Fly me to the Moon

"You know, I never heard where you wanted to go." When she hears his response she's a little unnerved, but the 1st Unit leader was never one to back down from a challenge. She grants him that wish to the best of her abilities…

Sorry this one is so late. I had trouble ending it... So it might suck... But I REALLY wanted to get another SomaxFeMC fic out. This one is based off a conversation where everyone wants to go on vacation and they finally do.

"Beach!"

"Mountain!"

"Beach!"

"Mountain!"

Rin groaned and scratched her head in impatience. Both Alisa and Kota have been arguing with each other all morning after they learned that they would be on vacation for about a week. Personally, she was just glad that they didn't have to work. Even Lindow wouldn't have minded simply relaxing at The Den. Then again, he had been out in aragami-infested territory for god knows how long. His decision was more than justified.

"C'mon! Blue waters! Warm sand!"

"You can have blue waters in the mountains, too! Who would want to get sand stuck in their clothes anyway?" Alisa countered while pointing an offending finger in front of Kota.

Kota's face scrunched up in a challenge. "Who would want to have to hunt in an entire forest when you can just fish?"

Rin craned her head back to face Kota and smiled wryly from her comfortable seat on the couch next to Soma and Lindow. "The earth is almost 81% ocean—a lot of that being contaminated and/or non-fishable. I'm pretty sure finding food at a beach is harder."

Soma sighed and gently pulled her head back in a normal position. "Stop that. You're gonna pull another muscle like that."

The previous leader, Lindow, chuckled at the two and put his cigarette out on the tray on the table. Sakuya raised her brows in surprise and couldn't help but comment on what just transpired. "I never thought I'd see the day where Soma was openly concerned in a non-combatative situation."

The red-haired New Type grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. "Nah, he just doesn't want to deal with my whining!" Soma grunted in response and crossed his arms in a silent confirmation. Rin gestured to him now. "Y'see? He agrees with me!" But that was drowned out by the increasing volume of Alisa's and Kota's argument. Her eye twitched. Now, Rin was an understanding and relatively collected leader. She didn't mind elaborating on her orders if they didn't make sense. She didn't even mind if they voiced out against her judgment in a mission.

But cutting her off warranted the strictest of sanctions…

The 1st unit leader got up from her comfortable position on the couch and calmly strolled right between the quarreling God Eaters. While Lindow and Sakuya watched in curiosity, Soma sighed at what was to come. If anything, he knew that look of hers better than anyone. She smiled sweetly at both of them before grabbing their heads and violently pushed them together. Now luckily, she stopped them from hitting each other, but now she leaned in close with a rather…eerie smile on her lips.

"Guys?"

"Y-Yes?" They both meekly answered.

"Either you two calmly and quietly make a compromise…or I'll send you both to Dr. Sakaki's lab during testing hours!

The hardened glare in her brown eyes made them stiffen into a salute. "Yes Ma'am!"

Rin nodded and sat back down on the couch next to Lindow this time, who ruffled her hair with his human hand. "Haha, good one kid! Who taught you to talk like that?"

She smiled sweetly again with a mischievous glint in her eyes. They flitted from his offending hand on her now messed up hair to his face. "Your sister."

Lindow swallowed hard and backed away. Soma chuckled. Their leader never ceased to amaze him.

"This blows…" Kota grumbled as he lugged along his large pack through the woods. He slapped his arm where a mosquito just bit him and groaned even more. "Y'know at the beach we wouldn't have to worry about mosquitoes!"

"Actually—"

"Alright, I get it, leader!" Kota cut her off but shivered at her dangerous glare. But she did nothing to harm the gunner this time. Surely he learned his lesson when she snuck some Puppy Love #57 in his juice earlier that morning. After another hour of hiking through the trail, the God Eaters began to set camp at a clearing that was presumably used in the past. Rin saw remnants of a stone fire pit and thin rusted stakes in the ground. They saw very little Aragami in this forest. A young Kongou here and maybe a small Ogretail there. There wasn't anything they couldn't handle nearby (At least that's what Dr. Sakaki said when they asked for verification…).

