Hey, guys! Back again for another Zexal fix. I'm so happy that you guys liked my other one, and I hope you like this one, too!
"Jack. I love you. Don't ever leave me." A red headed woman gushed to the man in front of her.
"Rose, I could never leave you. Ever! When the ship docks, we'll get off together. I want to be with you forever. I love you, too." The man, Jack, replied to his lover.
"Oh, Jack," Rose said "We have only known each other for such a short while. If my mother finds out about this…" She turned her face to the side.
Jack gripped Rose's face gently. "Rose. It does not matter what anyone thinks. You are the most beautiful person in the world, and there is nothing anyone could do to keep us from each other."
Rose giggled. "That is the most wonderful compliment any man has ever given me."
Rose sighed contentedly as Jack softly kissed her and they embraced in front of the pale moonlight.
Astral cocked his head and gently touched his hand to his heart. What a beautifully gripping moment! He had never seen two humans interact this way. A compliment? Humans must like those. He was completely entranced by the scene playing out in front of him.
Or at least it felt like it was right in front of him.
Astral scooted himself forward in order to hear the TV better. He had been instructed several times by Yuma that the volume needed to be low or else he would get into trouble. Astral frowned as he strained to hear the action playing out on the screen as the two characters jumped in fright as their ship struck what appeared to be a giant frozen monster.
Astral spotted the remote on the floor and reached for it, only to quickly remember that he couldn't touch it. He pulled his hand back and childishly drummed his fingers on his upright knees.
"Hmm…" He pondered as concentrated his powers, sending a burst of energy into the television and listening intently as the volume greatly increased. He smiled with delight and sat back to continue enjoying the film.
"Argh!" Yuma grumbled from his desk, roughly rubbing his eraser against his paper. He was seated at the kitchen table struggling to finish his math homework.
"Akari, can you help me?" He whined to his sister as she typed away on yet another report.
"Sorry, kiddo. I've gotta work. Maybe when grandma gets home from the market she can help you."
Yuma slouched in his chair and grumbled some more. The room suddenly became very quiet and the sound of a TV off in the distance distracted the two.
"Yuma, you left your TV on again? You really gotta stop doing that or else grandma's going to take it away from you." Akari warned.
Yuma chuckled sheepishly. "Well, uh…I guess I just keep forgetting. I'll go turn it off."
Yuma ran upstairs and climbed up into his room, the sound of the TV growing quite loud as he approached.
Upon entering his room, Yuma was greeted with the sight of his ghostly blue friend seated in front of the blaring TV, his arms tightly hugging his knees.
"Astral!" Yuma cried quietly so his sister wouldn't hear "What did you do? I told you to keep the volume down."
"I could not hear the film properly with the sound level you provided. I was able to use my powers to enhance it." Astral replied nonchalantly.
"Your…your powers…?" Yuma shook the thought. "I'm trying to finish my homework and my sister's working. It's gotta be low or I'm gonna get in trouble, and then it'll be no TV for either of us!" He grabbed the remote and promptly adjusted the volume. It was then Yuma realized what Astral was watching.
"Titanic?" He laughed. "Really, Astral?"
Astral turned to him and frowned. "It is a marvelous story, Yuma. These two young people have grown to like each other very much, and now their boat is disappearing into the water because of a giant mountain of ice. I have learned a lot from watching it; you should join me."
"I've seen that movie a million times. Besides, I told you, I have to finish my homework." Yuma turned to leave. "And don't use your freaky alien powers to turn it up again! I mean it!"
It was nighttime again in Heartland as Yuma prepared to ready himself for bed. This time it was his turn to hang in front of the TV, his hands tightly gripping a controller as he enjoyed a video game.
From the back of the room, Astral analyzed the film he had watched earlier. He felt that he understood the relationship of the two characters and how much they grew to care about each other. They had only known each other for a short time, yet their love grew fast and strong. Astral smiled as he related the story to him and Yuma. They had only met fairly recently, yet obtained a great friendship and a trust in one another. It was then Astral remembered what the couple had said to each other. Such lovely things. Something about a compliment…? Oh, yes! Humans liked those.
Yuma grumbled as he faced yet another game-over screen. He turned to his side and noticed that Astral was now seated beside him, staring at him.
"…Yes?" He started. "We're not watching another movie, Astral, if that's what you want. I'm playing a game right now."
"Yuma…" Astral began, trying to remember the words from the film. "Yuma…please don't ever leave me."
Yuma's eyes widened at those words, but he shrugged them off.
"Stop worrying about that, Astral. I told you already, whatever happens, we'll always be together, okay?" He tuned back to the TV.
Astral smiled, the floated closer to the boy.
"Yuma, you are the most beautiful person in the world, and I love you. So much."
Yuma barely had time to respond as Astral summoned up his powers yet again. A strange power surged through him and he gripped Yuma's face gently and kissed him. Yuma's eyes were as wide as they could go and he ripped his face away from the spirit, sputtering and coughing.
"ASTRAL?" He shouted "WHAT. IN. THE. WORLD…?" He wiped his mouth roughly and glared up and the confused spirit.
"I was giving you a compliment." Astral responded. "I'm sorry. I thought you would like it. The woman from the movie seemed to enjoy it."
Yuma then thought back to what movie Astral had been watching and regretted his outburst. The poor guy didn't mean any harm; he didn't understand the difference between romance and friendship. Yuma sighed guiltily as Astral's eyes were now downcast and he seemed both confused and embarrassed.
"It's okay, Astral." Yuma began quietly, trying to figure out how to word his statement without hurting the spirit's feelings. As he pondered these thoughts, he concluded that Astral must feel very strongly about their relationship if he were comparing them to the couple from the movie. He smiled at this and realized how much he cared about Astral as well, and instead of correcting him, he opted to return the gesture.
"Thank you, Astral," He said, reaching out a hand to touch the briefly solid spirit on the cheek, an action which made the other smile. Astral brought up his own hand to cover Yuma's.
"I love you, too."
_Okie dokie! I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it! It gets hard to write for Astral sometimes, because you kind of have to think like an alien! Don't read too much into the ending. It's just friendship fluff. :D Thanks for reading!