Hello, everyone! First fic on the account, and possibly the last. My urge to write strikes at the most random times. Anyway, this is a Gundam SEED Destiny fic, because I adore the show, and Lunamaria and Shinn and my love for them was renewed when I found out their voice actors had gotten married. How sweet right? Anyway, I was stalking Shinn's Gundam Wiki page, and I saw this "Shinn has shown to be a very kind and gentle person mainly to his two love interests in the series, Lunamaria Hawke and Stellar Loussier, both of whom he is very protective of." Then this idea just popped into my mind and I just had to write it.
Disclaimer:I do not own the series Gundam SEED Destiny, nor do I profit from any work of fanfiction that I post online.
EDIT (26/11/11): Xx Meisha xX pointed out that the ending was a tad rushed, and I had to admit, it was. It was fast approaching 3am when I was finishing, and I was really tired. So I've made some changes, and added some new stuff as well. I hope it's better now!
Lunamaria was rudely awakened by someone yanking the covers off her. Exposed to the cool air of approaching winter, the eighteen-year-old opened her eyes; ready to maim whoever had awoken her from her slumber.
"If you were still a soldier, you'd be dead by now." The boy addressed her, a hint of an amused smile on his face. He was doing up the last button on his Orb military uniform.
Lunamaria snorted. It wasn't ladylike of her at all, but she couldn't care any less – she had been friends with Shinn since they were barely teenagers, as well as survived a war on the frontlines with him. She highly doubted he cared about her manners. "Well, thank heavens I'm a civilian now then," she groaned as she pulled her pillow over her head.
"Get out of bed, Luna." Shinn grabbed both her hands and lifted her into a sitting position. "Meyrin left for school already, and she told me to make sure you were awake before I left. If you're late again you're going to get fired."
Finally relenting, she stood up, sniffing indignantly at Shinn.
Shinn grinned as she muttered obscenities under her breath the entire way to the bathroom. He took it upon himself to stand at the doorway to make sure she brushed every single tooth. Once she had rinsed her mouth, she shooed him out, before taking a shower. Shinn was still outside the bathroom when she emerged from the bathroom.
"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Shinn smirked.
Lunamaria made a face at him. "No," she replied grudgingly.
Shinn reached over to ruffle Lunamaria's wet hair. "That's my girl," he teased.
Awkward silence engulfed the pair without warning. It had been a little over the year since the war ended – since Shinn and Lunamaria had agreed to break off their relationship and instead remain as best friends.
Lunamaria choked a little in surprise when Shinn stuffed a bagel into her mouth, breaking the silence with her coughs. She hadn't even realised he had been holding onto it. "Now go get dressed and get out of my apartment!" Shinn pushed her back towards her bedroom.
"Our apartment," Lunamaria reminded Shinn, chewing on the bagel as she proceeded to change.
By the time Lunamaria was dressed, she felt much more energetic than when she had first awoken. To her surprise, Shinn was still home. "Aren't you going to be late for work?" she asked.
Shinn looked over at the clock in their living room, shaking his head. "I still have time," he told her. "Want me to drive you to work?"
Lunamaria nodded, and let Shinn drive her without any further complaints. Half an hour later, he pulled up in front of the quaint little café where she worked as a waitress. In truth, she didn't really need a job. Her parents had left behind a fortune, enough to pay for Meyrin's education, as well as the apartment. Coupled with Shinn's high-paying military job, the trio really had no trouble financially. But Lunamaria was bored of moping around at home, and with her naturally friendly personality, she found waitressing enjoyable.
"Thanks for the ride," Lunamaria smiled as she opened the passenger seat door, about to step out. Changing her mind at the last second, she turned back and gave Shinn a kiss on the cheek, laughing at his reaction before hopping out, waving as he drove off.
Lunamaria looked at her watch. Disbelieving, she checked her watch to see if it was faulty. She had always been on time, or late occasionally; never a full half hour early.
"Someone's early today," a voice commented.
Spinning around to face the person, Lunamaria met face-to-face with her co-worker and friend, Hitomi. The girl had straight blonde hair that ended in ringlets, and the bluest eyes Lunamaria had ever seen, although Hitomi had assured her time and time again that she was a Natural.
Lunamaria shrugged, walking towards the staff entrance to change into her uniform. "Only because Shinn drove me."
"I saw you kiss him earlier," Hitomi continued, "you sure you two aren't dating? Because I would love to run my fingers through that sexy tousled hair of his."
