A/N: Oi. Oi, oi, oi. I'm BAAAAAACK!
Shame on me for not writing anything for so long. Shame, shame, shame. XD Anyway, I'll get straight to the point... more Gundam SEED fandom, as if anyone is surprised, and it's NOT shounen-ai! (insert gasps and shouts of surprise here) Yes, yes, I'm still perfectly sane, but hey, it can't be wrong to want to write something canon every once in a while, right? Right. Once again, many thanks to my beta, Storm. Lotsa love, Miss Beta.
Sorta-DESTINY timeline (LUNAMARIA IS THE NEW WITCH OF THAT SERIES! (sorry to all you Luna fans...)). Enjoy. -bows and disappears in a puff of smoke-
Disclaimer: Hajime Yatate and Yoshiyuki Tomino own Gundam SEED. I am not Hajime Yatate or Yoshiyuki Tomino, although I wish I was because their names are cool.
A Shade Of Dusk
by Carmen Takoshi
"You take it," he said.
She eyed it for a brief moment, before she turned away. "Nah…I'm fine," she answered, starting to climb onto the machine before her.
"Take it."
"Athrun, I said I'd be fine!"
A sigh. "The road is, despite everything, much harder than your head, so take it!"
"…"
A frown. "What now?"
"…that was mean."
"I can be mean, Miss Athha," he replied in an aggravating matter-of-factness, staring at her firmly, "Now, come on, Cagalli…please take it?"
"I don't need your stupid helmet, Athrun Zala," Cagalli moodily snapped, setting herself firmly on the black motorbike, "so are you coming, or shall I wait till you tie up your do so you don't have helmet hair later?"
Heaving an irritated something between a grunt and a sigh, he jammed on the helmet and straddled the bike himself. Immediately, he felt her arms wrap around his waist.
"All you had to do," she whispered. "was get two of those…"
The road was a shade of dusk as the sun set over the nearby treetops, with only the roaring voice of the machine's engine to disturb the quietude. He noticed that her arms seemed to tighten ever so slightly around him whenever they turned. The way meandered about the countryside hill, so it happened often.
"Lean with me," he told her yet again.
But she was stubborn, on top of being stiff as a board. He could almost hear her gritting her teeth.
"Maybe we shouldn't have…"
"It's fine. It's fun. Really."
Her hands fiddled with the front of his jacket. She always fiddled when she was distressed.
They went on. He spoke sometimes, over the rushing wind, trying to make her calm down. She would laugh, repeating: "It's fun. Really. It's fun."
They stopped eventually, near the twilight, at the top of a ridge overlooking the evergreen forest. Still, she clung to him, even though the bike had come to a full stop.
"What are you afraid of?" he asked, doing his best to empty his tone of sarcasm.
"Nothing!" came the laconic reply.
"Liar. Tell me."
"Nothing!"
"Are we going too fast? I'll slow down, if you want…"
"I just…it's nothing, Athrun."
"Cagalli."
"I don't want to fall."
He contemplated her response for a moment. Her fingers were still latched tightly around his gloved ones, and he contemplated them too. They were soldier's fingers: tanned and callused, yet in this time of relative peace…perfectly manicured.
He smiled to himself.
"Why?" he started again.
She spluttered with indignation.
"Why? 'Cause chances are it'll hurt, right?"
"That's not what I meant. Why are you afraid of falling? You won't."
"Those stupid turns…one of these stupid days, I'm gonna go flying off one of them because of stupid centri-stupid-fugal force…"
"You won't," he repeated, firmer this time, "I won't let you."
She stopped, regarding him with incredulity.
"I won't let you fall," he said again.
She stared at him then nodded, and he kissed her without a second thought.
Again the motorbike's mechanical scream drowned out all rational thought as they were making their way back. She actually relaxed, leaning with him as he asked, and he grinned triumphantly from within his helmet.
Another turn. The grin faltered.
Two, three, four shallow turns. The grin fell.
"Something wrong, Athrun? You're not talking."
"I'm fine."
"Look at that sky, Athrun! Isn't it…oh, well, you can't take your eyes off the road, can you?"
She chuckled good-naturedly, totally at ease now. Wryness pulled at his lips. The next turn appeared at the edge of his vision.
A hairpin bend…
"Cagalli…I'm going to ask you again…please take it."
"What?"
"The helmet. Take it off me and put it on."
"Athrun, I don't need…"
"Take it," he insisted.
His voice was strange, choked, like a heartfelt plea. Finally, she shrugged, pulled the helmet gingerly from his head and put it on. His longish hair whipped out, caught by the wind.
"Why didn't you ask me before we left the ridge? It would have been easier…"
"I love you, Cagalli," he said, as gently as he could over the rush of air around them.
Startled by that sudden, though well-known, admission, Cagalli stared at the back of his head, blushing despite her confusion.
"I…I love you too, Athrun. What…"
"Thank you."
"Ath-…"
"-li…Caga…lli…Cagalli!"
She awoke in a jolt, and immediately, warm hands cupped her face. She felt lips on her forehead.
"Athrun…?"
"It's me, Cagalli. It's Kira."
She tried to sit up, but her head screamed, the pain forcing her back down. Kira's image vacillated at the edge of her consciousness. She turned her gaze away from him, willing the nausea away. Was that…
The black bike helmet, cracked but not shattered.
Kira was talking. Sirens sought to drown out his voice.
"Where's Athrun, Kira?" she cried out, lucid, yet not. "Where…"
"He's in the other ambulance."
"I have to see him. Kira, help me get…"
"No!" Kira protested loudly. "Don't move. You're still hurt…"
"But Athrun…"
"Athrun saved your life. You owe it to him to stay here."
"What?"
The black bike helmet, cracked but not shattered. The black bike helmet, from him to her.
The black bike helmet, the one difference between their opposite paths.
"I love you, Cagalli…good-bye…"