Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed.

Ribbons

"Kira?"

Though the stage workers and technicians were rushing about him, he heard her soft voice and turned immediately. "Yes Lacus?"

She stood before him in her pale pink concert outfit, looking a bit nervous but smiling nontheless. "Could you help me with something?" Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she paid no mind to all the ruckus around her.

Kira was confused, but nodded and followed her from the curtained stage to the hall beyond, and her dressing room. The dull roar of the impatient crowd faded as they entered the small area and she shut the door. Outside they could hear someone shouting "ten minutes people!! Ten minutes!!"

Lacus walked past Kira and to her dressing room table, where she picked up a handful of long silk white ribbons. "Would you mind terribly helping me with my hair?"

He looked at her, baffled. "N-not at all, Lacus, but...I'm not any good--"

"That's fine." She smiled as she picked up a brush as well, and handed it to him along with the ribbons before sitting down in the chair facing the vanity.

Kira wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He looked from the brush, to the ribbons, to her long hair and settled on getting the tangles out first. "How do you want it done?" As he spoke he lifted a section of her hair and began to gently brush it out.

"Two braids please." Her eyes were closed and her hands were folded in her lap, as if she had all the time in the world.

He was beginning to doubt himself. "Are you sure you don't want me to go get someone else? I don't want to mess up your hair..."

"No. I want you to do it." She opened her eyes and smiled at his reflection in the mirror. "And you don't have to be so gentle."

Kira relaxed a little, starting to realize that this wasn't about her needing his hairdressing skills. She sometimes got nervous before a big show, and liked to have a little reassurance. "Alright." He paused to part her hair, letting her hold one side down while he brushed the other out one more time. "You mentioned that you were singing new songs tonight."

Lacus had gone back to her relaxed state, eyes closed once more. "Most of them are new. I feel like I've changed so much from the person I was two years ago...sometimes it's hard to sing a song when you can't really relate to it anymore."

"What are they about?" He had begun the awkward process of braiding, and was trying to incorporate one of her ribbons in with it like he had seen others do before. Despite his enhanced skills, though, it didn't seem to be working out too good.

"It's...hard to explain," she said, fiddling with a ruffle on her dress. "The feelings in the songs, I mean. You'll just have to listen."

There was a knock on the door, followed by "Miss Clyne, five minutes!!"

"Thank you," she called back. Then in a lower voice she asked "you will be listening tonight, won't you?"

"Of course." Kira loved her singing. Her voice was one of the first things that drew him to her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just wanted to make sure, because the first song tonight is especially for you." She turned her head, knowing the first braid was done and smiled.

Kira blushed. "You didn't have to write a song for me!"

Lacus laughed at his reaction. "Of course I did. You're such a large part of my life, how could I not write or sing about you?" She turned back in her seat and let him start on the next braid.

This time he was better at the whole process, and it didn't take him as long to get the long hair untangled and started. "You're...I wish I could do more." He couldn't even manage braiding her hair right, yet she wrote a song for him.

"I'm the one who should be saying that." Her expression was wistful. "You've suffered so much, Kira, and here I am feeling nervous about a concert. I feel so petty." A somewhat bitter smile revealed itself.

He took a moment, finishing the bow at the end of the braid before turning her chair around. "Don't ever say that, or feel that way." Kira took her hands and pulled Lacus to her feet. "I could never repay you for what you've done for me." His eyes were staring right into hers, trying to convey his feelings.

Unable to find the right words to say, she simply flung her arms around him, not caring about messing up her dress. Without a word he escorted her to the stage, where he kissed her lightly before leaving to find his reserved seat in the front row of the audience.