Believe, Realize, Reason
Chapter 4: Find the Way
Legend:
"…": Speech
'…': Thoughts, and other thoughts are listed in italics.
Scene changes are written in bolded italic brackets.
AN: Okay, after watching Destiny 25 –I hope this helps answer some people's question as in 'Do I watch Destiny?' but if I do write about Stellar, Lunamaria, Shinn, and Meyrin… don't you think I actually watched it before I started this?- my mind was all on the natural (extended), and how they originated. I was hoping that my mind would settle down to write KiraLacus, AthrunCagalli, and DearkaMiriallia, but looks like I could not really focus on it with such impact put in my mind. To those who really wanted to see classic pairings, I will apologize since there is NONE in here. Really, I am very sorry.
Luckily, a vast majority of you guys wanted to see ShaniLuna –is this actually a good pairing? I am stunned to see how many people actually told me by mail or review- and since Shani was a living CPU, I had the inspiration to write about him. So basically, this chapter is dedicated to ShaniLunamaria. Hope you all like it.
Before I forget, there will be a StellarShaniLunamaria love triangle. Be prepared for it.
Feel free to suggest good ideas for one-shots, I want to write something dark, drastic on paper. What I lack is a story line. I am actually quite depressed these days where I think my efforts mean nothing to anyone or even anything. I need to express my outrage on something…
Q&A Period: Where the author makes a horrible attempt at answering questions but does it nevertheless.
1Q: Why didn't I let Oruga live?
1A: Was he that special to live?
2Q: Will there be Gundams in this story?
2A: Do you want there to be?
3Q: Is this a ShinnStellar fiction?
3A: Yes.
4Q: How are Shinn and Stellar going to meet if one is in PLANT and the other on earth?
4A: This is fiction, I can make it work. What other ways are there? Either one drops to earth for some reason or the other one goes to space and encounter another by coincidence. There are only two ways. If I told you, that would really spoil it, but feel free to keep guessing.
5Q: Will I write more fluff and drama?
5A: What does the genre of this story say?
6Q: Can I do better in writing?
6A: Why do you think I am practicing?
7Q: Can Yzak pair up with Shiho?
7A: I really would decide on that provided that if I know who that is! Episode 48 or 49 of Seed… someone with long brown hair does not really help. Well, either I am not very observant or I am just retarded… or a little combination of both… Okay, if you know anything about Shiho, or her appearance, or role, a natural or coordinator, then that may save me the trouble. I need to pair Yzak with someone eventually. Thank you so much!
AN: Let the endless saga continue… to those who reviewed, ARIGATO!
(At home, when everyone else went to the exhibition yesterday)
Yzak detested the situation he was in at the moment. Him, Yzak Jule, pilot of the Duel Gundam, Captain of the Jule squad, son of Ezaria Jule, had been ditched by a bunch of regular, middle class people. This was a complete outrage, and damn hell it would not be forgotten! How could they ever do this to him? Him, amongst all people! Damn it, him! Instead of enjoying his time outside with friends and fresh air, he was at his apartment doing nothing but sitting on the couch, watching television.
Opening the second bag of chips that was in Crot's secret stash –which was actually underneath the Raider pilot's bed-, Yzak took out a chip before looking bored for the hundredth time today. The Duel pilot had to admit that weekend afternoon reality shows were the worst –if he had no dignity or he was a great actor (of course he was none of those) he would say these shows were very stupidigo in an noticeable Italian accent, and a several hand signals would not hurt to prove his point. Long story short, all the shows were meaningless. He thought he had seen everything, until he watched "Touch the Stove".
"So, Mr Takeshi," said the host to the guest with a stove in between both of them, "How are you today?"
"I am actually…"
Then the guest's hand was grabbed forcefully before placing firmly on the burning stove.
"Touch the stove!" the host announced clearly and happily as the guest screamed in pain. Yzak obviously changed to the next channel without any hesitation. Unfortunately for him, he landed on a commercial that was advertising Halls.
"Halls Frost Breakers," said the advertiser in a thick Jamaican accent that annoyed Yzak to the top of his bent, "The candy with two jobs. Cure for the common cold, and a refreshing fruit taste sen-sa-tion! It tasted like Jamaica's famous Cowboy soup: the soup that could cure anything! Even infertility!" Yzak was cracking up with this point. This commercial would've been impressed until he saw the advertiser pointing to a man at complete random. "You! Trying to get pregnant? No? Well, I am!"
By that time, Yzak frantically searched for the remote and changed the channel not ever wanting to see that commercial again for as long as he lived. If he knew the thoughts of norms, he immediately dedicated himself to believe that men and pregnant in the same sentence was unquestionably bizarre. Correction, sickeningly wrong was a better phrase to describe it. The word fear would only be an understatement in this scenario.
This was boring, the Duel pilot thought, and he was desperately trying to plot some kind of revenge to that English teacher of theirs. Tanaka will pay for giving Yzak endless detentions. Ever since that "losing your virginity to mechanical bulls" comment, Tanaka had been very cautious on him. Rather, he tried finding all sorts of excuses to punish him, and being the Duel pilot, the gray haired coordinator would not simply let this thing slide without a tad bit of retaliation.
Yzak will humiliate him, but how? He knew that the school had a major work period due to the fact that some of the marks needed to be done for their next report card, and all the teacher's work spaces were in one large office room. In other words, everyone would be in one room. What was the best way to get back at him? Thanks to Crot, Yzak had hold on the phone line that accessed to Tanaka's desk. Suddenly, it hit him… the phone.
Giving a very dark, sinister laugh to no one in particular, Yzak commenced his plan and dialed the number. Tanaka was a fool, he would safely assume that much.
"Hello?" a voice came on the other end after a few rings. The Duel pilot instantly recognized that it was his victim.
"Yeah," began the coordinator easily in a moderate pace, "I'm looking for Mr. Jaspankme. First name, Haywood."
"Hold on a second," he replied before turning towards the whole crowd. "Haywood Jaspankme. Guys, guys, Haywood Jaspankme!" The room howled with laughter with Tanaka still completely oblivious. Yzak tried very hard not to chuckle at this. When the teacher finally realized he had just said 'Hey-would-you-spank-me', his eyes went wide with rage. He had been tricked! "If I catch you," he said harshly on the phone with venom dripping all over his voice, "I'll pull your arms off and wear them for a scarf!"
Yzak merely laughed to himself before hanging up. That teacher was such a fool. Ten minutes later, he tried again.
"I'm looking for Mr. Nugglybutt," said Yzak casually, "First name, Ivan." Again, Tanaka did not even know this was a prank.
"Ivan Nugglybutt," announced the teacher loudly to his co-workers, "Does anyone know Ivan Nugglybutt?" Once more, Yzak heard roars of amused laughter, and he was nearly certain that Tanaka did not even know what was going on until it was too late. Indeed, it was. "You!" he shouted back at Yzak. "If I ever catch you, I'll put an umbrella up your nose and open it!"
