Purple1...please don't kill me! My computer wouldn't let me online for awhile! I swear that's why!
-saying to unmentioned person(s)- No, Dearka's not from a rich family. No, he's not royal either. And-
ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice - I didn't know...why Kira liked them, at the time I wrote that. But your review made me think, and now it'll be in the story (later) why he likes shiny objects (aka-jewels -laughs-)
Chapter 6 - The Freedom
'He amazed me when we first met...
And he continued to amaze me...forever...
How could he be...what he was?
How long had I been there?'
Athrun was standing in the middle deck (ya know...that place between the lowest deck and the deck in the very back that's higher up?) of the Freedom, glaring about at all the pirates. It seemed only Kira, Mwu, Cagalli, and Dearka kept themselves clean. The others were wearing...boring outfits too.
Each had an earth-tone colored shirt with no sleeves. The symbol for Freedom was etched onto the back of the shirts, and their pants were earth-toned too. If they had a special job or something, then the post they'd been given was written on the front left side of their shirt.
Athrun caught sight of pink hair and looked. Lacus was chatting with a few of the crew members. It had only been 3 days since their 'capture' and 2 days since they were allowed out and about, yet Lacus had already befriended most of the crew. How did she ever manage that? Athrun bet Kira was the same-
Kira...
His eyes narrowed. He hadn't seen said brown haired boy at all since that dinner. It was always either Cagalli, Mwu, or Dearka that gave out the orders as he'd seen it. Where was Kira then? What could he be-
BAM!
Athrun jumped when the door next to him burst open. Cagalli stormed out, a look of pure hate on her face. She looked at the sky, and proceeded to yell-
"KIRA! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Her yell echoed, but the crew paused only momentarily before continuing. Athrun guessed this was a natural occurrence. Even Lacus had been pulled back into conversation.
Suddenly, Kira fell from somewhere above them, most likely the masts, and landed gracefully in front of Cagalli. As he stood up to his full height, Kira caught the angry look his sister wore.
"What is it now Cagalli?" he asked, acting upset but his smile showed he enjoyed this moment.
"That bastard La Flaga was staring at my ass again!" she yelled, no one on board seemed to care about to loud conversation going on.
"Oh. Is that all?" Kira looked about to laugh.
"All? Is that all? KIRA! Tell him to stop it!" she yelled, becoming red in the face both from yelling and embarrassment. Kira scratched the back of his head.
"Ok, ok. I'll have a talk with him. Better?" he asked, as if Cagalli had a booboo and he'd just kissed it to make it feel better. Cagalli flushed.
"Y-yea..." she looked away, trying to keep a mad face but failing miserably. "I'm gonna go load canons..." and she went to the lower deck.
"Canons?" Athrun asked in slight confusion.
"Yea. Cagalli likes blowing things up when she's angry. If no one's in the area and we're going past a rock or something, she'll blow it up in a heartbeat. It's good cause she doesn't take it out on the crew." Kira was smiling warmly at his twin. Athrun was seeing that ethereal being again, like when he'd given Kira that book... "But...it does cost a load to buy more canon balls..." Kira sweat-dropped and laughed slightly, breaking Athrun from his reverie and back to the present.
"Ah...I see..." Athrun let it drop. "Kira...where were you?" he asked suddenly. Kira blinked, smiled, then pointed to the tallest mast. "Up there?"
"Yep. I go there a lot to think, watch the ocean, and other stuff. No one ever bothers me when I'm up there, and the view is great!" Kira said, joy playing all over his face. It seemed Athrun had forgiven him.
"Moron." Athrun said dryly, remembering that this was a pirate ship, and Kira's smile faltered, then was gone. "They don't mess with you because you're the captain. Pirates do what their captain says!" the boy then turned and walked off. Kira looked helpless.
-
A few days passed, but they'd seen no sign of land, or another ship, for sometime. At random points during the day, Mwu would tell the guy driving the ship to change directions to this way and that. Athrun didn't understand this, but the crew seemed to understand and didn't question why.
