The contest this time was to write a love story cliche. I didn't know which one to use so my friends picked on for me. This is what came of it.
Just a note for the reviewers: None of the contest stories will have a second chapter because the rules say it can only be a one-shot.
Cliché: Falls in love with best friend
Kira Yamato was staring out at space. He was on a colony that housed both naturals and coordinators. The war had ended a little over three months ago and everyone was busy except him. Cagalli was rebuilding Orb with the help of Kira's remaining friends, the crew of the Archangel, and all of her people. Captain Ramius was still mourning the death of Commander Mwu La Flaga, but she was trying to get her life back in order on Earth while helping to change the government's views. And Athrun was helping Lacus get situated back in the PLANTs…..
Kira sighed, able to somewhat see the PLANTs from this colony. Earth wasn't visible to him from here, he was on the wrong side of the colony. It was nighttime now, so he was the only one in the observatory. Everyone else was in their homes trying to forget that they weren't on solid ground. Kira was floating in a space observatory trying to remember everything.
He looked down at himself. He wasn't allowed to help anyone out right now. Being caught in the blast from Genesis had been only remotely painful, so he hadn't noticed the damage until the doctor told him what was wrong. Three months after the blast and he was still on medical leave from Captain Ramius. His leg was bandaged and he had an ankle brace so that he didn't strain it. His right arm was in a sling and bandaged as well. Besides a few scrapes and bruises, that was all that was left after this much time. Everything else was pretty much healed.
Looking to his right hand, Kira stared dully at the envelope there. It had his address on the 'return address' part, but only a name was written where the 'send to' address should be.
'Athrun Zala'
He didn't know where Athrun was staying, so he couldn't send it. But as soon as he learned the address, this letter would be in the mail. Kira had realized something when he'd woken up after he was rescued (he'd passed out).
"What if I hadn't survived?" he asked the silence. "I know I'm the….the Perfect Coordinator….but what if I'd died?" he leaned against the glass on his good side and stared deeply into space. "I would never have told him…And he'd never have known. He still doesn't know."
This letter held all of his secrets. It told Athrun about how he'd thought Athrun was beautiful when they'd been introduced as kids by their parents. It told of how as they grew up, Kira realized that he loved the boy, but fear kept him silent. It told of how he had cried so hard when Athrun had been taken away by his father to the PLANTs. This letter told Athrun about how hard it had been for Kira to fight in the war after he'd found out that Athrun and him were enemies. It told him about how happy he'd been when Athrun had joined his side: The rebels side.
This letter explained that Kira was writing it because he was afraid he had almost missed his chance….and that he didn't want to risk Athrun never knowing these things. It said that even though Athrun might never talk to him again, that Kira didn't want to keep the secret anymore. And finally, that he hoped Athrun could accept him even though Kira loved him.
Kira narrowed his eyes and pushed off of the glass, floating over to the doorway and pressing the 'open' button. Outside, in a still weightless room, was the automatic car Kira had driven here in. He sat down and took off towards his house.
When they had been kids, Kira had really been afraid of his feelings. What kind of guy falls for his best friend? His best male friend?! Athrun probably wanted to marry Cagalli, Kira's fraternal twin sister. This made Kira even more depressed. If Athrun married Cagalli, his feelings would be even worse to have. Loving your sister's husband and being a guy was really taboo, if the others weren't.
The car stopped in front of Kira's house and he got up, closing the car door. The automatic car sped off back to the car stop as Kira limped up to his front door. The limp was hardly noticeable anymore, but he could still feel it every time he took another step. The first thing he heard when he walked inside was Athrun's voice. It was the answering machine!
'-to let you know that I'm ok. I know you worry. Sorry I haven't contacted you in awhile, things have been busy.'
Kira rushed as fast as he could to the phone and picked it up. His answering machine beeped and cut off.
"Athrun?" he put the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he laid the letter down, then held the phone in his left hand.
'Kira? Oh you're home. Hey there.' the blue haired teen greeted.
"Just got back. How are you?" Kira sat down to rest his ankle.
'Fine. I was calling to see if you were alright.' Athrun sounded a little worried and Kira laughed bitterly for a moment.
"I guess you would worry about me. You ran off with Lacus before I regained consciousness." It was a painful memory….waking up with your best friend and close confidant (Athrun and Lacus, respectfully) missing.