As if that was good enough to make the Duel pilot shiver, as a soldier of ZAFT, minor death threats meant nothing. Still not having enough yet, Yzak dialed the same number in the next twenty minutes. Moreover, Tanaka was a fool, he would never figure out why his teacher was an idiot. Moreover, how was he a teacher? It didn't matter at all to Yzak, this man was the ideal victim.
"I'm looking for Mr. Rotchtickles, first name, Mike." Once more, Tanaka believed it like a moron before facing his fellow teachers not believing this call was a trap.
"Mike Rotchtickles, does anyone know Mike Rotchtickles?" Just when Yzak thought his last prank was good; this time he knew the third one was a great success. He could hear people rolling on the floor laughing, some sniffing sound could be heard as well. Then, he caught someone patting the teacher's shoulders quite hard, anyone could detect that it wasn't anything close to encouraging. If this was encouraging, what was considered insulting?
"How many secrets do you even want to tell us, Tanaka?" questioned a teacher, which Yzak identified as the physical education instructor. "First you wanted someone to spank you, then you told us you have an ugly butt, and now you are even shameless enough to say your crotch tickles. Man-"
"It's all because of these damned phone calls!" screamed the English teacher at maximum rage before screaming at the receiver. "You! Damn you! Damn you and your damn calls, damned bastard! Damn you!" He then noticed the caller had hung up. "Damn you, bitch! Bitch! Bloody bleeding bitch, I know you can hear me, bitch!" Even after his utmost furious outburst, the teachers still laughed loudly. His strong, firm, solemn dignity was all flushed down in less than an hour.
At home, Yzak could not stop cackling at his own menacing, cruel, and destructive success.
This was too easy…
(At Exhibition grounds earlier that day)
"I'm hungry…" whispered Stellar politely to her companion, Crot, who was sitting beside her on the driver's seat on an Initial D arcade game. If the Raider pilot was not done his game yet, he would not have answered the blond dancer. Luckily, he just beat his opponent –who was across from him- and turned to face Stellar. "Crot… I'm hungry…"
"Already?" he asked giving her a grin when she nodded innocently.
"We didn't have lunch yet, remember?"
"We didn't?" Promptly, Crot's stomach began to growl rather too loudly. He cursed to himself where as Stellar laughed very pleasantly. The Raider pilot couldn't help but grunt to save the remnants of his pride. "Okay, fine, let's eat!" As he got off the driver seat by slipping off to the left, Stellar gracefully stood back up before following her sempai like a schoolgirl. She was giggling the entire time; Crot wondered what she would be so delighted about. Nonetheless, it soothed his spirit every time he remembered about the Rodnia Laboratory.
"Should we find a seat?" asked Stellar quietly when she saw so many people around. Some were by themselves; others were flirting with girls; girls were flirting with guys; and the rest were with their own ring of friends. When the two living CPUs finally found a table for two, they plopped down on their seats with a sigh of exhaustion. In such a busy district, it was quiteeasy to get worn out.
"What do you want to eat, Stellar?" offered the Raider pilot leaning in a little closer so he wouldn't feel that distant from her. He then looked around the food court area, there were over a dozen places to choose from. Crot groaned seeing the variety, he was not the most decisive person when it came to food.
"I don't mind," she replied with a happy smile. That didn't ease his problem one bit. "Anything would be good."
"How about pizza?" he suddenly suggested knowing he hadn't had that in quite a while. When Stellar nodded silently, the Raider pilot got off from his seat and ran to the nearest stand that sold pizza. Without him knowing, the magenta eyed natural took out a small digital camera that she bought the other day from her purse and took a picture of Crot's running form. Normally, she wouldn't bother taking such useless pictures, but this one was an exception.
If she managed to find Crot lying on the floor due to tripping, she wouldn't miss that chance. Laughing by herself when she looked at the picture again, she decided not to show Crot this. However, Shani was another story. Maybe showing her other girl friends would not hurt either; they all could use a good laugh after all.
When Crot came back with a medium sized pizza with two large sized sodas and two chocolate bars, Stellar smiled kindly before helping him place the pizza to lighten his load. After giving a short prayer, they smiled at another before digging in. Surprisingly enough, this was one of the first times that both of them had pizza. Days back in the military and the laboratory did not give them much of a chance to eat such good foods –despite how dangerously unhealthy fast foods may be.
"This is good," commented the blond natural honestly as she took another small bite.
"Yeah!" cheered Crot as he consumed another gulp of cola. Due to his quick actions, he choked –which made Stellar laugh for the hundredth time that day.
"You okay?" she asked checking if he was fine. Obviously, the Raider pilot just said yes.
"I'll be fine…" However, Stellar detected a little sadness in his voice. Crot was never sad for the amount of years that she had known him. Her own intuitions somehow gave her an answer.
"Thinking about the old days, Crot?"
"You can't really help not thinking about it…" he answered with the most amount of seriousness ever since they reunited. "Can you even imagine how many years I actually wanted this… this freedom?"
"I don't know…" replied Stellar with guilt seeing that she couldn't answer his question.
"Ever since Shani left… I feel alone…"
"Why?" she asked innocently but actually trying to let him open up.
"Shani raised you up from a girl to now, you should know why."
"I am not talking about Shani-kun," said Stellar firmly, "I am talking about you. What are you feeling inside?"
"Don't need to concern yourself with me, Stellar," the Raider pilot stated brushing everything off with a very convincing smile but the girl knew he was trying to cover it. If he persisted not to share, she wouldn't force it on him. Besides, it wasn't like her days in the past were any more peaceful and hurting than Crot's. In all honesty, Stellar actually envied Shani, Oruga, and Crot for becoming official members of the EAF when she remained in the lab like some tool waiting to be used. They actually got to leave that hellhole, and the girl never felt more alone in her life. That happened when she was thirteen.
Little did she know, her friends did not have much of a good time despite being mobile suit pilots.
"Crot…"
"You told me the other day that you ditched the laboratory two years after we left, right?" Stellar nodded, "I wouldn't blame you for escaping, glad that you did though. How did you do it?"
"It was actually pretty easy when you are a living CPU trained with skilled assassinations," replied the shy Stellar looking at her hands painfully, it had been stained with too much blood although she did not participate in the war whatsoever. "I took a knife and cut off the tracking device thing on your neck so they can't track me. The sensors did notice that my ring was no longer working but I was insignificant amongst everyone… that's why I wasn't found out until later. When I hijacked a fighter jet, all of them were unprepared."
"Did they chase after you?" asked Crot now quite worried.
"Yes…"
"Were you scared? Scared of dying?"
"It was better to leave than to be scared at that time…" she told him with a sincere grin, "But when I think about it again… if I was going to pull off that kind of stunt again… I think I would be dead frozen…"
"I can only imagine…" sighed the Raider pilot, swirling his soda with a straw.