Each day, Athrun watched as Lacus interacted with the crew. He saw them laugh, smile, and work hard. They all seemed so nice, so...gentle almost. At night he listened to Dearka retell stories about Kira's accomplishments as a captain. And each day, Athrun found himself caring less and less about the fact that Kira was a pirate, that he was on a pirate ship, that they were pirates at all.
The sun, the sea, the air. It all just seemed...right. And he didn't want it to ever end. Several times a day, he had to shake his head and remind himself why he disliked pirates in first place.
Today was no different. Everything seemed peaceful, out here on the sea...
"Mmm...perfect sailing weather..." Kira said calmly, then took on a sadder air. "Oh, how I wish I could sail into your great lengths and see all you had to show...I miss such things..."
"Seems you have the heart of a sailor."
'He really does have the heart of a sailor, doesn't he?...hm?'
Athrun's attention was caught by a group of 3 people on the edge of the ship. 2 of them were regular pirates, the other was Kira. There seemed to be a problem...
Suddenly, Kira nodded then leapt off the side of the ship!
Athrun's eyes widened and he ran over, grabbing the railing and holding in a death glare he wanted to send at both other pirates. Why'd the let him jump? He looked down.
Kira was hanging by a rope about halfway down, fixing a small hole in the ship exterior. When he was done, you couldn't tell there had ever been a hole really. Athrun felt stupid for not having seen the rope as Kira climbed back up.
"Thanks captain." one of the pirates, a short haired brunette, said. "That hole's been there for awhile. We couldn't get to it!" Both of them nodded while smiling, then walked off.
Kira smiled after them, then turned and started. Athrun!
"Uh...hi?" Kira started softly, nervously. Before Athrun can say anything, the captain walked off.
Athrun blinked. Wait...Kira wasn't wearing his captain's outfit! Instead he wore a white t-shirt with short, light blue sleeves. His pants were a...'fuzzy' greyish-blue color and he wore normal shoes. Athrun was back to wearing the clothes he had had on when he swam to the ship days ago.
'Days? Or...weeks? I can't remember how long I've been here...It's almost as if...time has stopped here...preserving the peace that seems to surround Kira constantly...'
He frowned and walked away.
-
It was early morning the next day. Athrun wasn't the least bit sleepy, and had been up for a few hours already. Why had he woken up so early? He usually slept until after Dearka left.
He slowly made his way to the deck, breathing in the sweet, salty air they never ran out of. The sun was barely rising, the dark sky crawling to lighter blue as the light crossed it's path. Athrun was woken from his dreamy state by a yell.
He turned to see Kira on the uppermost deck, holding a sword. He was obviously practicing, and must have been for awhile now. His forehead was covered in sweat and he was breathing slightly hard...but only just slightly.
Kira started when a sword was suddenly put to his neck. He stood completely still and for a full minute, the one holding the sword just stood there. Then the sword was retracted and Kira sighed, turning around.
He started again when he saw Athrun. Kira seemed fearful almost, and Athrun knew he was looking for an escape route. So, he cut in first.
"Look...I'm sorry."
That did it.
Kira paused, looking up at the blue haired royal. His face showed the perfect picture of confusion.
"Why are you apologizing?" he asked softly. Athrun blinked, then scratched the back of his head with his free hand, looking slightly agitated or stumped, Kira couldn't tell.
"I was so mean to you...even though you hadn't done anything wrong really. I dropped your friendship like a rock, and said hurtful things even as you tried to be my friend again..." Athrun said finally.
A soft silence passed over them as a silent wind blew.
Kira then looked at the ground, still looking kinda nervous. Athrun smirked and took a step forward. Kira froze. Athrun raised Kira's chin and then backed off slightly. He held out his hand, staring Kira in the eyes, then asked...softly...
"Need a sparing partner?" in a good-natured way. The smile on his face made Kira feel better and he smiled back.
The brunette nodded.