"Okay, since you and Alisa still like to quarrel, you're both on firewood duty!" Rin placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward ever so slightly. "Understood?" The two accepted their task with little argument. They didn't see their leader's knowing smile. She would bet that by the time they were out of earshot they would be bickering once more. Now she turned to her hooded friend. "Soma, think you can catch some grub for tonight? Or is that too much to handle by yourself?" He sent her a look that shifted between 'Are you serious?' and 'You think I can't?' The redhead laughed. "Well, It's not like you'll enjoy my yapping while hunting." He muttered something under his breath before walking off with his God Arc in tow. When she was sure everyone was gone, she sat down on a log and buried her head in her hands after everything was set up.

Truth be told, she felt like she needed this vacation more than anyone else. Not to sound conceited, but she's been juggling missions for the other units. On top of that, Dr. Sakaki has been calling her in and testing resonance between different God Arcs. She gave shooting lessons to Kanon and helped Licca repair weapons every now and then. The list would have probably gone on if Lindow hadn't taken notice of her activities.

"You alright?" Soma's voice forced her out of her thoughts. How long had he been gone? When she looked up, she saw him carrying a surprising sight: two large creatures that resembled the rabbits in books she read. Her brow rose in interest as she gestured to his apparently unused buster blade.

"How did you manage to catch this?"

He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Secret."

Rin pouted but grabbed one rabbit and placed it on a large flat stone she found nearby. "Do you know how to skin one?" Soma shrugged and grabbed the other. The God Eaters took out their handy knives and tried to find the best place to start cutting. Rin pursed her lips and finally decided to start her incision just between the hind legs on the creature and ran her blade up its belly. By accident, she cut too deep and the creature's innards began spilling out in an unsightly manner. Rin cringed but smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's a lot better than dealing with Kongou guts!"

When she looked at Soma's work her jaw almost dropped. Already, his rabbit was already skinned down to half its length. Its fur looked like a molt of what the cute creature once was, and within seconds everything (save for a bit of fur on its tail and feet) was stripped down. Once the fur coat was caught on the rabbit's head, Soma skillfully took his knife and cut it off with a few slices.

"How'd you do that so fast?" She asked in awe just as he was about to make a clean incision on the rabbit's belly.

The buster blader shrugged and proceeded to pull the guts out of the animal and set them aside in a pile to burn later. "I guessed."

"I guessed too and see where it got me!" Rin pointed to the rabbit with its guts spilling out and fur in tact save for the messy cut on the stomach. "Yours was so…clean!"

He raised a brow and gestured to his bloody hands from reaching into the rabbit. "It's no big deal. And you can still clean it that way you know."

"Show me, Chef Soma!" Rin demanded excitedly. Soma sighed in irritation but stepped over to hers. Her studied her rabbit with a critical eye before taking out the rest of the entrails and adding them to the pile. He turned the rabbit onto its belly and made a horizontal incision on its back. With two hands, he began to peel two sides of the rabbit away from each other. Like before, he cut the head off and then peeled the fur off the hindquarters as well. "Whoa… That's amazing!"

"It's not a big deal, idiot," he grumbled and she tried to ignore his pink cheeks as his reward. "C'mon. Lets rinse these off. Those two will probably be back by the time we're done." Rin nodded and grabbed her God Arc in case they got any surprises along the way. The river was close by and ran at a good pace. Soma washed away the blood from their dinner while she patrolled the area in gunner mode.

A thought came to Rin and she turned to him after checking the coast was clear. "Come to think of it Soma, where did you want to go for vacation? You were kinda drowned out before."

"It's a little too late even if I answer, you know." He replied and gave her that look that made her want to punch him for being so…so Soma, if that made sense. If he weren't holding their dinner then she would have at least kicked dirt at him. Instead, she crossed her arms disapprovingly and glared.

"I'm being reasonable on vacation by not hitting you with my god arc." Knowing her threat wasn't going to be empty, he sighed and looked away from her while muttering something under his breath. "What?"