"I escaped successfully," continued the blond dancer now no louder than a whisper, "But the fear and shock finally came onto me as time went on. I didn't know where I should be going, nor did I have a place to go. All I wanted to do was to escape from that place not ever wanting to go back there again. When my plane finally went out of fuel, I began to descend quickly downward. I thought I was going to die… and when I had a severe collision… I really believed my life was over."
"Then what happened?" Crot inquired telling her to take a sip before continuing. Stellar did follow his instructions, and after swallowing the liquids, she began once more.
"I woke up not knowing how long it had been… but when I did… I found out it had been three months. I landed in Osaka, Japan, one of the neutral cities in Japan… well, Japan in general was a neutral country like Switzerland… and I was kept at the hospital since my coma… well, my condition wasn't too stable. I gotten a lot better gradually and was about to be released from the hospital… but yet… I had no family, no friends except you two, and most importantly I don't have any personal information about myself other than that I belonged to EAF."
"Of course you wouldn't want to go back…" the Raider pilot stated easily.
"Yeah…"
"Then what did you do?"
"I remained in the hospital until the war was over… I was safe, a bit lonely, but I knew that I was safe. I was about to be transferred to Orb to live there but I heard that the EAF had invaded it so I didn't go. Until the war was finally over, Orb had contacted me about their after war plans. I was a living CPU who needed a chance to live out my life properly… and when Orb high class members told me in the mail that Murrue Ramius and the Archangel crew were coming to Kyoto… I had to come too."
"And that was how you got accepted… and you never expected that we were there with them…"
"I am really happy that you are alive, Crot-sempai," said Stellar honestly with a grateful smile, that made Crot weakly grin. He deeply sympathized what his good friend had to go through, but to the very least, she was safe. Compared to him, Stellar had paradise. Although he was a little envious that she escaped from the lab, it was for the best that she found her freedom. Now, she even found her life.
"Same here," he said genuinely.
"Let's take a picture," she suddenly suggested as she took her camera back out, and went beside him gracefully.
"Just the two of us?" Crot inquired raising a brow with surprise. She nodded promptly with glee.
"It's a good way to make good memories…" she reasoned as she prepared her camera, "Besides, I want to send it to Shani-kun." Then her right arm went around his neck and tugged it close to her body where as her left arm was stretched in front, ready to take the picture. Without any warning, she took the shot, and Crot was not even ready.
The photo in the end had Stellar smiling brightly at right, and Crot choking and gasping at the left. The blond girl knew Shani would laugh when he saw this. She couldn't wait until she would go back home.
"You want to go somewhere, Stellar?" asked Crot after the girl released him. Stellar just smiled back her own charming smile that rivaled Lacus'.
"I want to go to the aquarium, Crot-sempai…" the blond dancer told him timidly. "Can you take me there?"
"Gladly."
(At ZAFT headquarters in the present)
"Lieutenant," Lunamaria called as she knocked on the door that accessed to Shani's office. If anyone saw her right now, they would know she was deeply nervous and afraid. She didn't have the confidence to face Shani at all, Shinn's requests were no different from giving her a death sentence. "Are you in there?" she asked with her voice filled with dread.
"I'm blind, not deaf," the voice from inside said to her stoically. Lunamaria flushed up with embarrassment when she figured that she knocked a tad too many times. "You may come in." Given permission, the coordinator lady quietly entered. When she turned around to the left, she saw Shani was actually typing on his laptop while taking a bite at his hamburger.
"Lieutenant," Lunamaria saluted promptly but Shani only gave her a queer look.
"No need to be so formal with me," Shani told her with a grin, "Although we are soldiers, I am still a rookie when it comes to this… Well, let's just say I never got such respect."
"Oh…"
"You had lunch yet?" asked the Forbidden pilot with his one eye watching her closely. Lunamaria sheepishly shook her head. "Well, I brought too many burgers before, I don't think I could finish the remaining three that I have. I wouldn't mind giving two of them to you, it's better than wasting it."
"I can't accept that, Lieutenant," justified the dark magenta haired coordinator refusing his offer hastily, "I will just buy my own later."
"You don't need to feel uneasy just because you caused me to go to the hospital, Lunamaria-san," Obviously, that statement made the girl pale up. He remembered everything, nothing escaped the Forbidden pilot. "What's with the shocked expression?" Shani inquired knowingly, "You look like as if you've seen a ghost."
"I…" she began to choke and feel very badly with fear. "I… I… I… I…"
"Lunamaria?"
"I am sorry!" she screamed with eyes closed and not expecting any forgiveness. "I really am! Please forgive me!"
"What?" Shani questioned with utmost confusion. Why was she doing this? "Lunamaria…"
"I'm sorry that I called you a pervert when you were only trying to help! I am sorry that I was being rude to you on the shuttle when you only wanted to be my friend! I am sorry that I was a bitch! I am sorry that I was in a daydream and bit you! I am sorry that you were in the hospital and as the abuser I didn't even visit you. I am sorry for not apologizing to you earlier, but I was scared, I was scared that because now you are my commander and I don't know how you will react. I am afraid of going to custody, I am afraid that you would sue me and then I can no longer be a soldier! So please, Shani-sama, forgive me although I don't deserve it! Please find it in your heart to forgive me!"
By this time, Lunamaria was already in front of Shani with her hands grabbing his shoulders, shaking him violently as she continued to plea. The Forbidden pilot didn't even know what happened just now, all he knew was that he had a weird dream where he saw fire, tombstones, and little green things that stabbed things up his butt. As his eyes focussed again, he blushed slightly when he saw Lunamaria's face was inches away from his looking absolutely desperate for forgiveness. He had trouble keeping eye contact but the girl ceaselessly pierced into his.
"Uh… um…"
Her grip on him strengthened. "Shani Andras," she declared softly but Shani was flinching at this point. "Please… Forgive me…"
"Lunamaria-san…" choked the green haired natural, "I was never mad at you." That caught her attention quite well. "I never even thought of arresting you, what happened between us was an accident. You didn't bite me on purpose –even though it did hurt quite a bit. As far as I am concerned, I should be sorry for holding you on the breasts… I feel very ashamed for doing that…"
"No, you were just trying to help me," she told him in a friendly voice as she moved away from him a little. Even she didn't realize how hard she was holding him before. "I was just being clumsy."
"That's not what you said when I tried to justify myself."
"I was angry," Lunamaria reasoned with a smile, "I wasn't thinking straight. Like, come on, which girl wouldn't when a guy touched one of their forbidden areas? You would be furious as well."
"I guess…" said Shani considering her reasons before grinning. "Well, now that is all settled, you still want to have lunch?" The coordinator lady nodded promptly with delight.
