Title: Moments

Author: chiyo & athira80

Date started: 5 September 2004

Category: Fantasy, Angst, Death, Shonen-Ai

Ratings: PG-13

Pairings: Athrun Zala & Kira Yamato

Disclaimers: All the characters are owned by Bandai Sunrise from Gundam Seed. Lyrics were written and performed by Ayumi Hamasaki.

Moments
by: chiyo & athira80

Your heart began to be scorched,
And there was a smell of it
It was the end of your dream,
And the start of everything

I walk further to the midst of the forest, quietly. Strangely, I don't feel nervous at all when it comes for hunting. My heart usually beats so hard that I can fell it almost fell from my chest. The forest seems to be dying. I spot many dry leaves as I step on them on the ground. The birds have stop chirping and I see no animals within my range.

Dearka and Yzak are on there way too, fully equipped with their bows and arrows. We're nothing more than a group of hunters, or bounty hunters, whatever you may call it. Generally, the tasks are mainly to hunt a person or a group of people. This time, we have an interesting one – to hunt a unicorn, a mystical creature usually depicted as a white horse with a single straight-spiraled horn growing from its forehead.

I heard that unicorn had been extinct for few hundreds of years. There's only one way to find out, to accept the task that is. Then, I remember Yzak smirked at the paper when he read it. Yet I guess the reward is the only possibility that he decided to join with us.

At the very end of the forest, I see some bright light from the corner of my eyes. I turn and fish out an arrow from my back as I lower my stance. I walk closely as I place the arrow on the bow, ready to take a shot. The light is getting brighter as I walk closely towards it. As the light slowly fades away, I lower my weapon. Feathers are floating in the air as a fresh scent of water lily came into one of my senses. I see human figure, a male, kneeling as he held his head up high. There's a single-spiraled horn on his forehead. Could it be?

What you adored looked beautiful to you
It became even brighter because you couldn't reach it

Just out of curiosity, I walk closely to reach it. The creature can sense my presence as it turns towards me. His amethyst eyes, which are hidden behind his brunette bangs, shot a glare at me accompany with tears on his cheeks. I gasp by the view. Such delicate creature possesses such fierce appearance.

There's no way the one that stand in front of me is one of them, the unicorns. I tried to be as calm as possible, not to make the creature to run away.

I reach out my hand towards it, slowly. The creature then blink, I can sense his aura slowly fades away. Then I notice he's undressed. I pull out my weapons from my back, placing them on the ground. Then I take my cape out and place it onto the boy's body. He blink again, looks confused. I smile at it as I kneel down.

"My name…is Athrun."

I wait to see his response. He opens his mouth, he seems to be struggling speaking in human tongue.

"A…asu…?"

I chuckle. "Ath-run."

"Asu…asu…"

I chuckle again. It doesn't matter now. At least that now he knows that I'm pretty much harmless towards him and he also knows that I am the same. I place my hand on his forehead, and then travel upwards to his soft brunette hair.

"I assume you don't have a name, yes?" I smile, "From now on, I'll call you Kira because the first time when I saw you just then. You were glowing beautifully."

And then I see him smiling for the very first time.

The broken pieces of your dream
Pierce my heart
Leaving the pain
That I should never forget


I stand behind the watery window glass. The rainfall makes me to wonder, 'how can he manages to live all by himself? Having no one to stand by his side?' We've been seeing each other since then. I can't stay with him, unfortunately. Of course, I keep it for myself. I lied to Yzak and Dearka that I didn't find any trace of the unicorn during the end of that day and so on.

Even though they both are my comrades, I hate to lie. I hate to lie to every single human being in this world. Maybe I'm grown up with it. Nicole once told me when you're lying for your own good sake and deeds, you should be all right. For the time being…

'For the time being'…they soon will found out.

I don't know why, but since the day I met him, I feel like wanted to resign from this dirty job. I wanted to stop killing and stealing. I wanted to stay with him, settling down in a nice peaceful forest. Only the two of us.

I don't want to stay in this city forever. The city is so full of people that it almost makes me feel lightheaded. Not to mention being lonely without his presence is also one of the reasons. Without his warm touches mine and soft kisses he planted on me every time I come to pay him a visit. I guess we both are pretty lonely couple, desiring in need for each other.

