Synopsis: past fic. What happened to some characters on Akilian just before the Ice Age.

Disclaimer: the animated show "Galactik Football" doesn't belong to me. I'm not making any money with this fic so please, don't sue me. The OCs belong to me but I'm not too possessive: just warn me if you ever want to use them.

Before the ice age

A road of Akilian, 16 months before the explosion

Aarch and Norata were walking back slowly from their father's funeral. Neither of them wanted to talk. Their dad had been sick for so much time that his death was hardly a surprise. Maybe he had not been exactly the father they wanted to have, but now they were so sad to lose him, anyway. Knowing that they were brothers and that they could always comfort each other was a great help.

"Training session tomorrow with the team?" Aarch asked matter-of-factly.

"Of course", his brother answered with a little smile. Another person would have been offended by this trivial question just after a funeral but Norata knew nothing could make his brother feel better more than galactik football. Moreover, this sport was the glue that had always kept them together.

"When do you want us to sell the house and the flower shop?" the younger brother asked.

"Selling it?" the elder said. "I don't get it. Why would you want to sell it?"

"It's the most logical solution. We didn't live there anymore. It was our father's place and we're galactik football players, Norata!"

His brother looked at him seriously. "If you don't want the house, sell me your parts. I want to keep it."

The blue-eyed brother frowned. "Why? You can't be a florist and a football player at the same time; it would mean too much work."

"Then I'll hire someone to help me, to sell things for example. I'm serious, I want to keep this house. This will be the best place for raising a family!"

Aarch jumped. "What? You're going to get married and you hadn't told me about it?"

"No, I haven't found a girlfriend yet. But I want to start a family one day. You can't play galactik football forever, you know. I love it but I'm not getting any younger and I think on the long run, family will become more important."

The younger brother nodded. Sport was more important than anything else to him and he loved everything about it: the way it made him forget everything else, the feeling of solidarity with the other players, the sensations of the Breath, the adrenaline… He didn't feel ready to give it up but he could understand how his brother felt about it. "All right", he said, "I'll sell you my parts. Just promise me to be with me for the next Cup. I don't think I'll find a midfielder like you easily."

The brothers looked at each other with a knowing look and then hugged. It was good to know they could always count on each other.

Ooo0ooo0oo

Akilian Stadium, 15 months before

The training session was over and all the players were going back to the changing-room. Max, the bald defender, was humming happily. "By the way, my friends" he suddenly said, "I forgot to tell you: my novel will be published soon!"

There were some applause and a few laughs. "By which publishing house?" someone wanted to know.

"Well… none yet. But I've finished it yesterday and when the publishers read it, they'll all accept, won't they?"

There were even more laughs. Max, who had a sense of humour, just shrugged. "You'll see. One day, I'll be famous thanks to this novel!"

"You're already famous", Norata noticed.

"Never mind! I'll pay you a round of drinks to celebrate. Who wants to come?"

Most players wanted to but Aarch saw his brother refusing politely, saying he had to work at the shop. He took him aside. "You come and have this drink with us. I think you're going too far with the job. Your shop assistant can wait a little more, can't she?"

"I'm not going too far. I'm taking my job seriously, that's all."

The younger brother sighed. His elder sibling had always been very hard-working but now he was spending all of his time either in the shop and the greenhouses, or at the training sessions. This was getting worrying. "Your assistant is able to manage alone for one or two hours, I guess. Just tell her you'll be late. Or is she stupid?"

"Definitely not! I'd just better come home in time, that's all."

"Is she cute?" a feminine voice asked. The two brothers turned around and saw Sandi, the reserve player, who was eyeing them mischievously.

Norata shrugged. "This was a private conversation, Sandi."

"Hey, everyone!" Sandi shouted. "Our favourite king of silence has a crush on his shop assistant!"

Sven, the bulky, silent goalkeeper, frowned. There were some laughs and some applause. "Well, that's some news", Max said. "Tell her to come and have a drink with us some day!"

There were some more laughs and applause but Aarch didn't hear them. His brother being possibly in love made him slightly uneasy and he didn't know why. The captain followed the other players to the Planet Akilian while Norata managed to go back to his shop but he left early and walked to his brother's.

A pretty girl was standing behind the counter and smiled at him politely. "Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like to have a word with my brother. Do you know where he is?"

She beamed. "You must be Aarch! How nice to meet you. Your brother is in the greenhouses."