"Sexy?" Lunamaria laughed, "you can't hug the guy without getting attacked by his hair. How is that sexy? And no we aren't dating. He's my best friend, Hitomi. Although, if you're interested, I've kissed him once."
Hitomi's eyes widened in excitement. "Like, on the lips?"
Lunamaria nodded, silently amused by her friend's excitement over such a matter. "I knew there was something going on between you two!" Hitomi exclaimed, "How come you guys aren't together anymore though?"
"When we got together," Lunamaria sighed, straightening the bow on her uniform, "we were both driven by impulse, along with the fear that we might not survive the war. But now that everything's over, we wondered if our feelings for each other really were romantic. We didn't want our friendship to be damaged if our relationship turned sour, so we both decided to break it off and go back to being friends."
"You make it sound as if you were constantly in danger during the war." Hitomi narrowed her eyes at the young Coordinator. "Orb was pretty peaceful most of the time."
Lunamaria sat down on a bench, and motioned for Hitomi to take a seat next to her. "I guess I haven't been entirely truthful with you."
Hitomi raised an eyebrow at that, but remained silent, prompting Lunamaria to continue.
Lunamaria looked around to make sure the changing room was empty, dropping her voice to a whisper as she confided in Hitomi. "Shinn and I were ZAFT pilots."
Hitomi's jaw dropped open, but a skeptical look crossed over her face again. "You're not telling me everything, Loony," she accused.
"We were Red Coats." There was a small gasp from Hitomi. "We were stationed on the Minerva." A bigger gasp this time. And lastly, "I piloted the Impulse, and Shinn piloted the Destiny."
Hitomi had a hand on her chest, as if willing her heart to stop beating so fast. Lunamaria thought she had lost her first friend in Orb when the girl suddenly let out a happy squeal.
"Oh that's so romantic!" She gushed, "Just imagine how worried you two were for each other every day."
"I'm glad you find my dark past so interesting, Tomi," Lunamaria laughed, relieved that her friend wasn't angry at her. Or worse, scared of her. "Don't tell anyone though!"
"My lips are sealed," Hitomi winked at Lunamaria, just as another waitress popped in to tell them to prepare for the café's opening.
Lunamaria had just greeted some customers a nice day when another one walked in. He looked slightly older than her, with dirty blonde hair and rich hazel eyes. He smiled at Lunamaria as he walked in.
"This way please, sir," she directed him to a booth in the corner and placed a menu on the desk.
The man flipped through the menu, looking uninterested, before placing it back down and stared at Lunamaria. "Are you ready to order?" she asked, smiling.
He placed a hand on his chin. "What would you recommend," – he pulled away the clipboard she was holding to her chest to look at her nametag – "Lunamaria?"
"T-The peach Danish is a crowd favourite," she stammered.
He licked his lips, smiling gently at her. "I asked for your recommendation," he urged.
Lunamaria swallowed, suppressing the sudden urge to run all the way back to the apartment and duck under her covers. "I love the chicken pie and potato wedges."
"I'll have that then."
Lunamaria wrote it down on her clipboard and was walking away when the man grabbed her wrist. Startled, she nearly threw him to the ground and attacked him. Thankfully, all she did was stiffen, and she silently cursed her soldier reflexes. The man chuckled at her slightly terrified expression. "My name is John, and don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."
Lunamaria bowed apologetically before running off to submit the order.
All her life, Lunamaria had always been 'one of the guys', and she had never had anyone hit on her like that before. She did think John was extremely cute, but being an orphaned ex-soldier had made her wary of strangers. Especially good-looking charmers. But when she returned to his table with the order, she felt less intimidated, and more determined not to make a fool of herself.
"Sorry about earlier," she said as she placed the food on the table, "I'm just not used to guys –"
"Hitting on you?" He completed her sentence.
Blushing ferociously, Lunamaria nodded. John shook his head in disbelief. "A pretty girl like you – I don't believe you've never had a boyfriend."
Shinn's face popped up in her mind's eye, but he was never really her boyfriend technically. Shrugging a little, Lunamaria shook her head before leaving John to finish his food. When John had cleared both plates, he waved Lunamaria over for the bill. He took out the exact change for the food, before slipping a fifty into Lunamaria's hand.
"Buy yourself something nice with that," he smiled, looking as if Lunamaria should be kissing his feet in gratitude for the money.
Lunamaria frowned at the money. "I don't need it," she told him, putting the bill back in John's hand.
