Title: Ame
Rating: K+
Warnings: Unbeta-ed, some OOC-ness
Genre: General
Main Character(s): Lunamaria, Shinn
Ship(s): None.
Summary: Lunamaria had always hated the rain. It's cold and wet. One shot.
Disclaimer: Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed, Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed Destiny, characters and places are copyright to Hajime Yate, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Sotsu Agency and Sunrise.
Author's Notes: I hate the rain and cold. It was raining when I wrote this. I peg Luna and Shinn to be more of sunshine people than rain people.

It was raining again. It had been for days and it seemed to put her in a melancholy mood.

The rain pattered against the windows, creating strange patterns as it spattered and dripped in rivulets down the clear glass, creating small rivers as they slide down to gather in puddles.

She had never been one of those girls who drone on and on about how life was unfair or one of those self-absorbed girls around her in college. She was just herself; cheerful, bright, vibrant. Those had been Shinn's words to her when she had asked, in a fit of playfulness what he thought of her, the other day at the sidewalk café. The dark-haired boy had stammered and stuttered, turning bright red before blurting out the answer. Rey had hid his expression behind the mane of honey-blond hair, hiding his laugh behind a cough.

Still, the words had meant so much more to her, coming from one of her closest friends. She had a lot of friends during her Academy days, on board the Minerva, gaining a few more after the war. The new friends weren't as close to her as the other two. They don't know her well but what they know, the found likeable. Same with her classmates from college.

Civilian life was supposed to be so carefree, no worries about when the next attack was coming or whether you were going to live or die. She had signed up for the local university when the chance came up, wanting to enfold herself into the more mundane, normal life as much as possible. Shinn had told her that was great in an almost wistful tone, prompting her to ask him to join her before her gave her a shake of his head. Rey wasn't too keen on being around so many people with his condition.

She had wanted to forget, actually. To leave behind the life she knew; the life that was a soldier and nothing else. To wash her hands clean of the stains that never seemed to be clean, to clear the memories of the faceless and nameless soldiers she had killed. She had nightmares sometimes, of the battle at Messiah and Requiem, sometimes of the one at ORB or the one where she was injured for the first time in a fight. Nowadays, the nightmares were of Shinn beaing beaten by the red gundam she had grown to hate, the Messiah exploding in pieces and Rey never surviving it at all. She'd wake up with tears on her face as she calmed her erratic heart and remembered that they were alive and here.

The glass was cool to the touch as she leaned her forehead against it, looking outside to the people below, scurrying about with their umbrellas. Some were dashing to the nearest shelter, arms thrown over their heads, as if it could ward off the rain or repel it off them. It only got their sleeves wetter. Cars sped by, splashing up puddles at the pedestrians. She watched as one yelled something at the passing car, shaking a fist, probably something obscene. She felt a tiny quirk of lips at that, enjoying watching the people outside getting drenched by the rain while she was warm and dry inside her apartment. She wondered where did the sadistic streak came from and realized it was probably from Shinn. He was a terrible influence on her but then, so was Rey.

Like Athrun on Meyrin? the tiny voice taunted before she could swat it away. She bit her lower lip, eyes darkening to a deep indigo as she remembered how truly furious she had felt when she realized that Athrun had taken her sister away. She still blamed him, was still angry at him, though not as furious as before. She was civil to him but no longer exude the open friendliness towards him.

The front door slamming shut jarred her out of her musings and she craned her head to see Shinn stomping further into the open living room, dripping water everywhere. He was soaked to the bone, dark hair plastered to his face, clothes sticking to him like a second skin and he looked cross. Probably got caught in the rain, she mused, getting up from the window seat, making her way towards him.

"Ah, don't drip on the carpet," she said, frowning a little.

"It's not like I can stop it," he said to her waspishly. His temper hadn't lessened at all, if anything, he was even grouchier than ever. She felt a pang in her chest; she would be as well, if she was being turned down for nearly every other job or getting fired.

"Shinn," she began with a sigh then shut up at his expression. He stripped the soppy jacket off, letting it fall onto the fall and strode towards the bathroom without a word. She worried her lower lip before picking it up and heading the same way.

The rain was making everything miserable and dull, everything so grey and depressing.

"You should try and keep your temper, you know," she said conversationally, leaning against the wall, his wadded up jacket held in her hands, dripping icy cold water down her bare legs. "This is your fifth time? What happened this time?"

"Nothing." The door was yanked open and he came out, a towel wrapped around his waist, looking visibly calmer but his auburn eyes still held that seething anger inside.

She held her tongue, knowing him. He wouldn't want to be pushed. When it was right and he had cooled down, he would talk to her about it. Sometimes, she wished she was like Rey. Their youngest member of the trio was most likely to have picked up on Shinn's feelings and would say the few magic words and everything was better. Except Rey wasn't around at the moment and Luna didn't know any magic words save for 'please' and 'thank you' which her parents drilled into her.

The slamming of the bedroom door jerked her out of her thoughts, and she cursed herself for even daydreaming at a time like this. She sighed, tossing the wet jacket into the sink; she'll do the laundry later, and walked into the kitchen where he was, sitting at the table and staring broodily at nothing. They were both silent as she busily made tea, placing the mug before him, watching as the steam waffed before his face.

"The old man got mad again," he said without preamble, eyes fixed on the liquid in his mug. He didn't look up at her. "I mixed up some orders and the customers' goods will have to wait for another week before they arrive."

"Oh, Shinn." Lunamaria knew how hard it was to adjust to civilian life once more. To pretend that you don't have hair-trigger reflexes, to paste on a smile when people around you talk about the horrors of war, to pretend not to know how to take apart a gun and assemble it in under five seconds. It was a difficult transition, one which she had gone through when she enrolled in college, started classes with more than fifty people in one classroom.

Lunamaria Hawke was never going to outgrow her soldier's reflexes, not even when she grew old, it would remain with her. Alert, wary and cautious.

"Maybe working with Mr Wilks is not your thing," she said helpfully. "Why not to enlist into the military? That's where you belong, isn't it?"

He stiffened, and she knew she had brought up a sore subject. He was still not on good terms with Representative Athla and Athrun Zala. Who could blame him? Luna didn't know Cagalli-san that well and only remember her from the time she had been on the Minerva. She had seemed to be a strong-headed and short tempered young woman. Frankly, Luna had thought she was very bossy and just as selfish. That had been her opinion then. Cagalli was still bossy but no longer selfish.

"I don't want to go back there," he snapped. "She's the head of the military operation. She runs it, even though she has help from one of the generals. I don't want to see her. Not yet."

"If being the military is all that you know and love, then why not?" Luna realized a beat later she had stood up. Shinn was staring at her, and she belatedly realized she had shouted as well. "Shinn, you can go from job to job, working for those half-arsed paychecks that pays half of what you used to earn when you have much more potential than that! Re-enlist into the military, to ORB's military. They could use someone like you. You have a lot of offer them and– and I know that Cagalli-san isn't that petty to hold a grudge against you. You love it, don't you? Piloting your own gundam, able to fly in the skies without any restrains or boundaries. This is what you're supposed to do, not working as a sales clerk or delivery boy. You're always going to be a pilot."

Hours later, after they had a silent dinner and Shinn had went to bed, Luna sat on her bed, leaning against the window. Shinn was forever going to remain a pilot no matter how old he got, she was going to live out the rest of her civilian life pretending to be ordinary when she was not and Rey was... He was going to keep on living, that was all he could do. That was what they knew and nothing more.

Outside, the rain kept pouring down in sheets. She lay back down on her bed, yanking the blanket over her head.

She hated the rain.

It was grey and miserable.

Owari.