Word count: 1, 765
Pairing: KiraCaga

An Orchid Just For Her

Every Valentine's day, Kira watched Lacus receive nearly hundreds of flowers from her admirers, some arriving in ridiculously expensive vases while others came with only a small card. When asked if this was a regular occurrence, Lacus would giggle amid her flowering gifts, and say that only on Valentine's Day were the presents so over-the-top.

Yet Cagalli only received a few flowers; Kisaka always sent her rare desert plants that died within the week, and Athrun would, discreetly, send her a fragrant bouquet usually consisting of various uncommon florae. She was not a romantic, anyway, or so she claimed, and she didn't have time to garden, so the flowers never were tended with the same care Lacus's were, and often sagged limply in their glass jugs.

It was with surprise, then, that Kira found her standing outside a flower shop that Valentine's weekend, staring wistfully at the bouquets arranged outside the window. Yellow, white, pink, red, and green smeared and swayed in his vision before Kira registered that the seamless mass was actually made up of four buckets of vibrant tulips. Walking over cautiously, Kira blinked several times, and was stunned to find it was, indeed, Cagalli standing before them.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, slipping to her side. He followed the direction of her eyes, to find she hadn't been looking at the tulips at all. Her eyes were entranced by the roses. Cagalli visibly jumped, and Kira glimpsed the colour seep out of her cheeks, for an instant, before they flushed more scarlet than before.

"Oh! Kira! You scared me," she cried, looking at him with shocked, disapproving eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "But what are you doing here? Getting flowers for someone?" he asked. It was an innocent question, Kira thought…so of course he yelped when Cagalli whacked him on the head with her right hand, causing him to stumble backwards.

"No! Of course not!" she replied quickly, looking flustered. Cagalli patted a large package tucked under her left elbow. It was a large white box, and appeared rather heavy. "Actually, I went to pick up something, but since it was such a nice day, I decided to walk."

"Ah." Kira raised an eyebrow. "But that still doesn't explain why you're here…" he trailed off, and watched her warily. Kira didn't appreciate being hit..

"I just got a little distracted, that's all. Why are you being so annoying?" Half turning, Cagalli tossed her head, an irritated expression on her face. "It's nice to see you too, Kira, but I don't have time to chitchat right now. And if I'm right, you're here to get flowers for Lacus, aren't you?" She glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "Doesn't she get enough flowers anyway?" There was something about the way she said it, and the proud defiance in her tone, that suddenly made Kira feel embarrassed.

"She does get a lot of flowers," Kira agreed, choosing the safest answer and saying no more. He looked distantly into the shop, glimpsing the edges of a single, drooping, yellow rose, gripped in a child's pudgy hand before her bobbing red hair disappeared behind a row of assorted blue wildflowers. He saw roses, roses everywhere. The plants placed outdoors seemed to glow under the sun's rays, and the bright, sparkling paper wrapped around their pots shot rainbow kaleidoscopes into his vision. He heard Cagalli sigh beside him.

"Anyways," she said, and Kira flicked his eyes back towards her, surprised. "I'll be going now." She started to turn around, feet already starting their brisk steps in the opposite distraction, when Kira abruptly found himself lunging forward and seizing her wrist.

"Wait," he said, dragging her to the shop's door. "I'll buy you a flower."

"What?" Before Cagalli even had time to react, he'd pulled her through the open door and into the tiny store, nearly colliding into the enormous form of a middle-aged father. Apologizing hastily, Kira clamped tightly on her resisting arm; together, they stumbled inside until they found a clear corner to stand in. The stuffy air of the store was infused with the combined scents of different plants in bloom, and Cagalli wrinkled her nose, already missing the slightly fresher air outdoors. She took a moment to gape at her colourful surroundings-- then yanked her wrist out of Kira's grasp.

"Geez, Kira," she said. "Why'd you--"

But Kira wasn't listening. He was scanning the multicoloured, disorganized, and overgrown pots with quick, calculating eyes, considering the blood-red roses to his left, and the violets to his right. He felt slightly dizzy. It was just after noon, and it seemed the whole world was clustered in that single store. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much lunch.

"What do you want?" he asked, turning towards her. "I feel a little lost, since there's so much to choose from."

"What? Um, well…I don't know," Cagalli answered, caught off guard. She looked a little overwhelmed. "I--" Cagalli broke off, distressed. She began to look around, eyes flicking nervously over the daisies someone carelessly spilled on the ground, when she pursed her lips, and frowned.

