A/N: . . . tired

Chapter 9: My Blood

Rey groaned as he hoisted himself up onto the Minerva. Damn Kira and his cunning. It was already morning when Rey awoke from being knocked out and the Archangel was long gone. Rey had to swim all the was back to the Minerva. Now, he was tired, wet, and still without Shinn. He needed to go below deck and sleep for an hour…

"Hey, boy, where's Kira?" Cagalli asked in concern as soon as Rey was on board.

"He fell behind," Rey said, already heading for below deck.

"He… no… Kira…" Cagalli whispered, ready to break down. Murrue came over to her and wrapped a comforting arm around the blonde.

"Good luck, Kira," Murrue said, looking back at the island as she led Cagalli into the Captain's stateroom.

"Keep to the Code!" Mu screamed to the crew, who were still in shock.

"Weigh anchor!" Stella screamed, taking charge. "Hoist sails! Get ready to shove out!"

Mu looked back to the island and bowed his head, saying a silent prayer for the fallen brunet.

"What kind of man would trade another man's life for a ship?" Cagalli asked Rey while they were in the stateroom. She wanted to know exactly what befell her baby brother. However, she didn't like the answer she got.

"A pirate," Rey said simply. "I'm sorry, about Kira."

"It's alright…" Cagalli said, ready to tear up again. "I just… He's my brother… I knew he would get himself killed eventually as a Pirate but… just not this soon…" Cagalli looked up, seeing Rey's brows knitted in thought. She leaned towards him, trying to look him in the eye. "I don't blame you for what happened… I can see you have questions. My brother told me a lot of things. Wanna ask? I'll do my best to answer."

"It's just…" Rey sighed and looked up to Cagalli, as if arguing with himself over if he should tell or not. "Shinn… gave Athrun my name as his. I just don't know why…"

"Why would Athrun take Shinn, though?" Cagalli asked.

"Shinn had a medallion… one of those Festum Gold pieces…" Rey said with a sigh. He put his hands in his pockets and felt something cold, something metal. He pulled out the coin that Shinn had and gasped. Shinn, or Kira, must have slipped the coin into his pocket when they made their escape.

"It's yours, you know," Mu said, coming into the stateroom.

"What? I thought I lost if when you guys rescued me," Rey said, very confused. "It was a gift form my Father… He sent it to me… But why would Shinn take it?"

"He was afraid you were a pirate," Mu said, coming to sit near Rey and Cagalli. "After we rescued you, he needed to talk to someone. We sort of bonded on the trip from China and so he confided in me. He couldn't talk to his brother or his father. They would have laughed at him or thrown you overboard."

"Then, it wasn't Shinn's blood they needed," Rey said, clenching his fists around the coin. "It was my father's blood. My blood. The blood… of a Pirate…"

"So," Athrun said with a chuckle as he watched Kira swish about his stateroom. "You were going to leave me on a beach with a name and your word it's the one I need and sail away with my ship?"

"No, no, of course not," Kira said with a smirk. "I was going to leave you on a beach with no name and sail away on my ship while shouting the name back to you. Savvy?"

"But hat still leaves the problem of me standing on a beach with a name and your word it's the one I need," Athrun said, watching Kira take an apple from the bowl on a table.

"Between the two of us," Kira said, looking at two apple and putting one back. "I'm not the one who committed mutiny. So my word is the one we'll be trusting. However, I must be thanking you. If you hadn't left me on that island, I'd have an equal share in that curse, same as you."

Kira sat down on one of the chairs in front of Athrun and took a bite of the apple. He watched Athrun's face grimace. He knew what Athrun was thinking. He smirked and held out the apple to Athrun, offering him a bite. Athrun shook his head, a frown on his face.

"Ah! I see you kept Tori for me!" Kira said as the mechanical bird flew into the stateroom. The bird obviously knew who his owner was, because he landed right on Kira's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. "Say, mind telling me what happened to Shinn?"

"He's safe and sound on the deck," Athrun said with a bored expression. "Don't worry, since we now know he's yours, we won't touch him."

"That's very kind of you," Kira said with a smirk, taking a bite of the apple. "Oh, that reminds me, I saw Cagalli."

"Cagalli?" Athrun asked, his ears perking up. He sat up a little straighter in his seat, as if Cagalli was going to walk into the room any second. Cagalli was the only person who was able to melt the ice around his heart and love him. They had been good friends since they were kids, and just before Kira asked Athrun to come with him to find the treasure, he and Cagalli started to date. He loved Cagalli with all his heart, and he still did. One of the reasons he wanted to find the treasure was because he wanted to have enough money to marry Cagalli. "What about Cagalli?"

"She's part of my crew," Kira said, taking another bite of the apple. "Grew into a much more beautiful woman then you could have ever imagined. Still has a thing for you, if I'm not mistaken."

"Even like this…?" Athrun asked, looking at his stone cold hand.

"She does have a big heart," Kira said with a smirk. "That's why she's a bloody awful pirate."

"Captain," Djibril said as he walked into the stateroom. "We're coming upon the Minerva."

"Good!" Athrun said, bolting out of the room. The conversation about Cagalli was starting to make him a little more than uncomfortable. But, if Kira was captain of the Minerva, and Cagalli was on his crew, then that meant that Cagalli was there on that ship.