"I'm actually starving." A blush crept to her cheeks when she spilled out her little secret, she didn't want to make herself look like a pig now –she really did like to eat. "Can I have a burger now?" Shani chuckled inwardly before tossing her the aluminum wrapped cheeseburger. Once Lunamaria caught it with both hands, she immediately unwrapped it before taking a big bite into it. She seemed very satisfied.
"Is it good?" questioned the ZAFT Lieutenant as he went to check his mail on his computer.
"Yeah!" she announced happily before she found out he was giving his attention to the computer screen. "What are you doing, Shani-san?"
"Looking at some of the photos that my friend sent me just now, hey, want to come and take a look?" Seeing there was no hurt in taking a several glimpses of pictures, the girl decided to check it out. Lunamaria was surprised at the first photo that was displayed; there was an orange hair male with a comb-over, and a girl with radiating blond hair with beautiful magenta eyes. What made her giggle was that the girl was happy and the guy was gasping for air. Unknown to her, those two were Stellar and Crot.
"The girl is beautiful…" commented Lunamaria a little bit jealous when she found Shani smiling at the picture somewhat admiringly. She didn't know why she was jealous, what reasons did she have for feeling this way. It was unexplainable, yet the feeling was clearly there. She cursed herself in her mind for having such emotions.
"Yeah," replied Shani. "Her name is Stellar Louissier, one of my closest childhood friends."
"Is that so?" she asked a little bit hesitant to compliment Stellar. However, Shani didn't detect it at all.
"The other one is Crot Buer, my buddy ever since… well ever since I could remember things…"
"He's pretty good looking," Lunamaria told Shani this time honestly. Shani agreed also when he clicked the next picture where Stellar was in front of an aquarium glass dancing. The photographer was Crot, and judging by the picture, Stellar looked very appealing. To Shani, she was quite sexy.
At the same time, Lunamaria did not find it so impressive. Even her cheeseburger did not relieve her envious passion, she did not know why she was so angry. What was her source of jealousy? What was causing all this to happen? Did she hate Stellar? No, she knew she didn't for she could not hate someone that she did not know. In addition, Lunamaria usually would not let this get to her. However, all she did know was that she didn't like Shani looking at another girl with "that" smile.
After knowing Shani was not a pervert, she loved his charming smile. It was filled with understanding and consideration. Not like she would admit it to him out loud though, he was her superior. Yet, she considered him handsome the first time they had met.
Although Shani still had many pictures from Stellar, Lunamaria quickly excused herself before her jealousy took the better of her. Unfortunately, she missed plenty of pictures of her admirer, Athrun Zala. Shani obviously did not tell her that Athrun was his friend; it wasn't like he knew how the coordinator girl felt about the Justice pilot. Somehow, the Forbidden pilot figured that Lunamaria might not be too interested in them. Who would blame her, they were strangers to her.
"You don't have to leave yet, Lunamaria-san," said Shani with guilt. He noticed Lunamaria wasn't too happy ever since he showed the pictures. Whether he was boring her, or the pictures itself were giving off an impression of dislike –he didn't know it was Stellar that upset her. "The break isn't over yet after all."
"I think I should go and take a few practice shots at the shooting range…" she told him with her back turned.
"You know…" Shani said as he twirled his own pistol before aiming it skillfully, "It has been a while since I shot."
"You coming with me?" the magenta haired girl inquired very hopefully. She blushed a little bit when she realized that she spoke a little too outwardly but luckily for her, Shani did not notice it.
"Yeah."
"At least you are a lot better than my ex-boyfriend."
"Oh, you broke up with him?" questioned Shani curiously, "What did he do to make you dump him? Don't mind me asking, I am just an inquisitive person. You don't have to if you think it's too personal."
"Oh, not at all," said Lunamaria as she went back to Shani before reaching her hand out to take his. She guided him to the small couch he had at the back of his office before sitting sweetly beside him. "We had a cold point in our relationship, and then we suggested that we should be seeing other people. You know, to chill."
"Of course," Shani was listening quite well to her surprise.
"We were just seeing another person, we were not supposed to be serious since we dedicated ourselves to be serious with another when we were ready. Like typical men, my ex loved to make love, and since I didn't want it yet, he was dying to have the chance to do it. That was why we needed to chill for a while. I didn't really trust my ex, and so I gave him a teddy bear as a present. What he didn't know was that there was a hidden camera so I could spy on him when he brings a girl home, I should tell you that I put the teddy bear in his room."
"That's logical," commented the Forbidden pilot. "Did he bring any girl home?"
"He did," replied Lunamaria, "And I thought that he was actually serious with a girl."
"Is that why you dumped him?"
"I wish he was though, but by then I found out that he was getting pretty serious with the teddy bear."
At that instant, the one-eyed natural's eye bulged out, and he didn't even know what he should do: howl with laughter, or feel disgusted. It didn't really matter, Lunamaria could see he was evidently disturbed, yet a great sense of amusement was plastered on his features. In other words, she didn't know if Shani found it funny or sickening. However, when he started to chuckle, she smiled. Once he was laughing very badly, she laughed along with him.
"I am glad that you got out of that relationship, Lunamaria-san," stated Shani with relief, "Your ex… really needs some emotional treatment… What happened to him?"
"Don't know," she replied casually as she finished her cheeseburger at last. "I haven't seen him ever since I became a student in the ZAFT military. Call me coldhearted, but I really don't miss him." Shani was not surprised one bit. Sadly enough, he would do the same thing and isolate himself from such freaks. Having making love sessions with a stuffed animal was not something he should be liking. Admiring someone like that was a bad place to be.
"Should we get going?" offered Shani clearly disturbed.
"Sure!" Lunamaria exclaimed before she and her superior headed down to the shooting chamber.
(Meanwhile at the shooting ranges)
"Shinn…" whined Meyrin with a pout, "I've tried so many times… and I still can't shoot that target right…" The vampiric coordinator merely turned his head around dully before approaching the younger Hawke sister. He slipped his gun back into his holster as he checked on her sidearm.
"What's your score so far, Meyrin?" asked Shinn looking at her in the eye.
"10?" she replied sheepishly in a form of a question. In a score out of 100, 10 was undoubtedly a low score.
"That's pretty bad…" commented the black haired coordinator trying to figure out the best words so he wouldn't hurt her. Much to his discomfort, his brain did not seem to function in the manner that he intended. He cursed for his lack of versatility, or just lacking intelligence in general. Meyrin gave him a disapproving look before Shinn realized he said something wrong. Moreover, he was not a woman person.
"Well, thanks for hurting my pride more, Shinn!" she pouted with a frown, "That hurts…"
"I'm so sorry, Meyrin," Shinn apologized immediately as he began to coo her. Hopefully that would cheer her up. "Don't worry about it, I can help you. I will help you for certain."
"Really?" she suddenly broke out of her whining and watched him with hope.
"Yes…"
"Really, really?" Meyrin's eyes are now glowing and sparkling.