"Wait. You know, Kira, I never asked you to get me flowers," she said. "And it's not Valentine's Day today, the holiday is tomorrow. You should get the flowers yourself and give them to me tomorrow. That's what everyone does!" Her tone sounded a little upset, and as Kira twisted around to see her face, she abruptly looked away, movements rough as she hid her burning face from his view. Unsure what to say in response, Kira ran a hand through his hair, and looked at the grimy floor.

"Just…just tell me what you want," he said finally, feeling awkward. He felt suddenly aware of the space between him and Cagalli, and he frowned, body ill at ease. It hit him, out of the blue, that they were siblings, and Kira fidgeted, sensing the peculiarity of their situation.

It had always been difficult for him to envision Cagalli as his sister, and to be reminded of it so brutally at a time like this was odd. But then, their relationship had always been strange. When Kira had seen their baby picture for the first time, it was not only for Cagalli's benefit that he stayed away from her, it was for himself too. What was he supposed to say to her? How was he supposed to act? Irritably, Kira half-wished that Athrun had been his long lost sibling instead; the two of them were like brothers anyway. That was why it had felt so weird when Cagalli and Athrun seemed to find each other so fascinating…

"Um…" Cagalli murmured. Kira stirred from his musings to find Cagalli poking through the flowers on his left, a frown settled firmly on her face and her package now slipped under her right shoulder. She turned pleading eyes left and right. "I really don't…" Abruptly, the blonde froze, and stared at a long branch sporting several stunning violet orchids. The branch leaned to one side as though it was tired from carrying so many buds. The purple flower appeared to the only one of its kind, too; tiny pink orchids only a third of its size were flanked around it. She shot a glance at Kira, stepping closer, then turned to look at the flower again.

"It reminds me of your eyes," she said abruptly, sweeping his bangs away with one hand, and staring deeply into his face. "They're the same colour." Kira blushed, and moved to get away, but Cagalli turned around and laughed, eyes still fixed on his face.

"I guess, Kira, you could get me that orchid," she mumbled. For a moment, Cagalli appeared embarrassed; but then a large smile appeared on her face, dazzling him momentarily. "Thanks," she said.

Kira's heart thumped. Smiling back, he hurried to the counter to pay, wishing that those ahead of him in the line would disappear. Cagalli stood by the door, still glancing curiously at her surroundings, emotions playing openly across her face. She poked at a bright yellow sunflower, and set her box carefully on the ground. Belatedly, after paying, Kira realized he had forgotten to buy something for Lacus, and cringed, hoping that Cagalli would have forgotten too. He could always come back later. Kira stumbled to the door, pushing past two giggling pre-teens, and into the daylight. The afternoon daylight gleamed on his back, and Kira realized he was sweating.

"Done?" Cagalli asked. She bent down to retrieve her package. Cagalli's hair drew near the sunflower, their yellow tints matching. He recalled something he read, that said, in the language of flowers, sunflowers symbolized loyalty, infatuation, and foolish passion.

Kira nodded. "I guess…we'll just pretend today never happened," he said, smiling slightly. "I can send these to you tomorrow."

"Never happened." Cagalli nodded, digesting the information. "All right." She laughed. "Bye, Kira."

She walked backwards, waving him farewell with one arm. "I'll see ya," she said, hair shining gold under the sunshine. Kira squinted into the west, waiting until she turned around.

"Happy early Valentine's Day!" she called, a perky smile on her face. He grinned back, marvelling at how cheerful she was. It was contagious, and a warm, giddy feeling bubbled in his chest, making Kira suddenly grateful he had acted so spontaneously. And even though she was his sister…He wasn't declaring her his valentine, or anything crazy like that, and Cagalli surely wouldn't take it the wrong way. She was far too level-headed for that, Kira knew. And he was much the same, when it came to these type of things.

Cagalli had turned around, and she disappeared behind a tree, then materialized again. Kira returned to the shop, feeling more than a little foolish as he entered, eyes automatically flying to the pink carnations that were the exact same shade as Lacus's hair. He gravitated towards them, attracted by their vibrant colour, and stuck one hand into his pocket, checking for his wallet.

Her fingers had brushed away his hair, electricity jumping from her gaze into his.

Kira felt flustered all over again at the memory. His heart jittered in excited confusion.

"It reminds me of your eyes," Cagalli had said. Kira couldn't remember which burned him more, her hand or her eyes. He sighed, and knelt down, peering into the moist, soft petals of the nearest carnation. "Nice," Kira murmured to himself, thoughts scattering.

But every year since then, Kira found himself buying her orchids…

That were the very same shade as his own eyes.