"Thanks...Athrun..." and the match began.
-
Cagalli was standing on the upper deck, examining the floor. She stepped around the scuff marks, retracing the spar that had gone on. It was obvious that her brother had won...but Athrun wasn't a terrible swordsman either...She got the distinct impression...that Kira had gone easy on him.
For a moment, she wondered whyAthrun learned swordsmanship in the first place. But then she remembered and frowned. Footsteps alerted her of his presence before she saw him.
"Go away Zala." she said in a huffy tone.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked, seemingly unfazed by her attitude.
"No." Blunt.
"Do you know how to sword fight as well?"
"Yes." Blunt again!
Cagalli turned and faced the edge of the ship, looking out over the water.
"Why do you yell all the time?"
He was so obviously trying to start a conversation. It was almost painful to hear!
"Because I do, ok? Now leave me alone you pathetic piece of royal trash!" she yelled, turning to him with an evil, angry glare on. Athrun seemed unfazed yet again.
"You're very pretty." she paused, the glare dropping. "Especially without the glare." he smiled and tapped her on the nose before turning and walking away, seeming very pleased.
Cagalli turned bright red. She then turned back to the ocean view again.
"Dammit!" the blonde yelled to the calm waters.
Athrun snickered softly from the bottom deck as a few of the crew gave the 1st mate a confused look.
-
That night, Kira was taking one last look around the ship. He spotted Lacus still out and about and walked silently over.
She was sitting at the edge of the ship. A pole-like object protruded from just in front of her (the front of the ship) and extended far off...well, far to her...
Kira suddenly plopped down in front of her, standing on the aforementioned pole. She started, but calmed when she saw who it was.
"Oh, Kira...Why are you out here?" she asked softly, looking back out to the sea.
"I was about to ask you that." he said softly as he sat down, one leg hanging off over the water far below him. "You could easily have fallen off, and no one would have known." his tone was strict, but he wore a playful smile as he made a 'tsk'ing motion with his forefinger.
"I was admiring the sea at night..." the pink haired princess admitted truthfully. "It's beautiful."
"Yea...you are too." soft words, spoken by a soft person.
She lifted her head from the dark waters, her sparkling eyes searching for something she wanted to see in his. But his head was turned to the side, his eyes weren't on her anymore. She frowned and looked down again.
"So how do you like life at sea, Lacus?" Kira asked, smiling softly at her. She blinked.
"Oh! It's wonderful! The crew is so nice...I'd never had expected to meet pirates like this." she smiled happily at him. "You're so kind to Athrun and me too..." Lacus took his left hand in her two. "Thank you Kira...for everything."
Kira blushed.
"Ah...n-no problem..." she let go of his hand and he pulled it back quickly. "S-so...you don't mind...pirates?" he was looking away as he blushed.
"Oh no. I don't mind them at all. I believe every person has the right to make their own decisions in their own life. But you should be careful in everything you do, because it will most definitely affect someone else. My father taught me that!" she laughed slightly.
"Your father huh?" Kira asked, a certain sadness in his voice.
"Yes." Lacus, though observant, missed the hint to stop right there. "Kira...what about your parents?"
Kira stood up abruptly, startling Lacus. His face was hidden by his lowered head and bangs. His voice shook slightly when he spoke.
'They're gone...'
The words echoed in her ears even long after he'd gone. And she sat there for a long while, knowing she shouldn't've asked at all. Her soft tears fell into the sea below her, adding more sadness to what was already a beautifully sad sea...
A boy with blue hair gazed sadly into nowhere. He had his back to a mast, facing away from the pink haired girl...crying at the front of the ship.
"Yea. I lived with my father and my sister. He was a wonderful gunner and sword fighter. Valiant in everything he did! He was done in by his own captain, who gave him to the authorities to cover up his own atrocious actions...Our father died in prison, no one knew we were his kids."
He sighed sadly, pushing himself off the pillar and heading back to Dearka's room and hopefully...sleep.
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