"Yes, yes," said Shinn nodding before taking another step closer to her. "You said that you got a 10?"
"Yeah…" she replied sadly with shame. For a soldier to be getting a 10 at shooting was very poor, and nothing to be proud of, "And I need at least a 65 to pass it. Soldiers who can't shoot at all are pretty much useless…"
"Don't say that, Meyrin," stated the vampiric coordinator patting her back supportively. "Practice makes perfect."
The red head just watched him confusedly. "How? But I suck so bad at it…"
"Maybe you aren't holding your gun correctly," he suggested some of the possible problems. "Or, you could be just too nervous. Hey, you can't really rush at these things, Meyrin, you just need more time to get the hang of it." Meyrin smiled gratefully at Shinn for giving her such hope. It wasn't too often that he was this gentle. To put it in simpler terms, she learned to cherish it.
"What kind of score did you get then, Shinn?" the coordinator girl asked softly. When Shinn heard her question, he immediately choked slightly. She wondered why he would be hesitating. In addition, he seemed to be darting his eyes everywhere, deliberately trying to avoid eye contact.
"I… I…" Shinn was faltering, and that rarely happened. "Well, let's just say I got a 70…"
"So high?" she shouted out loud at once. "That's amazing!"
"I fluked it all… well, some of it," he told her humbly, "But at least I know how to hold a gun." Meyrin pouted again before Shinn chuckled silently under his breath. The red hair girl was so adorable when she pouted, maybe he would just tell her one day before perverted guys start fainting from her beauty. Someday, Shinn thought, someday.
"You got to teach me how to shoot better, Shinn!"
"Don't worry, I will teach you." Suddenly, someone entered for the sliding doors opened as it made that shifting sound. Curiosity took the better of them, and in a natural reaction, they turned around to face the newcomers. Shinn looked shocked to see Shani –not necessarily him, but he was with Lunamaria- and Meyrin smiled happily to see them both.
When Lunamaria saw her sister and Shinn were present before them, she easily gave a greeting smile. Shani, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out what their names were. In less than a second, the Forbidden pilot remembered the male was Shinn, but he did not remember the younger girl. It didn't matter, someone would tell him eventually.
Lunamaria approached Meyrin with a smile, "What a coincidence," the older Hawke sister said brightly, "You guys are practicing as well?"
"Yeah," answered Meyrin exuberantly, "I got to get better in order to pass the test. I'm sad, nee-chan, I only got a 10 on the shooting…" Lunamaria looked very empathetic at the moment. "But Shinn is going to teach me, he actually got a 70!" Now, the magenta haired girl was quite impressed.
"A 70, Shinn?" asked Lunamaria, smiling proudly. "You're going to pass this for sure." Shinn scratched his head as he heard her compliment. After all, he was a humble guy.
"It was just a fluke, Luna," justified the vampiric coordinator not willing to accept all the praise. "Besides, I just practiced a lot…"
"You are a natural and you know it," complimented Lunamaria once more. "I think I need more practice myself. I only got 50… nothing too impressive, is it?" Shinn and Meyrin did not make much comments, but they chose to smile with understanding. Shani -who had been quite for a while- then decided to leave them alone a minute ago before taking out an MP5 from the shelf. He quickly reloaded it like how he was taught in the Rodnia Laboratory ever since he was a kid and aimed it at the target with only one hand.
When Lunamaria realized that she had ignored her superior completely for a while, she felt very guilty. Just as she turned to her right wanting to apologize, she stopped when she found out he was no longer there. Instead, he was already at the shooting ranges at the far end ignoring everyone else who was in the room. What surprise the rookies was that he was not using a pistol but a sub-machine gun. In addition, he wasn't even using both hands.
Meyrin, Shinn, and Lunamaria watched him carefully as the Forbidden pilot fired at the target without changing his solemn face for a second. All three coordinator's eyes went wide when the bullets were nearly firing in one line. For someone to handle an automatic weapon that well as if it was the easiest thing in the world was not normal. Shani's hands weren't even moving; his eye was not flinching to focus; he wasn't wearing a visor or sound protector and yet he was so calm. No one in the entire military could shoot as emotionless as he did, and after fifty bullets, Lunamaria gasped to herself when she found the bullet holes were all near the center mark of the heart.
For someone to shoot like that with an MP5 was definitely unreal, and once the three saw Shani reload, they barely caught up with his hands for they worked like magic. A few waves, a several clicking sounds emitting from the firearm and he was done. That was simply amazing. No wonder he was a Lieutenant, but yet he had skills that surpassed someone with that rank.
"Amazing!" Lunamaria cheered as she ran to Shani's side with a delighted smile on her face. It showed care, respect, and most importantly admiration. The Forbidden pilot wondered what he actually did to make Lunamaria smile like that at him. When Shani scanned his eye behind his fellow female student, he noticed that Shinn and Meyrin were also quite shocked. Their eyes told him everything. "That was so amazing, Shani!"
"How did you do that?" Meyrin squealed happily before running to him, and taking his hands to check the firearm. "How did you not make it move at all? Is there a secret in this gun that we don't know? Is there? Is there?" Shani did not even know how to answer her.
"Rather…" Shinn said suspiciously, "How can you shoot as if you had been shooting all your life?"
The Forbidden pilot knew he needed to lie. "How is that even possible, Shinn-kun?" Shani asked to justify himself. He couldn't tell them facts that happened in the Rodnia laboratory this quickly, the fact that he was a living CPU was not something he wanted to share this quickly. Even Kira and the gang did not truly understand his past yet, and these new friends were no exception.
"You tell me…" the vampiric coordinator stated. He was still quite stunned at the previous performance but chose to remain silent instead of yelling in delight. "You looked a pro. You are no beginner."
"Obviously," stated the ZAFT Lieutenant not lying this time around, "I have been a soldier for many years now after all. I have learned to shoot of course." It was that moment when Meyrin cut in.
"Can you teach me to shoot like that, Lieutenant-sama?" she begged with puppy eyes, and battling her adorable eyelashes somewhat alluringly. "I don't know what I am doing wrong, and if I don't pass the test… I will have to repeat the entire course until I get it right. No one fails on this test, and I don't want to fall behind with my friends and nee-chan. Lieutenant Shani, can you plase tell me what I am doing incorrectly?"
Shani only accepted her request, he didn't want to see his students fail of course. Unknown to all of them, except for Shinn, Lunamaria was staring at her sister the entire time during her pleading. Obviously, she was disapproving it but did not have the heart to say it out loud. Shinn noticed Lunamaria's look, and the coordinator girl even looked at Shani with envy. After frowning a little bit, she became completely outraged when Shani guided Meyrin to the shooting range, teaching her how to shoot properly. Meyrin blushed a little as Shani's hand overlapped hers so he could elaborate on how to hold the gun properly.
