Hi there~ Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking... What the hell am I doing with another ColoLal, right? Well, let's just say I realized that I couldn't stay away from this couple for too long. But, that doesn't mean that my updates are not going to be slow. Of course, they would be! Expecially now that school is about to start! Ah well, that's the story of my life *sighs*

Anyway, this is just some sort of silly "drabble-that-is-not-really-a-drabble-since-it's-kinda-long" I made up while brushing my teeth (dear God, Carolily is right! I can find plot bunnies in the bathroom! Thanks, Carolily!)

Also, a big thanks for DreamSugar and COLONELA for their support. And DreamSugar, I hope you won't get tired of waiting for that request, okay? I really want to work on it! And I love the song, by the way!

Okay, read on, minna-san!

-m16-

Lal tossed and turned on her bed, feeling uneasy. She was having a nightmare, simply put. A nightmare about rage, anger, frustration, and a lot of tears. Before she could even assess what was happening, her eyes flew open, and she sat up in cold sweat. It was then that she realized that she was hearing real noises and was feeling real despair.

But, not her own.

There was someone or something causing a lot of ruckus downstairs, and she knew for a fact that she will not be able to get a good sleep if this continues. With a sigh, she slid off of bed, and took her rifle with her. After putting on her boots (without even bothering to change out of her PJs), she headed out to where she thinks the noise was coming from: Sparring Room A.

"Dear God, who would want to train at one a.m. in the morning?" she hissed as she stealthily stepped down the stairs. From where she stood, she saw that the door to the Sparring Room was indeed half-open, and the noise have become more evident and louder. She crept closer, and with a deep breath, carefully opened the door, scrutinizing the inside of the room.

Upon seeing the shadow moving with rage, her defenses went down too suddenly, and she put down her rifle with a sigh.

Oh, why at this time and hour?

The shadow appeared to step back, readied its stance, and then gave a hard kick towards the punching bag, resulting to the pouring of gallons of sand from inside the sack. She watched the grains pour from the gaping hole, and, from the corner of her eyes, she saw the shadow fall down on its knees, appearing to be grieving. This is where she chose to take action.

"It's freaking one in the morning, Colonello," she reprimanded, stepping inside the room to approach the shadow. "Don't you think it's too late for destroying the bases' properties?"

"Commander...?" the blond Italian muttered as he watched the frowning cobaltette approach him.

"What are you doing here, Soldier?" Her eyes narrowed at him, and all he did was scrawnily stand up with no form of salutation for his higher official.

"Geez, is it really that hard to figure out?" he mocked. "I'm training, kora."

Lal just stared at him, and then slowly averted her gaze towards the rapidly-thinning sack of sand.

Some training...

"Why this early? Some people are trying to sleep, you know."

"Did I wake you, kora?"

"What was your first clue?"

"Sorry, then, kora. I wasn't really feeling well tonight and thought I lash out my anger here."

Lal crossed her arms over her chest, and watched him try to fix the bag, which would obviously end in futile. With another upheaval of a sigh, she eased up, and motioned him to stand up.

"The bag is not a good enemy to pour your rage on, soldier," she sighed, stepping in front of him. "Since you already woke me up and I will obviously find it hard to go back to sleep at this rate, allow me to be of help." She held out both her palms to him.

"I could be your punching bag for the time being..."

Colonello stared at her with an uncertain smile. This was probably a joke since Lal would never let him touch her at late evenings, nor would he even try to hurt her outside of sparring shifts.

"Look, Lal, it's not necessary for you to..."

"Just punch, you sissy."

The younger sighed, and readied his stance. With all his rage, he punched towards her, and she blocked his fist with ease. His eyes bulged in that moment, seeing that the scowl on the older's face did not change a wee bit.

"Weak," she commented, tightening her hold on his fist. He cried and pulled away his fist in pain. She watched him try to tend the bruised fist with his tongue, and there she realized what was wrong with him.

"You're holding back," she calmly barked. "How many times do I have to tell you not to specifically do that?"

