A/N: -takes deep breath- Okay...it's not Faith...and it's not NOTV either, but please don't hurt me! I'm becoming a huge fan of this series. It's just the kind of thing that grips one's heart, you know? It's such an emotional story, so sad and so heart-wrenching. At least for me. Maybe I read too much into these things. :) Oh well. Here we go with a shounen-ai one-shot. Happy readings. I found that there wasn't quite enough Athrun/Kira on this site.
Please note that is one of my favorite one-shots in the history of my writing. And now, without further ado, Moonlight Sonnet. -bows-
Disclaimer: Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino own Gundam SEED, not Carmen Takoshi.
Moonlight Sonnet
one-shot by Carmen Takoshi
They both adored nights like this. Nights where the sky was calm and the wind was peacefully dead, and the stars were blinking sleepily down from the Heavens. Nights where music could be heard for miles and miles, and there was no one else but them to hear it.
There was no sound, though, not even a hint of a song. The only thing scratching the surface of the noiselessness was the faint, irregular melody of pencils against paper, and sometimes the crackle of one such sheet being torn, crumpled and discarded to the floor. This happened fairly often, until finally, one of the occupants of the space sighed, half-amused and half-exasperated with his companion's constant rejections of his own art.
"Are you going to pick all of those up later?"
"Mmm…"
"Athrun."
"Yeah, I will."
An unsure smile hovering over his features, the other shook his head and returned to his own endeavors, just as Athrun ruined yet another sheet of paper, muttering some profanity that was to remain thankfully vague.
"Athrun! That one only had one verse on it!"
"I know. It was bad. I'll just restart it."
"Just like you restarted all the others?"
"Mmhm…"
"You're wasting trees."
"Mmhm…"
"You should at least erase that one verse and restart on the same page!"
"Mmhm…"
"…Yzak ate all the chocolate cake that was left."
"I'll kill him tomorrow."
The other laughed at this, and Athrun smiled, slightly triumphant for some childish reason that only the two could comprehend.
"You laugh at everything, Kira," said the older one, deep voice laced with affection, his hand etching letters onto a fresh page.
Kira smiled, shifting in his chair.
"I thought I cried at everything."
"It's better if you laugh, beautiful. It makes me that much happier."
The younger boy looked out past the edge of the balcony, a faint blush dusting his face of the same color as the roses blooming just a few feet under them.
"Charmer," he accused.
"Mm…lovely amethyst-eyed nymph, temptress of lost souls, apple of my ey-…"
"God, stop it, Athrun!"
"Why? Don't you want to know how wonderful you are?"
The "Temptress Of Lost Souls" coughed in embarrassed discomfort, blushing even hotter now and gazing determinedly down to the moonlit garden, where a few glowing insects danced as though alone in the world.
Smiling to himself, Athrun scratched a few more words onto his paper, watching his shy lover out of the corner of his eye. The latter was struggling to compose himself after the onslaught of poetic praise, a flattering rouge still present across his features. Absently, he twirled his pencil in his hand, watching its shadow traveling in the same way over the few verses that had been laid there in carefree handwriting.
Kira was delicate, Athrun knew; reserved, surprisingly and excruciatingly shy around most, and yet so open and talkative around him. Still, he always blushed and looked away whenever receiving a compliment, and this from anyone, not only the coveted one of his heart.
"Do you have anything yet?" Kira asked now, deigning to turn his lilac gaze towards the other.
Remembering his self-imposed task, Athrun frowned down at his paper. His handwriting was neat, almost clipped, as though tightly confined within certain, narrow lines. He grimaced at the severity of the shapes.
"Well, just a bit, I guess…but it's not…"
"Let me see it!"
"Hey, wait…"
Putting down his own pencil and paper, Kira stood from his chair and crossed the balcony floor towards the other, propping himself in a leaning position on the back of Athrun's seat and reaching out towards the paper in his hand, the only one remaining at that point. All the others had been thrown to the stone floor in various states of wear.