Although the Forbidden pilot was not behind Meyrin –so she would be leaning on him-, Lunamaria was showing nothing but disbelief and jealousy. The vampiric coordinator only chose to be quiet and observed what kind of changes he would need to improve his own shooting. Shani clearly did not detect any of us; despite him being sharp at times, he could also be quite oblivious.
"See," began Shani as he looked at Meyrin's form, "If you hold it like that, the grip that your hand is giving on to the gun is altered. If you do hold it in the way that you're doing right now, it's fairly easy for anyone to knock it off." He then showed an example and twisted the younger girl's hand gently. Surprisingly enough, despite the lack of power delivered, Meyrin did drop the gun as expected. All three coordinators could tell he was unquestionably skilled. "Also, you seem to be afraid of the firearm, and you are carrying it too softly. You need to be firm, you need to tell the enemy who is the boss when you have this on you."
Meyrin nodded sheepishly as of result, "I understand, Lieutenant…"
"Don't tend to twist your arm too much either, it does affect the shooting later on, and possibly on every weapon that you may handle in the future. Furthermore, don't be scared of the sound of the gun." Shinn and Lunamaria seemed surprised to hear that point being brought up. Meyrin was bewildered in terms of why Shani saw through her like glass. Just before she was about to protest, Shani beat her to it. "I saw you flinching before you were about to fire. And I can assume that you're not afraid of the bullet that is being shot, it's rather the loud sound that the gun itself makes when it's being fired."
"How do you know?" questioned Meyrin with admiring eyes. Lunamaria silently watched at her sister but she did not see it.
"I've seen a lot of people like that," explained the ZAFT Lieutenant as he took a pistol from the shelf. "Mostly girls though. Not trying to be stereotypical, but it's most of the girls that I know that were afraid of the loud sound that the gun emits. Can't blame them, it is quite loud and sudden. Hey, even some guys I know were afraid of it, maybe some people are just more sensitive than others."
"What can I do to change?" asked Shinn unexpectedly. He then retracted his statement. "Or rather, what can people do to improve? I know I fluke my results…" He soon scratched his head, and Shani just chose to grin with understanding.
"One thing: confidence," replied the Forbidden pilot sincerely, "Without it, you can't do anything, and lacking it means that no one else could help you." Just when he wanted to say more, the clock on the wall began to ring. Once all four soldiers heard the signal, they quickly glanced at the wall and winced. It was 12:55 PM, and the next session would start in five minutes. It appeared that time did fly when it was cherished, and Shani groaned knowing that he had another class to teach.
"It's time to go, isn't it?" asked Lunamaria sadly as she figured that she didn't even fire a shot today.
"Certainly looks that way," replied Shinn with irritation. He couldn't wait until he graduated from the rotten hellhole. Although he had a pretty cool instructor –and it was only the first day he had him-, he knew the curriculum of this course. It was pretty obvious to anyone that he wanted to be a red coat sometime soon.
"Can you teach me more on shooting next time, Lieutenant?" asked a hopeful Meyrin as she placed all her equipment back to where they belong. Shani silently nodded before the younger Hawke sister cheered happily. "You're the coolest Lieutenant ever!" The Forbidden pilot didn't even know how he should be reacting, no one ever spoke those words when he was in the EAF. Why would they, he was a biological weapon. Somehow, it just felt good to be appreciated, and he just had the assurance he needed to know he was doing a fine job at this.
By the end of this session, Shani still failed to realize Lunamaria's suppressed feelings.
(Half an hour after the second class)
Shani Andras was quite a busy person ever since he had his freedom. He never expected life to be this difficult, but at the same time, he was quite prepared to face anything. After being a caged bird in the Rodnia Laboratory, it was clear that the facility taught them what they wanted them to know. They only had knowledge of whatever the organization wanted them to have in their heads; they had to believe what the doctors believed; and as long as they lived, they were nothing but puppets. Being an isolated person only meant isolation from the world itself, all they knew to do was kill, destroy, and annihilate. The only other things that Shani actually learned in the lab were human communication, and possibly how to speak, write, and read. Despite being weapons, they could not be that ignorant.
After his teaching today, he finally had some spare time to deal with personal issues. Heine told him that he would have a place to stay while he was up at PLANT, but Shani would not live there for too long for that place was called military dormitory. In all honesty, Heine's offer was a kind one, and most importantly, it was free. However, the Forbidden pilot lived in dorms all his life –of course he did not tell Heine all the personal details- and he could not stand sleeping in one for as long as he had this career. To respond to this, Shani decided to search for an apartment that he could rent. To put it short, he would live in the dorm until a new home could be found.
After changing back into his more casual clothing, packing his necessities, printing off some of the pages that he needed off the internet, Shani went to Heine's office to borrow a map. As he exited the Faith member's door, he immediately opened up the map to figure out his destinations. Fortunately, the roads in PLANT appeared to be simpler than the ones in Kyoto. Regardless of the difficulties, that would not stop him from exploring. He headed towards the main doors preparing to leave.
At that instant, someone bumped into his back. Once the Forbidden pilot felt the push, he immediately turned around to see who it might be. His right eye opened slightly more when he noticed that it was Lunamaria. She blushed insignificantly at her clumsiness, but more so because she bumped into Shani.
"Hello," greeted the Forbidden pilot to his student kindly as he moved his eye to her head level.
"Hi," she greeted back with a smile. "Shani, are you going somewhere?"
"I am actually planning to leave, Lunamaria-san," he replied grinning back. It was then when the girl saw the bunch of papers that he was carrying in his left hand. Judging from the size of one of the booklets, she was certain that it was a map.
"Where are you leaving?" she asked in a desperate hurry, "Are you quitting as a soldier and look for another job? So soon? You were just a soldier for one day and you're doing such a good job at it! Why are you resigning? Can't you consider it before making such a big decision?" Shani wanted to laugh at her silly thoughts, but he wisely decided to keep it quiet. This was still military grounds after all.
"Of course I am not quitting, Lunamaria-san," he said back with a grin wider than before, "I am just looking for an apartment. Let's just say I am not a big fan of residence…" The coordinator girl certainly felt dumb.
"Isn't it the same thing though?"
"It's not the same. I enjoy apartment life a lot more." It was then something struck her.
"Are you going to look for an apartment alone?" she suddenly questioned him out of the blue.
"Yes…" answered Shani slowly.
"How can you go there alone? You don't know your way around! You'll get lost."
"Don't worry about me, Lunamaria-san," said the Forbidden pilot confidently, "I am quite adaptable to new places. I will be fine, I promise."
"No, you need someone to come with you," she immediately insisted pushing Shani's words aside. "I know, I will come with you so we can find the places faster." Shani's eyes widened at her decision. How could he trouble her at a time like this? It didn't feel right. "You know what, wait for me here. I will change and meet with you."