"Sorry," he mumbled. Lal eyed him for a moment, and then held out her palms again.

"One more time," she said. "Don't hold back this time. Don't stop either."

"If that's what you want, then fine, kora."

A series of punch came swooping towards Lal's direction, and she blocked them all with her two hands. It didn't take long before she felt his hits strengthen, and there she knew was the right time to ask.

"So, what's been eating you?" she asked.

"Why do you seem so interested, kora?" he queried, not stopping from punching.

"Nothing in particular," she answered. "I just want a proper explanation for when tomorrow comes and my superiors begin asking what happened here..."

"Heh, so you're going to tell on me in the end then, eh? Like you'd do that, kora."

"Just answer..."

"Fine," he surrendered. "Let's just say... I've been having a lot of nightmares lately, and they're nothing to scoff at, kora."

"Uh-huh..."

"They've been at it for the last few nights, and I am getting peeved off about it, kora."

"I see..."

"So, I finally decided to come down here to lash out a few frustrations that have been surging inside me, kora."

"Hmm..."

Gradually, Colonello's punches began to weaken, and soon, he stopped to breathe. Lal put her hands down, and approached him, landing her right hand on his left shoulder.

"So, what's the real reason?" she asked. In that moment, she felt his muscles begin to tense up, and his body trembled.

"If you really want to know, it's my family back home, kora."

"What about them?"

"I received some news that my mom fell ill, and was asking me to come home to be with her in her final days. But, knowing my mom, I knew she was just being dramatic, so I shook it off most of the time... I didn't want to go home. I began to love it here, kora..."

Lal didn't say anything. She knew what will come next.

"Then, I found out a few days ago that she already died. My sister's letter was filled with so much despair that I couldn't help but blame myself. It also didn't help for me to know that she killed herself not long after all that... I just... I just..." To Lal's surprise, he turned to the wall and punched. Hard.

"FUCK IT!" he cried. "Fuck this life! I hate it!" With that, he began unleashing another set of punches towards the wall, and Lal just watched him.

"I'm a worthless son and brother... I didn't even heed my mother's final request... I could've saved them both... My sister, at least... I'm worthless... Worthless, kora..."

"Okay, that's enough ranting," Lal told him. She reached for his bleeding hand, but to her surprise, he shoved her off and began punching again, letting out profanities from his mouth.

"Colonello!" she cried, her voice rising a bit.

"Leave me alone..." he hissed, glaring at her.

"And what? Let you thrash up this place completely? I don't think so, you damned brat. Now, enough!" She tried to grip on his arm again, and all the more that he shook her off. They struggled, and soon, Lal was able to catch his arm again, and used her other hand to slap him in the face. Before Colonello could react, she caught his other hand, and pushed him against the wall.

"That's enough," she whispered.

"I quit... I'm a worthless person..." he sobbed, but he wasn't fighting back. His knees weakened in that moment, and he slowly slid his back against the wall, with Lal following him. "I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to both of them before they left, kora..."

"It's not your fault and you know that," she told him, letting go of his arms and shifting her grip on his shirt. "So that's enough... Stop crying already..."

"But..."

"No... No more, alright? There's nothing more you could do at this rate..."

"But it hurts so much, kora..."

"I know it does. But, it's not enough reason for you to harm yourself like that."

They sat there in silence. Even though he didn't say anything, it was obvious that he was slightly wondering as to why Lal was comforting him. But, he knew better than to quesion her at this rate. He knew she'd stop once she realizes what she was doing, and that is not what he needed to happen.

More seconds gone by, and he began to relax. Lal felt his heartbeat ease up in that moment, but she still took precaution, and retain her hold on him, even though she felt like she'd explode from the excessive compassion she was giving him.

"Lal, kora?" he suddenly called out.

"What?"

"Aren't you worried that someone might see us like this, kora?"

"...No," she answered. "People rarely come here, especially at this time and hour..." She gave away a smirk.

"As a matter of fact, you're the only idiot I know that is crazy enough to do that..."

"Heh, real now, kora?"