"Come on, Athrun, you know you're way better than me at this poem stuff!"
"Wait, Kira, it's not done!"
"So?"
"Kira!"
The two struggled on like this for a few moments, Kira reaching and grabbing wildly in an effort to seize the lone page, and Athrun leaning away from him in a desperate attempt to keep the unfinished piece of writing away from his boyfriend's grasp.
"Athrun Zala, what are you so secretive about! It's just a poem!"
"It's my poem, so can you at least let me refine before you hand it out to the general public!"
"I'm not gonna hand it out to the general public, so can I just read it!"
"Kira!"
"Athrun!"
"Kira Yam-…"
Giggling as though having the time of his life, Kira seated himself firmly on Athrun's lap, his knees on either side of the chair, and nimbly stole the sheet from his lover's hands. He then wrapped his arms around Athrun's torso and the chair's back, trapping them all in a tight embrace that left the elder momentarily gasping for breath, before he stopped struggling, a wry, defeated smile on his lips. Kira, triumphantly looking over his boyfriend's shoulder, raised the somewhat crumpled sheet in his hands from behind the seat's wooden back, and read, his quiet voice filling the space so softly and gradually that Athrun closed his eyes.
Oh dearest moonbeams, oh shining light unfading,
Thy fall past Heaven's feet; impossibly dainty.
Sweet maiden's hand on azure light, long abiding
But fading now with coming dusk; let darkness free.
Countess of Skies, thy children clinging to thy dress,
Dost thou weep as they fall with their cries of regret?
As laced with wine and lightning fair, dear night regress
Into dawn. Ruddy sea and inky sky have met.
Lifting thy skirts as thou descendeth down to Earth,
Oh muse of poets and bards of new and of old
Watch, lady, as your loudly sung praises unfold.
But hark! Over yon horizon pours inane mirth.
Halt on the step, oh sweet lady of the bright stair,
For thy songs have not come; night is still in the air.
Silence fell as gently as a feather on the terrace's balustrade, and for a moment Kira was unsure whether his voice had done the poem justice or not. He felt Athrun's every light breath on his neck, and every placid heave and fall of his chest against his own.
"It's bad, isn't it?" said Athrun finally, resigned laughter apparent in his tone, "I suppose I won't be…"
"Of course not! Athrun, this is…it's…"
The elder cocked his head patiently, waiting for his lover to find the words, but in the end, Kira gave up and chuckled with a mirth that even he did not understand, leaning closer to the other, the paper still clutched tightly in his hand. Athrun had wrapped his arms loosely around Kira's waist.
"It's about the moon, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It is."
"It's beautiful, Athrun," Kira whispered into his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him at the same time, "absolutely beautiful…"
"Just like you, love," Athrun replied with a sigh, running his hands up and down the other's back so that he shuddered with delight.
Kira vaguely registered dropping the paper as he felt Athrun's lips on the side of his face, then he had turned and pressed their mouths together, feeling a moan bubble up from within his own throat.
A slight, very slight breeze came into existence just as they kissed, scattering the crumpled sheets on the floor and shifting the page that had lain on Kira's abandoned chair. Immediately, the zephyr picked it up, tossing it like a new plaything, and for a few moments, the lone stanza inscribed on it was visible in the silver cast by the light of the moon.
Entwine with me, oh emerald fair,
And dance the skies with me in hand,
And dance the skies of Neverland.We'll never grow. Our love's still there.
Then, it was taken away, the few words already forgotten to its author, although the feeling that they shared that night was to be remembered forever, imprinted within the poetry that was their love.
(A/N: There it was. In case any of you are wondering, the type of poem I used for this one-shot is called a sonnet (hence the title), and that's why two of its stanzas are written with four verses, and the other two with three verses. It's some weird that the poets of old came up with. Anyway...please review if you liked, and even if you didn't, review anyway. -smiles- Just no things about the homosexual relationship, please. I know that Athrun is with Cagalli, and Kira with Lacus, but that's what fanfics are for, right? Right. Ciao!