"Thank you" he said, relieved. He was quite a good judge of character and the assistant looked kind and gentle, definitely not the gold-digger he was afraid to see. He found Norata working in the greenhouse. "Pity you didn't come", he said. "Sandi made Sven sing us something and it was quite a show."

"Sven doesn't sing" his brother said, his back still at him.

"He did, you know. He'd do anything… if Sandi asks him."

"Pity, indeed. Could you please go now? I have a problem with those orchids and I'd like to take care of it now."

The blue-eyed man took his brother by the shoulders. "Can't your orchids wait a little? I need to have a talk. Tell me about your assistant."

The grey-eyed brother looked at him, puzzled. "Kira? What do you want with her?"

"Do you love her?"

Norata shrugged. "She's my employee. I don't want to mix job and relationships."

"Why? You said yourself you want to start a family one day."

"Not with someone I work with. Imagine we start going out together, then it goes wrong and we break up. How could we carry on working at the same place? It would be wrong to do that to her and I'd loose a very efficient employee."

"So you do love her."

"None of your business. How is your love life?"

Aarch signed. "Nobody loves me, as usual. We were talking about you."

"You didn't notice the way Artegor looks at you?"

The younger brother frowned. "Artegor? What do you mean, he's gay?"

"Pass me my secateurs, please. Don't tell me you never noticed anything."

Aarch passed the tool and shook his head. "He's a very good friend of mine, you know."

"I had noticed."

"So when are you going to ask your Kira out?"

The elder brother put his secateurs down and sighed. "Never. She's a good person, good with her job and she deserves better than that kind of relationship. Anyway, she looks too sensitive for… you know, if it doesn't end well, it will break her heart. I don't want her to take that risk."

His brother sighed in turn. "You know, you're weird, sometimes."

Ooo0ooo0oo

From behind the door, Kira was holding her breath. She had come down to ask her boss for a piece of information and she had heard all the conversation without meaning it. Slowly, she went back upstairs, sat down and breathed heavily.

This was mad. She didn't have a clue that her boss could have feelings for her and she wasn't sure that she liked it. And she had never heard of a man who keeps his distances with a woman because he appreciates her. That was really crazy. What was going on?

She thought she heard footsteps and straightened her black hair. Her former boyfriend, the director of the theatre where she was working, was always telling her about her beautiful hair, her beautiful golden eyes, her hands, her perfect smile… Within all the months they had spent together, he had never seemed to notice that she was sensitive. Kira knew there's nothing more ridiculous than a beautiful woman who says her beauty is a curse but she couldn't help wishing her boyfriend had been able to see less of her outer beauty and more of her personality. She had stayed with him too long, hoping he would become less shallow and less straying. Then one day, she had left the theatre without warning anybody and started looking for another job in another city.

She had found this place. Selling flowers seemed to be an honourable way of making a living. Best of all, she had known at first sight that she couldn't possibly fall in love with her boss. He looked honest and reliable but somewhat cold, definitely not the romantic type, and romance was way too important in a relationship. She appreciated him because she didn't love him.

But now there was something weird about him. He wanted to protect her so much that he didn't even want to try his luck with her?!! This was most mysterious. Suddenly, the assistant wanted to know more about this strange man. Of course she was too shy to go and tell him something like "you seem to be an interesting person and I'd like to go out with you", but there were many other ways to act…

When the little brother had left, she went down to the greenhouses and took her courage with both hands. "Good evening, sir", she said. "I'll go soon. Was everything ok?"

"Of course. You may leave" he answered without taking his eyes or his hands off the orchid he was still transplanting.

"You won't need anything else?"

"No, thanks."

"I was wondering", she added, her heart thumping, "if your football team qualifies for the next matches, you'll need to be away for some time. Then you'll need someone to stay and take care of the plants and everything…"

"You want to take my place?" he asked sarcastically, getting up and removing his gloves. The assistant would have blushed if she had the kind of skin that can redden.

"No!" she said. "I'd like to help…" His face was unreadable and she was starting to regret her proposal.

He thought about for a moment. The girl was conscientious, good with clients and she didn't look remotely stupid. Of course he didn't want to get too close to her but teaching her a few things couldn't hurt anybody. Then he nodded at her. "If that's want you want, come one hour earlier tomorrow. I'll show you how the greenhouses work. I'm warning you, I won't tolerate any lack of seriousness. Are you ok with this?"

"Of course!" she said, relieved. They shook hands and she left. He watched her leave, wondering if he had maybe done the wrong thing. Once she was outside, she burst into nervous laughter and started running toward her home.

To be continued…