"I said the moon wouldn't be so bad…"

Soma's eyes were so soft when he spoke and his lips were curved in a nostalgic smile. Rin tensed up slightly before laughing and nodding in understanding. "I see! Maybe we can ask Dr. Sakaki if he can spruce something up? Humans haven't been on the moon in years so he's probably thought about a trip there already!" She turned away from him as if to pace in thought.

"Rin, I was kidding."

"Hmmm, we'd need to find someone to take our post temporarily then… How many people do you think we'd be able to bring? Probably not a lot, huh?"

"Rin…"

"Ah! Maybe Alisa can call up the base in Russia—"

"Rin!" The New-Type shut her mouth and turned to her comrade. His eyes narrowed at her cheery smile. Soma got up and took point. "We're leaving." As he walked on ahead, Rin dropped her God Arc and fell to her knees. Her shoulders shook and her vision began to blur. Why was she so upset? Why was she acting like a spoilt child? Rin looked up to the treetops and saw the moon against the darkening sky.

"Shio, are you happy up there?" she whispered quietly. When the moon provided no answer, she pushed herself up and ran to catch up to Soma.

"Wow this is amazing!" Kota gasped with a mouthful of rabbit stew. Alisa sipped hers slowly and nodded appreciatively.

"This is delicious… You're a real cook, leader!"

Rin chuckled and scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Haha… Thanks…" Truth be told, Soma was the one that did all the work and seasoning but his gaze told her that if she said anything then her portion wouldn't even reach her lips. Soma ate his silently. When the 1st unit leader took a bite her brows rose in surprise and she began scarfing it down. "God this is awesome!"

"Slow down or you'll choke, idiot." Soma commented with his eyes closed. Rin pouted and grabbed his bowl and threw the contents in her almost empty one. "Hey!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Stop calling me an idiot!"

"Fine, kid."

"I thought we were past that title a long time ago!"

While the two of them continued to quarrel, Kota and Alisa looked at each other comprehendingly. The younger helped himself to another serving and commented with the full knowledge that the other two probably couldn't hear it. "Do ya think something's going on between them?"

Alisa dabbed her lips with a napkin elegantly before getting another helping herself. "I give them until tomorrow before they're on each other."

"You're on!"

"And what are you two chatting about?" Rin cut through their little bet as the two of them looked up at her in slow nervousness. The creepy smile was on her lips again and they swallowed.

"J-Just saying I can eat a lot more than her!" Kota answered as Alisa nodded eagerly. Rin raised a brow doubtfully but shook her head.

"Alisa, I don't know about you but this guy is like a black hole."

"Hey, I'm in my growth period!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait til you're 25. That black hole you call a stomach is going to make you fat!"

"Like you're one to talk!"

"Hey! I'm 17!"

The bickering continued even as the night grew young. The fire between them crackled and snapped for hours before the God Eaters decided to escape to their tents. Alisa and Rin shared their tent and Soma grudgingly shared his with the chatty Kota. There was no need for a watch tonight seeing as how the smoke from the fire would ward away unwanted guests. Surprisingly enough though, Kota fell asleep soon after hitting the sack. Soma pinned it on arguing with the Russian New-type while they were looking for firewood.

"Psst…Soma."

His ears pricked at the soft sound and he shifted to hear more.

"Get your ass out here!" the voice whispered hoarsely. The buster blader grunted and quietly crawled out of the tent without waking the gunner. There, he saw a familiar redhead but this time she was dressed in a simple white nightie that brushed against her knees. Her hair was down and the ribbon that usually held it up was tied in a simple bow on her left arm. "About time…"

"What is it now?" Soma asked as he pulled on his blue jacket. He left his tie back in the tent.

"Follow me! I wanna show you something!" she grinned mischievously and grabbed his hand for good measure. Soma allowed himself to be led through the tangle of trees just so they didn't attract any animals from the noise. He heard the river they cleaned the rabbits at but the direction was all wrong.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Soma asked skeptically.

Rin feigned a hurt gasp and frowned. "Ah, you wound your leader so much, Soma!" She then pulled a few leafy branches to the side and gestured for him to move on ahead. The buster blader furrowed his brows suspiciously but stepped forward nonetheless. And boy, was he surprised at the sight.