John seemed unfazed by her action. "Well then, would you like to go on a date with me instead? How does Friday sound?"
Internally, Lunamaria panicked. Friday was only three days away! But on the outside, she nodded. "Friday sounds great."
John passed her a piece of paper and a pen, asking her to write down her address. "I'll pick you up at seven," he told her. Lunamaria hesitated; she really shouldn't be giving her address to guys she barely knew.
"Are you a Natural?" Lunamaria asked before she could help herself.
He seemed a little surprise by the sudden question, but nodded. Lunamaria felt a little more at ease after knowing that. Despite the fact that she was smaller than him, she was a trained ex-soldier. It wouldn't be too hard to take down a Natural if he ever tried anything funny. Penning down the address of the apartment she shared with Shinn and Meyrin, she passed the paper back to John.
He looked questioningly at the address. "The waitressing job must really pay."
Lunamaria shrugged. "Dead folks, and a friend who works for Chief Representative Atha; waitressing is pretty much just a hobby."
"I see," John nodded, a smile on his lips again, "I'll see you Friday then."
Lunamaria nodded, smiling as well. "Friday," she repeated.
"I can't believe you're going on a date!" Meyrin exclaimed excitedly, frantically rummaging through Lunamaria's closet to find the perfect outfit for her date later that evening.
"I can't believe you're going on a date," Shinn repeated Meyrin's words, but with significantly less excitement. In fact, he seemed sulkier than ever sitting on the bed watching the two girls. "You don't even know the guy!"
Lunamaria flopped herself over Shinn's lap, and grinned up at him. "That's what dates are for, silly. To get to know one another."
Shinn made a face at her, admitting defeat. "Do you think you could handle the guy if he does anything?"
"Of course I can!" Lunamaria pretended to be offended, "You're talking to a former ZAFT Red Coat here!"
Shinn rolled his eyes at her, although he laughed. "You piloted a Mobile Suit; it didn't require much hand-to-hand combat." However, he seemed slightly more appeased.
Meyrin threw Lunamaria the outfit she had chosen, and pulled her older sister off the raven-haired boy's lap and into the bathroom. When she emerged, she was wearing a figure-hugging pink dress with a long zipper down the entire length at the front. Lunamaria had only zipped it up until her mid-torso, showing the white lace halter top she wore on the inside.
The younger Hawke sister wanted Lunamaria to wear a pair of black heeled ankle boots, but Shinn objected vehemently. "If that guy turns out to be a creep, and you had to run away, I can assure you, you won't get anywhere in those."
Meyrin was slightly disappointed, although she agreed with Shinn and finally settled on a pair of pastel pink slip-ons. Just as she put on the shoes, the doorbell rang. Frantically applying some lip gloss, Lunamaria hissed at Shinn to hide.
"But I want to meet this guy!" he protested.
Lunamaria placed a hand on her hip. "If you met every single one of my dates, I'll never get a boyfriend until the day I die. Now, go!"
"Fine!" Shinn snapped, "I need to head back to work anyway." He then returned to his room, presumably to change, slamming the door angrily in hopes that this John guy had heard him and was smart enough to figure out that someone was not happy about his date with Lunamaria. Meyrin also went to her room to give the two some privacy, although she was much quieter than Shinn had been.
When Lunamaria opened the door, John stood there with a bouquet of a dozen red roses. Lunamaria smiled as she took it from him and placed it on the kitchen countertop.
"Did I hear a bedroom door slam?" John questioned.
Lunamaria laughed a little. "It's just my little sister. She wanted to talk to you but I didn't want her to scare you off so I told her to go to her room," Lunamaria lied.
"Oh, I really don't mind," John told her.
The magenta-haired girl shook her head. "She'll be fine," Lunamaria insisted, "let's go?"
John led Lunamaria to his car, which looked extremely expensive. It was the new model everyone had been talking about – the one where the controls were unlike other cars and instead based on Mobile Suits. "Can I drive?" Lunamaria asked without thinking.
"The controls are based on Mobile Suit controls," he explained, not knowing that it was precisely the reason why Lunamaria wanted to drive, "best to let an expert do the driving, yeah?"
Lunamaria almost wanted to laugh at his sexist attitude, but then she wondered if it was normal for guys to treat girls like that. She wouldn't know after all. Choosing to forget about John's remark, she slid into the passenger seat, fingering the controls in the interior. She never realised how much she missed piloting a Mobile Suit until now. Maybe she could ask Shinn to bring her to work with him someday.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when John pulled over. As Lunamaria got out, she realised that he had taken her to a fancy restaurant. She had heard of this place; Shinn had promised to take her and Meyrin there someday but never got around to it.