"Luna…" He wanted to protest –not because he disliked her company, but rather he felt that she didn't need to do this for him. Especially when they made up a several hours ago, Shani did not wish for Lunamaria to believe that her charity was an obligation. Of course, Lunamaria did not think this was sympathy, she wanted to do this wholeheartedly.
"No buts, Shani," she justified by silencing him with her finger on his lips. "You need my help. Wait for me here and don't leave. If you do…" she said the last part threateningly. "I will bite you again." Remembering that incident, Shani touched his bandaged neck with caution. Sweating a little bit, he humbly obeyed. Seeing that he agreed, she happily skipped off back to her room to change. As Shani watched her retreating form, he took a deep sigh to himself before finding one of those couches in the lobby.
He soon plopped down lazily on one of them, waiting for Lunamaria to return. Second went to minutes, and minutes turned into more minutes. Shani wanted to leave this base by 3:30, but now it was already 4. Women, they could really take their time in the bathroom or when they were doing their necessities. He was somewhat glad he wasn't born in the body of a woman, or his life would've made a drastic turn for the worse. At long last, Lunamaria came back, jogging happily in her casual clothes –the same one that she had when they had first met.
"Did I take too long?" she asked apologetically, but Shani quickly shook it off.
"No, it was fine," he lied to a certain degree.
"I used a new shampoo," she told him sweetly and took a sniff of the green apple aroma.
"As what?" Shani questioned deliberately with one brow raised all too knowingly. Lunamaria pouted again as a result.
"You're mean!" the coordinator girl declared as she stuck out her tongue to tease him back. She soon turned towards the opposite direction and marched off without him. What did she say about being a guide earlier? How could she ditch him without telling him, wait, wasn't that what ditch meant? Giving a tiring grunt, Shani chased after her. In his deep sub-consciousness, he noticed that Lunamaria was a lot like Stellar. However, his conscious level refused to be that sharp at the moment.
(On the streets of PLANT)
"You don't need to stick with me for so long, Lunamaria-san," said Shani to his female companion as he scratched off the third place of many of the choices he selected on his list. They just exited an apartment just now due to the fact that the landlord was not the most respectable person. He had strong prejudices against naturals. "I can do this alone, I don't want to tire you out."
"It's not so bad, Shani," she reasoned cutely as she stuck out her tongue once more at the apartment building. That man was a complete jackass, how dare he wanted to charge more rent due to the fact that Shani was a natural! In addition, had he not know that the war was over? Forgiveness and acceptance was the way to head to success, not showing immoral personal hatred. As long as anyone was concerned, it was those people that had the potential to revive the previous war. To be blunt, Lunamaria thought that landlord was a damned retard. "I don't really have anything to do today anyway, just think of it as chilling."
"I wouldn't consider looking for a home chilling though…"
"Then think of it as hanging out with a friend. Besides, I am a very good negotiator. Without me, who knows what would've happened."
"Then I simply would not rent that place."
"I am also here to keep you company," justified the coordinator girl sharply as she took another step closer to him. Shani sighed at her response. "You would be bored quite soon without me around."
"I guess you're right…" he said back as the two began walking towards the commercial district of town without fully knowing. "Well, I'm going to look for more tomorrow."
Lunamaria turned to face him. "Can't you settle for the dorm at the military?"
"What for?" he demanded a good reason from her –nothing forceful of course. "I don't get enough privacy… well, I do but I just don't feel free."
"Come on," she pleaded as she took his hands and shook it to persuade him. "If you stay there, I can always bug you when I can't sleep."
"Do you like bugging people?" inquired the Forbidden pilot, amused.
"Only to friends obviously," replied the magenta haired lady giggling now, "I used to do it more often before I joined ZAFT. Now, I only got Shinn, Vino, some others, and Meyrin that I am close with. Most of the guys always put sleep before their friends… they never know how a girl thinks."
"I have to say you're the first girl that I have met that likes to bug people during their sleep…" Shani was somewhat fascinated at her habits. It wasn't anything harmful after all. Actually, it was a privilege to meet new people for the Rodnia laboratory had cold people without emotions as a majority. In truth, he was one of those people as well but he had Stellar, Crot, and Oruga to be around with. Somehow, their presence was the only thing that kept him sane after all this time. "I suppose you just want to cure your boredom when you couldn't sleep, right?"
"Exactly," she said right on the mark, "You're the first guy to actually say that. Why would I bothering people if I could be sleeping? That is because I couldn't right? And all I want to do is find someone who is kind enough to help me get back to sleep." Shani wished it was that simple, Lunamaria's request was practically a miracle. For eighteen years that he had known himself, Shani knew he loved sleep.
"Easier said than done, Lunamaria-san," Shani told her, "Guys always love sleep. Actually, teens love sleep in general. Well, if there are nights where you really couldn't sleep, find me and we will talk for a bit. Hopefully, we can get off some of the things that are on our chest." To his surprise, Lunamaria appeared to be really content at his words. He was still trying to absorb all this. When he met her yesterday, she hated him to the core. Now, he was speaking to an adorable angel with incredible charm.
"Really?" she inquired with hope. It was exactly like how Meyrin did it, but less innocence.
"Really."
"You're so nice, Shani!" exclaimed Lunamaria with glee. "You're not doing this because I am a girl, are you, Shani?" That statement did a beautiful job at catching the Forbidden pilot off guard. What randomness, as Shani would say.
"Of course not," he told her with no lies in his words, "It's just that… you're my first friend in PLANT… well, Heine would be first but he is more of a comrade than a personal level friend… and I suppose I cherish friends because I don't much of them."
"You better consider me as your friend," she replied with a very mischievous grin and showing her teeth a little, "Or I am going to bite you again." This time around, Shani laughed with his hand covering his mouth. The girl only watched him along with much puzzlement. "What's so funny, Shani?"
"It's funny that you always try to threaten me with that biting thing," he said back turning away slightly to laugh. His standing pose was quite off balance, it seemed like as if he could fall if someone pushed him. "Yeah, as if you will actually plunge your teeth to my flesh more than once." She immediately pouted by puckering her lips and expanding her cheeks. In a whirl, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him by the wall despite they were in public. At that moment, Shani told himself to never challenge her on this subject again for it was when she –like a vampire- aimed for his bandaged neck. Although she was joking, Shani was panicking helplessly. "Okay, okay, you win!"
The girl soon slowly pulled her head back with a friendly victorious sneer on her face. Her hands –to her surprise- were still touching his shoulders. "As if I am going to bite you again, Shani," she teased with a giggle escaping her mouth. "I am not that mean."
"How would I know if you were serious or faking it?" said Shani, smiling at her kindly, "You were quite interested in my blood… at least you look like it." Either she was a great actor or someone that could meet their words, Shani would give her that much credit.
"I am not a monstrosity, Shani-sama," It was pretty evident to anyone that the sama that was added was to tease him further. "I don't lust for blood…" Then, she moved a tad bit closer. "Unless you want me to."