If my life is transient like a flower
I'll be in full bloom by your side
And after watching your smile
I'll fall alone, quietly

It's been three days since the last time I saw him and I've missed him already. A soft door knock came into my ear as I turned. Yzak and Dearka walk in into the inn room we're staying. I heard him yelling as he walks in. I'm wondering how Dearka can ever handle his ramblings. Well, I guess they've known each other for quite sometime now. That's understandable.

"Kuso! This is unbelievable! Three weeks already and we've found none!" He throws his gloves to his bed fiercely. I wonder how they would react that I actually lied to them and been together with Kira since. I'm confused now.

"I guess we should give up the task." I say with a sigh. I can feel Yzak's hot glare towards me.

"What did you say?"

"We should give up. There's no way the unicorn exist in this world anymore. I've read a book that those unicorns had been extinct for few hundreds of years now. We've been tricked." I lie…again.

I don't want to keep it like this. I hope this will be the last time I lied to them. I just need to find some suitable time to tell them.

"So, you're saying we've been wasting our time??"

"It's up to you whether you want to keep it or not. But I quit."

I don't want to hear anymore from Yzak as I quicken my pace towards the door. I can hear Yzak's calling me out before I close the wooden door. I lift my cape to cover my face from the heavy rain as I precede my path towards the forest. To my beloved.

I think I'm running away.

/Running away from what?/

From the cruelness of the reality…

How was the scenery you saw

When you were pushed into an abyss of despair

­

The heavy rain really makes me more upset than I already have. I walk slowly, stepping on the soak earth, makes my boots even more heavier. I see Kira's eyes from the distance. As soon as I see them, the burden I have has been lift off from my shoulder. I tried to smile at him, hiding my sorrow behind my mask. I don't want to make him worry. I can see that Kira knows that I'm lying. He blinks as he place his hand on my cheeks. His eyes seem to observe my body and my soul. I feel so transparent. He can see right through me. His expression shows me as if he's asking me, 'Why?' or 'What's wrong?'

"I'm fine, Kira."

He frowns. He knows I'm lying. I sit next to him, trying to explain the situation from where I had been. I touch his hands, grasp them and place them on my chest.

Your naked heart is wandering
Having nowhere to go
And is setting sharp thorns around
For fear of being touched

"Kira, I hope you've been trusting me all this time." I turn my head away from him, "I've been lying to my comrades that I haven't met you. You see, I'm a hunter. And so does my comrades. We are meant to kill you, so we can get our reward, for us to live, for us to survive and eat." I explain.

"But, since the day I met you, I don't want to kill anymore." I shake my head, "I just…want to stay with you, in this peaceful forest. I wish…can teach you how to speak too."

He just smiles in reply. I think he understands the last part of it. That smile is so sweet that I almost can't resist touching his lips with mine. I can sense that he's accepting my kiss as he place his arms behind my neck, not wanting to let me go. I don't want to let him go either. I want to stay like this forever.

After our jointed kiss, Kira's eyes soon go wide. He looks so frightened that he curves himself on my chest. I turn around. And there, I see Yzak from the distance, with his arrow pointing towards both of us. He looks so furious. Of course, I just lied to him and Dearka.

If I could flutter like a bird
I would fly to you
And offer my wing
To your wounded back

"You liar…" he hisses.

"Yzak!" I embrace the shaking unicorn tightly, "Please, I can explain!"

"Explain WHAT?" He exclaims. "You've been keeping the source of our reward all this time!"

"Yzak…"

"Tell me. How are we supposed to eat, sleep and to survive and we hadn't kill him?"

That explains a lot. In summary, I realized we've been alive by killing things. I don't agree the way of life we have now. I stand up, shielding my beloved unicorn. Kira's whole body is shaking behind me as he holds my clothes tightly from behind. Yzak's arrow is steadily pointing at me. For some reason, I'm not afraid at it. I can't explain why.

"Yzak. From what I see here, we've been living by taking other's soul. They deserve to live too. I don't like the way we live now. There must be another way." I lower my head, hiding my face beneath my blue bangs. "Forgive me."

"You…" Yzak blinks, "You would leave us then?"

I nod. I can hear Yzak's hissing more. Boldly.

"YOU TRAITOR!!"