Silence.

"Lal? Can I ask a favor?"

"What now?"

"Can I hug you...? A bit tighter, kora?"

Lal bit her lip, but other than that, she didn't move.

"Go ahead..." she finally answered.

"Really, kora? I mean, you won't get mad and kick me?"

"...No."

"Really?"

"Just do it before I change my mind."

"Okay..." Lal felt his two arms wrap around her and squeezed. She slightly gasped from the contact, but soon decided to shrug it off.

"You're really warm, kora," he said. "Thanks for this, Lal. You don't know how much this means to me..."

"Just enjoy it while it lasts," she said, coming back to her usual tone. "It might not happen again."

"Haha, okay." His eyes began to soften. "Really, Lal, thank you, kora."

"Whatever..."

More silence.

"So," she suddenly whispered. "How's that hand of yours? You gave out quite a lot of wild punches out there."

"It still hurts a lot, especially after hitting the wall countless times," he replied. "Heh, say, it's kinda scary to punch those hands of yours, kora. They're like stones... or iron, perhaps."

"Hm..."

"You weren't hurt, were you, kora?"

"No," she admitted. "I didn't feel anything at all."

"That's kinda awesome," he sighed. "Too bad I'm not as strong as you. I mean, to be someone as impervious to pain like you is..."

"That's where you go wrong," she replied, finally breaking off from his hold. He looked pained for a bit, but to his relief, she didn't leave.

"I also feel pain too, you know," she continued, raising her hand slightly to her chest. "Mostly here..."

"In your heart, kora?" he blinked.

She nodded.

"I'm not as invulnerable as many think I am..." she confessed. "I, too, have my share of nightmares. The only difference is that I'm stealthier with my emotions than you could ever be."

"You mean... you never had anyone to comfort you like what you did for me? Is that it, kora?"

"I didn't say anything like that," she denied. "But, yeah... It's true... Though, it's not like I need anyone to take care of me."

"Well, it's not the issue of whether you need someone or not," he replied. "It's the fact that everything's much easier when someone's there to share the pain, kora."

Lal stared at him for a moment, as if trying to examine him with those knowing burgundy orbs of her. Colonello felt uneasy for a moment, but soon he surrendered, and stared back. To his confusion, she suddenly heaved a disappointed sigh.

"You know, I really feel different about you," she said, crawling towards his side to seat next to him. "There are times when you act like a child who can't seem to do anything right in this world. Then there are times when you are too goddamn serious, as if nothing could ever detroy that focus of yours. Then, there are these kinds of days. Which is why sometimes, I feel like I'd loose my mind in trying to depict that personality of yours..."

"Why do you want to read my personality, kora?"

"It's hard not to. It's like... everytime I see you, you seem to challenge me to read you..."

He chuckled.

"You make me sound like a deep person," he said. "Am I, kora?"

"Of course not," she immediately replied. "Just difficult..."

"That's new," he murmured. "Quite a surprise to see you being so nice and honest to me. I hope you realize that I won't let you live this down..."

"Don't worry, I know that," she smirked. "As a matter of fact, after this was done, I was planning to hit your head on the wall to make you forget everything."

"Good one, kora."

"I'm serious."

"Of course, you are..." he chuckled. Then, he frowned again.

"But, seriously speaking, though, Lal... Thank you, kora."

"You're welcome, I guess..."

"Hey, Lal?"

"Yeah?"

"When you begin to feel like you're having another nightmare, tell me, alright? I'll be there for you, kora."

"That won't be necessary," she murmured. "Because most of my nightmares are about loosing you. It's okay once I realize you're here..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing..."

-FIN-

Oh, come ON, Lal! Mwe, she just had to say that softly... :P

Anyway, thanks for reading~ I will try my best to make time for more fics, so keep on keeping on. And, to the writers, PLEASE DON'T STOP. I am reading every update, and I am so happy I don't only see my name :D

"Because most of my nightmares are about loosing you. It's okay once I realize you're here..."—Lal Mirch

Please review!

LoveLots~