"Reservation?" An attendant asked.
John nodded. "McCallister," he informed her.
The woman checked the list, confirming John's reservation and waved a waiter over to being the pair to their table. Scanning through the menu provided, Lunamaria ordered the lobster bisque while John ordered the cold seafood platter as well as some wine. Lunamaria declined the alcohol, and realised that she had no idea how old John was.
"I'm sorry for asking," Lunamaria said while waiting for their food to arrive, "but how old are you?"
"I'm twenty-two," he replied, "And yourself?"
"Eighteen," she responded meekly, wondering if John wouldn't like her anymore after hearing how young she was. She also mentally noted not to tell Shinn how old John was - that guy would probably have had a fit if he was a day older than Lunamaria; if he found out John was four years older, he'd probably die of a heart attack. John seemed amused at her age though.
"You seem older than you are," he commented.
Lunamaria smiled politely. "The war has made me grow up. I had to take care of my sister after my parents' demise, so."
It was then that John's hand brushed against Lunamaria's thigh. The girl froze, but he apologized and moved his hand away. Forcing herself to forget the incident, they carried on with the conversation.
"Tell me more about yourself," John asked.
Lunamaria contemplated the idea. She understood why he would want to know more about her, yet on the other hand, the first date was way too soon to find out about her military past. "You first," she deflected the question.
John placed a hand on his chin, resting his elbow on the table. "What would you like to know, Lunamaria?"
Lunamaria thought about it for a while. "Did you always live in Orb?"
John nodded, and affirmative to her question.
"That must be nice," Lunamaria smiled softly. As a child, her family had moved from city to city in the PLANTs, due to her father's job as a military officer. Then when her parents had passed away, she joined the Academy. And after that, the Minerva had become her home. When the war finally ended, Lunamaria longed for a peaceful life. As much as she loved the feeling of piloting a Mobile Suit, she decided she had had her fair share of violence. And so she had settled in Orb with Shinn and Meyrin. "To be able to call one place 'home'."
"I suppose you weren't born in Orb then?"
Lunamaria shook her head. "My dad was a ZAFT officer. My family lived in PLANTs."
"Those who fight for ZAFT are absolute idiots," John said, "The Earth Alliance was stupid as well, but at least their reason for fighting made more sense. Did ZAFT really think they could bring peace eternally? And by fighting nonetheless."
Lunamaria's fist clenched under the table. John had not only insulted her father's memory, but her as well.
"Well, you've never been a soldier, have you?" Lunamaria countered, "I'm sure life out there in the battlefield is different from what we think it is. Not knowing if you'll make it out alive the next time around, afraid you'll never see your loved ones again."
"Whatever you say," John dismissed her comment, and Lunamaria felt her face heat up in anger. She suddenly couldn't remember why she had agreed to go on this date with him in the first place. "Any ex-boyfriends?"
"One," she confessed, "he's currently with the Orb military." And I live with him, she thought, although she knew better than to admit that out loud.
"A soldier, eh?" John shook his head. "He must've been an idiot. Good thing you broke it off with him."
Thankfully, the food arrived, putting an end to the previous conversation. If he had said any more, Lunamaria was sure she would have crawled over the table and beat him into a pulp. And if civilians already had a bad impression of soldiers, Lunamaria really didn't want to be fanning the flames. She could just imagine the news headline if she jumped John.
Ex-ZAFT Soldier Lunamaria Hawke Attacks Innocent Date
Lunamaria groaned inwardly at that, although she had a feeling Shinn would get a good laugh out of that one.
As they were eating, his hand found itself on her thigh once again, but he did not move it away this time. Lunamaria looked over at him, and he had the strangest look on his face. It looked as if he was daring her to make a scene in the fancy restaurant. And suddenly, Lunamaria wished she had listened to Shinn. She had misjudged John. He wasn't a sweet, sensitive, man at all. He seemed completely self-absorbed, sexist, and not to mention perverted.
But still, Lunamaria forced herself to ignore the sickening feeling of his hand on her thigh and continued eating. It was only when his hand slowly started inching up her thigh did she finally snap. Lunamaria wasn't completely sure what had happened, but she remembered hearing startled gasps from other patrons of the restaurant and then seeing John on the floor with a busted lip and bleeding nose. A security officer came forward, asking to escort Lunamaria out of the restaurant.