The was a large lake surrounded by weeping willows and plants that looked like giant cattails from the books his father let him read as a little boy. Little lights flew around and acted as tiny lamps that skirted across the waters surface. But best of all, on the surface of the lake was a giant reflection of the moon.

"This is…"

Rin shed her shoes and tentatively stepped into the water. "This is as close to the moon as I can get you, Soma."

"How did you find this place?" he asked and walked only to the point where the water licked the toes of his shoes.

"It was when I was scouting around while you were cleaning the rabbits," She extended her finger to one of the shining lights and giggled when it landed safely on it. "The moon was full tonight so I wanted to come see it. And you know you'd scold me if I just went missing Mr. 'don't-you-dare-die'!" Rin teased him. He grunted and stuffed his hands in his pockets. She extended her other hand to him and smiled softly. "C'mon! You wanted to go to the moon, right?"

Soma raised a brow at her request but eventually caved in and chuckled. "You're a real piece of work, you know?" He shed his shoes and treaded the water to join her. Just as Rin was about to drop her hand he grabbed it and held it firmly without a word.

"Soma?"

"Well? We're going aren't we?" he gestured to the large reflection in the center of the lake. The god eaters slowly walked hand-in-hand and Rin couldn't help but enjoy the momentary closeness with Soma. She knew these feelings were dangerous and more often than not never worked out. Lindow and Sakuya were lucky and even their ending was the result of hardship and pain. How much misery would have to be paid for her own ending? She already lost her family to the Aragami. She already lost dear friends and comrades. Soma lost his family. He also lost Shio… How much more misery must balance out potential happiness?

"Rin?" Soma called her with a bit of concern in his tone. She shook her head and smiled.

"Sorry about that. The water is a little cold…" She squirmed under his scrutiny. But honestly it was really cold. All she wore was that white nightie and she had been in the water a little longer than Soma. The buster blader hummed in thought for a few seconds before letting go of her hand. "Soma? Wah!" One of his arms hooked underneath her legs while the other supported her back. Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his neck for dear life and her entire body stiffened. "Hey! Put me down!"

"Why?" he asked with a smug smile on his tanned features. Against the moonlight, it made him look so attractive and… No! Stop it, Rin!

"It's embarrassing!" She stammered and hid her face in his shoulder.

"No one's here you know, idiot."

"Oh shut up, Soma."

The two settled into a quiet silence. Nothing but the symphony of the night and their beating hearts broke the quiet. They stared up at the moon in the sky and Rin couldn't help but notice it twinkle, as if winking at the two of them.

"Soma?"

"What?"

"Are you happy?" He looked at her with a raised brow but she refused to be deterred. "Did this make you happy?"

"Err…" he grumbled and turned away from her gaze. She saw his cheeks grow a tiny shade of pink. "Yeah…it did…"

Rin finally smiled again and actually tightened her hold around him into a hug. "Good! Now I know where to bring you next year!"

"Hey! Don't move around so much!"

"What? Can't handle it? Are your arms too wimpy to hold me?"

"More like you're too heavy…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing. C'mon, lets sit down over there. It's getting a little chilly in the water." Soma said and Rin agreed. He carried her out and set her down on a dead log before settling down beside her as well. The two of them chatted for a long while before the younger of the two fell into a deep sleep mid-sentence. Her head rested against his shoulder and her arms were folded neatly on her lap. Soma chuckled at the childlike gesture and moved a few stray strands of hair away from her face.

"Thanks…for everything." He whispered and turned his head just enough to kiss her hair. She mumbled something incoherently but settle back down. But this time, her hand weakly grabbed the cloth on his sleeve. Soma smiled and closed his eyes as well. A little nap for now. They could always say they tried hunting early in the morning when they returned…

A/N: I was gonna add the aftermath, as in the next day, but as of now this oneshot is finished! I actually had to research how to skin a rabbit for this, XD. The videos were actually pretty cool but it made me feel sorry for the rabbits in my backyard. Meh. Oh well.