'Sorry about that.' Kira thought Athrun was fidgeting. 'I had to get Lacus out of there. She was crying so hard. She thought you would die.' Here, Athrun paused. 'Actually….I….I thought you were going to die too….'
"That makes the whole world." Kira joked. EVERYONE had, one by one, told him that they'd feared him dying. He shook himself. "Anyways….c-can I have your address?"
'What? Oh sure.' Athrun hurriedly began to give Kira multiple ways to contact him and his address and much other information. Then they talked about the past three months until Kira got tired and told Athrun goodbye.
Before going to bed, he slipped the letter, now with an address on it, into the mailbox by the front door on the inside. It swooped out of view and Kira knew Athrun would have the letter in two days, tops.
-
Athrun looked up from the book he was reading when his mailbox chimed. He stood up and walked over to it, pulling the letter out and checking the return address.
"Oh. It's from Kira?" he asked in confusion. He flipped it over and cleanly slit the seal, pulling out the two page long letter inside. The envelope suggested that Kira had written the letter a while before he sent it, but the paper was perfectly fine. Five minutes later, Athrun's hands were shaking so bad that he dropped the papers and the envelope. "Kira?" he wondered aloud.
Athrun didn't bother to pick the papers up, but instead went and got some paper and a pen and decided to reply.
'Kira,
The letter you sent to me startled me. I never dreamed you'd feel that way. I guess I was unprepared. I don't have to guess at why you told me, because it was explained in the letter. Kira, you must understand how I feel.
At school, we were friends and I was enchanted by your eyes. They shine, don't you know? They still do. When I left and I gave you Tori, we were friends. I didn't think of it as anything else. I missed you a lot and I kept begging my father to go back for you, but I never thought of it as anything other than a deep seeded friendship.
It was hard for me to fight against you too. I hated the war after that fateful day on Heliopolis. I began to question my beliefs and everything that I stood for. But I still didn't think it was anything more than friendship between us. Everything was purely platonic. Please don't stop reading here.
The turning point in my life was the day I killed you. Then everything changed. I no longer wanted anything and nothing meant anything to me. Lacus hurt me when she told me you were alive and I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to blame myself for killing the most important person in my life. But you have no idea how happy I was when you were alive and we were fighting side by side. And you have no idea how deleterious it was to me to watch you slip away into unconsciousness moments after Cagalli and I rescued you.
I really thought you were going to die. I didn't want to risk being there and actually seeing you die. I didn't want to see your corpse if you died. So I took Lacus, who was truly distraught as well, and returned to the PLANTs. That way, if you died and they delivered the news, I could at least pretend you were still out there alive.
Do you understand what I'm saying Kira? I love you too.
Athrun Zala'
Kira was shaking as he read the letter. He thought Athrun was rejecting him and then it turned out to be a big confession! He couldn't even cry he was so stunned!
The doorbell on his house rang and Kira faced it. He hadn't moved from his mailbox, so he was right next to the front door. He shook himself to compose himself and then reached out with an amazingly steady left hand, still holding the letter, to open the front door. Making sure not to bump his ankle or right arm on anything, Kira pulled the door open and peeked out.
"A-athrun!?" he flushed in embarrassment. He'd just finished reading the letter!
"Hi Kira." Athrun was blushing too and looking away and at the floor. "Did you get my letter?" he looked up at Kira with a worried expression. Kira stood their dumbly and then held up his left hand, with the letter in it. "Good." Athrun seemed to relax and leaned forward to place his lips on Kira's.
"Ah!" Kira gasped at the contact. It was a chaste kiss, nervous and uncertain, exploring new territory. Kira winced as he leaned fully on his right ankle and Athrun pulled away. "S-sorry. It's my ankle. You didn't do anything." he assured the blue haired boy. Athrun sighed in relief. "Come in. You can help me to the couch." Kira laughed.
Athrun chuckled twice and then wrapped his arm under Kira's left arm and pulled it across his shoulder, grabbing Kira's midsection and helping him to the couch to rest.
"What about the girls?" Kira asked suddenly, as Athrun was setting him down on the couch. Athrun laughed and accidently dropped Kira fully onto the couch. "Whoa!"
Fin
My sister was confused about the last part about the girls. Athrun started laughing because he found the question funny. Come on, haven't you ever thought something was funny for no real reason? It happens!