Kira ran out after Athrun and followed him up to the wheel. Athrun looked through the telescope and saw the Minerva in the distance. Kira just had to look over the railing to see the ship on the starboard side. He ran over to Athrun and got right in front of the scope so all Athrun could see was one of Kira's dazzling amethyst eyes.

"I'm having a thought, here, Athrun!" Kira said in his swishy way. Tori chirped over head and landed on Kira's shoulder again.

"Tell your thought," Athrun muttered as he lowered the scope.

"What's say we call a truce, I scurry over to the Minerva, and negotiate the return of your medallion, eh?" Kira asked, with a smirk. "What says you to that?"

"Kira, no!" Shinn hissed, making a few of the crew look at him oddly.

"See now, Kira," Athrun said with a smirk. "That's exactly the attitude that lost you the Archangel. People are easy to search when they're dead! Lock him and his little toy in the brig!"

Kira glared at Athrun and Djibril grabbed him and Shinn. Kira shoved Djibril's hand off Shinn and wrapped his arm securely around the raven's shoulder. Djibril started to lead the tow down to the brig, but not before Kira spoke up.

"I only wanted to help you, Athrun!" Kira shouted back over his shoulder. "Reunite you with your fiancee while you were still alive! I believe the term I'm searching for is ungrateful!"

Djibril shoved Kira below deck and slammed the door shut. Athrun stood there with the apple that Kira dropped. He growled and chucked the apple overboard, trying to vent his frustration.

"I'm sorry," Kira said, looking through a hole in the side of the boat. "I got you into this mess. I shouldn't have."

"Well, I guess we're even now," Shinn said, picking at a loose string on the dress. He groaned and glared at Kira. "How could you do that? You sold out my best friend, your sister even! to that madman and his crew of undead freaks! And you said you only wanted to help! HAH! More like you wanted to get your ship back and maroon Athrun and—"

"I DID want to help!" Kira snapped, looking back to Shinn. He sighed and looked down at the floor. "Some of my close friends are on this ship. Athrun was my best friend before the mutiny. He was my best friend, and Cagalli's fiancee. I didn't sell out your friend, Shinn. It's better for all involved…"

"How so?" Shinn demanded.

"All they want is to be human again," Kira said with a sigh. "And I want my friends and my ship back. Cagalli wants her fiancee back. Rey gets a small cut on his hand and everybody wins."

"And then you and your pirate friends go back to pillaging towns and hurting people," Shinn muttered.

"They would do that anyway!" Kira snapped, glaring at Shinn. "But if the curse is lifted, then the people they hurt have a chance to kill them!"

"You don't talk like a Pirate should," Shinn said, moving to sit a bit closer to Kira. "Why is that?"

"I never really wanted to be a Pirate," Kira said with a sigh. "Pirates came to our village one day and killed my parents. I wanted revenge. Athrun, my best friend at the time, wanted to get away from his father. He's also the son of a Governor. He wanted freedom. So, young as we were, we both jumped ship and got onto a Pirate's ship. It only took a few months to kill the people who killed my parents. After that, we came back to Carpentaria. It was on the ship that I heard of the legend of Akane Makabe. Athrun and I both got the crazy idea to go after it. I knew where it was, so I provided the barring while Athrun provided the ship and crew. Well, you know the rest. A bit of mutiny, marooning, and greed later and here we are."

"That's terrible," Shinn said, letting the story sink in. So, he and Athrun were more alike then he thought.

"Well, it's not all bad," Kira said, reaching up to gently cup Shinn's cheek. "I got to meet you."

"Oh, Kira…" Shinn said, placing his own hand over Kira's. "Once again, I got us into this mess…"

"How?" Kira asked in shock. "I was the one who dragged you along on Tatsumiya. I should have let Rey save you…"

"No, if I hadn't agreed to go onto this ship that night they attacked Orb, then we wouldn't be here now!" Shinn said, looking down at the ground.

"No, no, you did the right thing," Kira said, tilting Shinn's head to that he could look him in the eyes. "Don't blame yourself for this, Shinn."

"Or what?" Shinn asked with a sly smile. He moved a little closer to Kira so that they were mere centimeters apart. "What, oh, what will you do to me?"

"What do you want me to do?" Kira asked with a smirk.

"Kiss me," Shinn said almost immediately.

"Happy to oblige," Kira said, moving to capture Shinn's lips in a kiss.

Shinn moaned as soon as their lips touched. This was so much better than Shinn ever dreamed off. He felt like fireworks were going off in his head, as cliché as it sounded. The kiss was chaste, and sweet, and it made Shinn crave Kira all the more. Shinn kissed Kira back with built up passion and lust, making the brunet gasp. All this time, he wondered wither Shinn would want him like he wanted the raven. At first, Kira assumed that it was just lust that drew him to Shinn. But now, he knew better. Just the feeling he had on Tatsumiya, wanting to protect Shinn, to save him, the anger he felt when he saw Athrun manhandle Shinn, and now, this incredible feeling from such a simple gesture more powerful than even the best night with any of the whores in Carpentaria… It had to be love. Kira felt it, and Shinn felt it too.

"HEY FAGGOTS!" Luna screamed, making the two jolt and pull away. "Don't make us separate you two!"

Shinn and Kira both turned bright red and moved away from each other. Luna just 'humpf-ed' and went back above deck.

bet you thought there was going to be a fight, eh?

no, just some fluff and boylove~~