"He was touching me," she said loudly and unashamed before walking to the restaurant's entrance.
The restaurant was on the other side of town, and Lunamaria really didn't fancy a four-hour walk back home. Besides, once she left the restaurant onto the empty streets, she would just be easy prey. Not that she would let anyone rape her in an alley. Heck, they'd be out cold before they could come within reach of her. Shaking herself away from her thoughts, Lunamaria decided to suck up her pride and call Shinn to pick her up.
He picked up on the first ring.
"Luna? What's up? I'm at work right now, you know."
Lunamaria sighed. Just tell him, she urged herself on. "You were right," she said.
"About?" Shinn asked tiredly, "Look, Lune, I'm pretty busy right now."
"Wait, don't hang up!" Lunamaria called before her best friend could end the call, "You were right about John."
"What did he do?" Lunamaria had expected him to gloat about being right, had expected an 'I told you so'. But instead, Shinn sounded serious.
Lunamaria was silent. "He's an idiot, that's all."
"That's not all, is it?"
"He..." Lunamaria contemplated if she should tell him. Shinn had never been the poster boy for restraint, and she had a feeling John would suffer more than a busted lip and bruised ego if Shinn knew about what he did. "touched me," she finally admitted.
"Where are you right now?" To Lunamaria's suprise, his voice was calm.
Relief flooded the girl. "The Blue Lobster," she told him before hanging up.
The security staff approached Lunamaria again, and she gave them such a hard stare that they backed off without saying anything. Shinn's car pulled into the restaurant's driveway fifteen minutes later, and Lunamaria vaguely wondered how many red lights he had ran to get there so fast. She stood up to greet him, but Shinn simply stormed past her. Lunamaria stood, confused, before it dawned on her what was going on in Shinn's mind.
He's going to kill John, she panicked.
Running back into the restaurant, Lunamaria saw Shinn going at a cleaned-up John with a ferocity she hadn't seen since the war ended. Several members of the security stood nearby, and Lunamaria wondered why they weren't restraining Shinn, before realising that he was in his Orb military uniform.
"Get off me, you crazy bastard!" John yelled, raising his arms in a futile effort to protect himself from Shinn's blows.
"Shinn," Lunamaria called, "stop it." She pushed through the staff, and made her way to Shinn, touching his arm. Shinn turned angrily to see who was trying to stop him, but his expression softened when he saw Lunamaria.
"I told you not to trust the guy," Shinn berated, "but you just refused to listen to me! Look what happened? The guy turned out to be a pervert! What if he had taken you back to his place? Huh, Luna? Tell me what would have happened then? Or God forbid, he takes you to some abandoned alley. When you left with him, I was so worried. I thought something bad was going to happen to you, and it did!"
"I'm sorry Shinn," Lunamaria apologized, feeling the tears stinging in her eyes. "I didn't think you would worry so much."
"You could have warned me that your ex-boyfriend was psychotic!" John cut in.
Shinn swung his arm, slamming his fist into John's face another time and effectively knocked him out. "Shut up!"
Then turning to Lunamaria, he said, "You didn't think I'd worry so much? Luna, we went to military school together, then survived a war together. You're more than just a friend to me, do you know that? Every day I worry about you, even when you're at home. As long as we're apart, I'm terrified that something would happen to you. I made a promise to protect you, Luna, and I intend to keep that promise until the day I die."
Lunamaria reached up to wipe her tears. She didn't even care that the every single person in the restaurant had their eyes glued to her and Shinn as if they were some sappy evening soap opera. She didn't want to think about anything anymore. "I just want to go home," she said quietly.
Shinn sighed, taking off his jacket and placing it over Lunamaria's shoulders before wrapping his arm around her. He wiped away the tears that were still falling from her eyes, before kissing her forehead.
"Okay," he relented, suddenly regretting raising his voice at her, "let's go home."
Pulling Lunamaria closer to himself, the two stepped over the unconscious form of Lunamaria's date and headed for home.
A/N: So, what do you guys think? I intended for this to be a one-shot, but I feel like making it a two-shot, since the ending is kind of ambiguous. Maybe I'll add another chapter, depending on if I get nice reviews and/or if my muse returns. Leave a review, please?
* For Luna's outfit for the date, it's pretty much a simplified version of Kairi's outfit in Kingdom Hearts II.