"Speaking of blood," said Shani changing the subject while getting himself out of her hold swiftly. Lunamaria frowned seeing that her fun was already over, he was sure someone who liked to play it safe. "You hungry? It is quite late."
"Are you treating me to dinner?" the magenta haired lady questioned him with a happy tone. Her eyes were alluring; voice was delightful; and that expression on her face promised Shani that they would have a good time if they went together. Just by looking at her made Shani feel happy inside, and it didn't take long to him to compromise with her. As soon as he nodded to agree, Lunamaria was practically dancing with joy. "Thank you so much!"
"It's fine, just think of it as my thanks to accompany me despite that you didn't have to."
"I wanted to do it though!" she protested. "If you're treating me because you think you're obligated to… I would feel guilty…" The moment he found out that the coordinator girl's head was watching the ground with a genuinely sad grimace, Shani knew he had to change his wordings. What to do, what to do, he thought with dread, the last thing that he wanted to do was to make his new friend depressed and unhappy. He had to think of something… but what?
"Then think of it as my token of appreciation, Lunamaria-san," he quickly replaced his previous statement with more elaboration. Lunamaria finally leveled her head to meet his eyes, a sense of uncertainty reached her features when Shani looked at her.
"What kind of appreciation?" she asked him timidly.
"For our friendship, for starting right this time. I think it's something worth to celebrate, don't you think? After having you hate me for so long… although it may have been only for a week, it doesn't feel great to know that someone hates you. In truth, people who don't give a damn about you is actually worse for your existence means nothing to anyone."
"Don't think like that," the cobalt blue eyed coordinator told him encouragingly, "You're a good guy, your existence does mean something to me." The Forbidden pilot was amazed at the words she said, was she for real? As far as he was concerned, he didn't know her for too long, yet she seemed ever so greatly sincere and honest. If he knew better, she wasn't lying.
"Why are you saying this? Do you mean it?" he asked her seriously as his eye scanned hers.
"I know you're a good person, Shani," she replied honestly without falter, "I know you are. With these eyes having to see someone getting serious with a teddy bear, I know I can't judge someone by their looks. You know what I mean?" The green haired natural chuckled hearing that reminder, even after many hours, he could not help but laugh. Amongst every story he had heard in his life, nothing was this bizarre. Just imagining it gave him the chills.
"Thank you, Lunamaria," he said as he sudden took her in a light embrace. "You are kind, too." She felt her heart stopped completely, blood had fully ceased in flowing in her system. Her face turned pink –her cheeks to the very least-, and she had no idea how comfortable, how accepting, how warm it was to be hugged. It had been a long while since that happened, and deep down, she loved this. However, her pride forbade her from enjoying it for too long.
"No need to hug me, Lieutenant," she said with an utmost convincing voice, "It's not like you are that obligated to make me feel better. We just know each other for one day, it's too awkward if you hug me. Besides, it's not like you are my boyfriend." She quickly broke the light embrace –and deep down she desperately wanted it to continue. Miraculously, his touches were like signs of victory that filled her heart, she believed that she defeated any women who wanted him.
What troubled her was that she was feeling about it so strongly, she didn't understand it –not even a small fraction. Her face pained a little seeing Shani so dazed, more or less unaccepted. Regardless of who it was, it would naturally hurt to see someone refuse another –especially when the victim was the one who tried to share their kindness. Lunamaria regretted it so much, and her heart fell once more when she saw him smile at her understandingly. Why was he so kind when he had every right to be disappointed?
"You're right," he said after five seconds of pausing. "I am your superior, not your boyfriend. I shouldn't have acted on my emotions when it might have been an intrusion of your personal space. Lunamaria-san, this won't happen again, I promise."
Why was he apologizing? He didn't do anything wrong! She was the one being unkind to him, she should be asking for forgiveness. Was hugging wrong? Was it an invasion of her rights? Lunamaria wanted to hug him back so desperately, so dreadfully, so much, but she cursed herself beyond imaginable when she dumbly nodded at Shani's statement. Once again, the Forbidden pilot gave her a genuine smile that she did not deserve. Oh, did she ever want to take a knife right now, and stab her heart so it would end the emotional torture instead of living to experience it. Her eternity was only seconds in reality, and by now, Shani was actually a several meters away from her, looking back wondering why his friend had not moved from her spot.
"Luna…"
"What is it?" she asked looking up to meet his face. The jolting action she had told Shani clearly that she was deep in her own thoughts just now. What caused her so lost was unknown to the Forbidden pilot, and it kind of worried him. Shani immediately decided to walk back to her side.
"You okay?" he asked as he took her small, soft hand intentionally to check the temperature of it.
"I'm fine…"
"Your hand is really cold, Lunamaria," he told her with his right eye not leaving her face so he could observe her –not staring at her. When the coordinator girl shivered involuntarily, the ZAFT Lieutenant got the message that she was quite cold. It didn't hit him that the girl was wearing nothing but tight jeans, a tank top, and a thin violet jacket where as compared to him; he had a thicker jacket and another shirt underneath. Also, he finally realized that the time period had shifted into night, it was no doubt the temperatures dropped drastically.
"I'm cold…" she whispered as she cuddled closer to him to gather warmth. "Shani… I am cold…"
"I know," he replied as he took off his jacket to reveal a blue buttoned up shirt underneath. Being a natural extended who had been trained to be a killing machine regardless of the circumstances, withstanding the cold was one of his easiest tasks. "Here, wear this," he said again as he aided the girl to wear his jacket. Once she zipped up the zipper, Shani finally grinned a relieved smirk when she softened up comfortably. Knowing that she was warm at last, they had better get going to a restaurant. As Shani turned around preparing to walk, someone snaked their arm around his right one.
Once he tilted his head to the right, that violet eye of his opened more when he found out it was Lunamaria. For the nth amount of time today, Shani was puzzled by the emotions given by her eyes. She wasn't looking at him purposely, he knew that much, but what he seemed to cloud his thinking was why was she appearing so timid.
"Lunamaria-san?" the Forbidden pilot inquired no louder than a whisper.
"Can you do me a favour?" her voice was so gentle and serene.
"Go ahead."
"Can I lean on you for a little while? I am still a little bit cold…" He immediately nodded with a warm smile reaching his face before Lunamaria finally moved in and closed her eyes as if her burdens were lifted. The duo stayed like that for half a minute before they began to walk. Carefully, the Forbidden pilot placed his right arm around her and rested on the shoulder to show that he was being neutral. Oblivious to him, the girl wanted it to be on her waist. Nonetheless, she was at peace at long last.
Shani was unquestionably warm, and a blush did not leave her cheeks during the entire trip.
AN: If you happen to have any questions for me, just ask. If you think that I may take a long time to reply, give me your email. If you even think that despite the email that I take too long, then mail me and complain about my sluggish actions. I need some motivation to keep going at times –or even forceful motivation. Until next week… or weeks… Later!