü !