Title: The Perfect Gift (or What to Get the Girl Who Gave You Two Gundams)
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance/General/Light-Humor
Written For: fallenxiah, as part of the kiraraku livejournal community Valentine's Day Exchange.
Summary: And as the anniversary of the day I'd met the pink-haired woman drew near, I found myself thinking on it even more. Just what did you give to the person who'd given you everything? (Kira POV)

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Years after the wars were over and we'd settled down on the PLANTS where Lacus acted as a peaceful mediator even now- there had always been one question that had been left unanswered.

And as the anniversary of the day I'd met the pink-haired woman drew near, I found myself thinking on it even more. Just what did you give to the person who'd given you everything?

No, I don't mean that in a completely romantic way. True, she'd always been there for me in my worst moments. But that aside, she'd even given me not one but two gundams. Just what do you give to someone as a gift after that?

I'd ended up phoning Athrun about it, and he had to laugh at my predicament.

"It's true she's given you some pretty pricy items, Kira," My friend remarked, "You're really going to have to think up something spectacular."

I knew it was said in jest, but at the same time- I really did want to give Lacus something special this year. It had been five years since that fateful day we met and I had been trying since Christmas to think up the best gift possible.

And here I was, days before, still without a clue. Seeing as Athrun had no better ideas than I did, I called my Mother and asked her what she thought would be best.

A lengthy phone call, and some last-minute planning later; we'd set up the present I was to give. Now the question remained- would I be able to pull it off?

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The day came and I waved Lacus off as she went to one of the many memorial service planning meetings the last two weeks had been peppered with. This gave me plenty of time to prepare for that evening- and what I hoped- would be the best gift I could ever give her.

My mother had sent me a list of things to buy and so, after hesitating a brief moment- I headed out to shop for them. Needless to say, it was much harder than it looked. How did I know which one Lacus would like best? Should I pick this one or that one? If piloting a gundam was hard- this was even harder.

With my arms full of bags, I headed home to start the preparations. Arming myself with a knife, I looked at the recipe. How hard could it be to home cook a gourmet meal anyways?

A few cuts and a fire alarm later, I managed to get the bulk of the dinner completed without setting too much on fire. Okay, so the rolls were a bit hard and the bottom of the casserole was burnt. Minor setbacks, right?

But after Haro and Torii managed to leave mechanical dents in the icing on the dessert, I began to get nervous. Of course, this had to be just the moment that Lacus got home from the meetings.

I rushed to set out the table and awkwardly stood there with a lopsided smile on my face as she rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Kira?"

Trying not to act too nervous, I walked over to take her coat, "I thought you might be hungry after a day of meetings. I'm not sure how good it is though."

Her eyes lit up at that and she pecked a quick kiss on my cheek, "Thank you, Kira. This is so thoughtful of you."

I smiled a bit at that, hoping my culinary skills- or lack there of- held up to the test.

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The table had been set out just as my Mother had suggested. A nice tablecloth draped over it, the fancy plates and silverware being used and a set of two lit candles glowing from where they sat in the center. Lacus looked around at all of it and just couldn't seem to stop smiling.

"Kira, you really shouldn't have gone to so much trouble."

"Well," I stuck my hands in my pockets out of a nervous habit, "It's been five years…since…"

"…since we met," She finished, looking very touched, "You remembered."

I managed a nod; Lacus beamed.

"Well then, let's start eating before it all gets cold, right?"

"Sure."

We sat down and began to eat, our conversation sparse aside from her light-hearted and thoughtful comments on the memorial service they were planning and how she hoped she didn't end up stuck out in a life pod again.

"But you'd just come out and find me again, right?"

I smiled, "Of course."

I noticed her eating the slightly-hard rolls and burnt casserole without a second thought, all of it being tasted and enjoyed as if it had been cooked by the best chef in the universe. As always, Lacus knew exactly how to make me feel at ease. And thankfully she did, because my nerves were getting pretty tense as I thought about what I was about to do.

As we hit a bit of a lull in the conversation, I casually cleared my throat.

"Lacus, can I ask you something?"

She glanced up from her plate and sat her fork down expectantly, "Yes Kira?"

Feeling more butterflies in my stomach than I did when I first piloted a gundam, I somehow managed to stand and walk over to her side of the table. She looked a bit confused for a moment- but then I dropped to one knee.

"Lacus Clyne, would you marry me?" I heard my voice say, but the rest of me was too focused on her expression to even remember thinking to say the words.

Blue eyes widened as she slowly reached out to take the small ring box I offered her. I could see the light trace of tears welling in her eyes as she sat the box on the table and dropped to her knees to embrace me.

"Yes, Kira. Yes, I'll marry you," She replied, hugging me tight.

I smiled then, trying to help her back up to her seat. But once we were standing, we both sort of paused- just smiling at each other. I leaned forward, resting my forehead against hers.

"I love you, Lacus."

She whispered back, "I love you, Kira."

And having completely forgotten that several friends and family members were coming over to celebrate with us after dinner, we kissed; finally breaking apart and blushing thoroughly after we heard Mwuu-san telling us to get a room. Murrue-san gave him a sound smack on the back of the head and all of us started to laugh.

Looking at Lacus's expression as she let me slide the ring on her finger amidst a room full of cheers, I knew- I'd found the perfect gift for the one who'd given me everything.

THE END

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