The next thing I know, Yzak's arrow is already attached on my chest. Before I fell myself on the ground, I caught a glimpse of Yzak's tears. Of course, I just hurt his feelings. No. Everyone's feelings. I just betrayed them. I lied to them. God, I do deserve to die. I do deserve to be one of those creatures that we've been taken their life's away. My tears are falling.

If my life is transient like a flower
I'll be in full bloom by your side
And after watching your smile
I'll fall alone, quietly

"ASU!! ASUU!!"

I can hear someone vaguely calling my name out. I open my eyes slowly. I see a light in front of me. An angel. Kira. My beloved Kira. He's crying for me. Why?

"ASU!!"

I reach out my hand to touch his face. He pauses, then holding my hand with his. I smile.

"Kira. I'm sorry…I've been taking your friend's souls. It's not meant to be this way…" I cries, "Forgive me…"

My Kira shakes his head, convincing me not to speak more.

/Athrun…please don't say more/

I gasp. Was it Kira speaking just then?

/Athrun, you haven't done anything immoral. In fact, you have send love through me. As you may know, I am the last. I cannot survive with anybody's love, Athrun. You have saved me/

He speaks right into my heart.

'But not until this moment, Kira. I'm sorry. I cannot protect you.'

/You live inside me, Athrun/

'I've taken lives away. I lied to my comrades. How can I live?'

/You will. Inside at the bottom of my very heart/

I feel touched by his words. Unicorns are known as the noblest creatures. They're beautiful. I don't understand why so many people have killed this creature until they're all been extinct. My world becomes dark now. I can't see the light anymore.

/I love you, Athrun/

I feel been forgiven. I can find peace now. And most of all, I find my love.

If I could flutter like a bird
I would fly to you
And offer my wing
To your wounded back


Tears streaming on the unicorn's cheeks as he brushes the hunter's hair. He just lost someone he truly loves. His half soul. His source to live. He embrace his beloved's body within his arms and his wings. Feather's floating everywhere in the midst sky.

Still kneeling, he turns towards Yzak, who also has tears on his eyes. He then places Athrun's body on the ground again before walking slowly towards Yzak. Kira could see how guilty Yzak feels. He knew he didn't mean to do it. The saddened unicorn stands few steps away from Yzak. He then slowly bows in front of him.

/My dear hunter. You took the one and only source of my life/

"You…you speak right through me?"

/Yzak, please. Grant me my first and final wish…/

Having a unicorn to ask him a request wasn't what Yzak had predicted. His voice is slightly shaken by the voice, which come from inside of him.

"What…what is it?"

/Take me to him…/ he reveals his watery eyes. /I cannot live without him, my noble hunter. I am the last. I won't live for long anyway/ he places both of his hands on his chest, /I would rather having him beside me when I pass away than having nobody to accompany me/

Yzak's heart beats faster. He immediately wants to reject the unicorn's request. Now the passion for getting the unicorn suddenly fades away as he sees the watery eyes of the noble creature. He already feels guilty after he took Athrun's life away. He soon realizes that by taking someone's life away is not that pleasant at all. But that was their only way of surviving. Athrun was right. There must be another way to live.

Having to struggle with his inner self, the silver haired hunter slowly takes his weapon ready in position. He closes his eyes tightly, not wanting to see the view after he releases the arrow.

/Thank you, my hunter…I am in forever in your debt for your good deeds…/

The last unicorn then fell onto the ground, having his beloved sleeping next to him. Yzak fell himself on the knees. The view on what he sees in front of him is somewhat beautiful and melancholic. He cries.

"KUUSOOOOO!!!!"

Few moments after, the other hunter came in. He runs through the bushes towards Yzak.

"Yzak! There you are! What happened?"

Dearka sits on his knees beside his crying friend. Yzak doesn't reply. Instead, he threw himself on Dearka's chest. It took the blonde awhile to understand the whole situation, until he sees Athrun and the unicorn, sleeping eternally in front of them.

If I could flow like the wind
I would reach you
If I could shine like a moon
I would keep shining on you

I'll be anything
If it can stop you from being seized with fear

END

Author's notes: Gomene, minna-san. I realize I write too many angsty fanfics these days. I hope I don't make your day much sadder. XD Don't know why I tend to write more when these sad ideas popping up. And btw, I truly love unicorns. They're like my childhood fantasy and I always love them.