Fly me to the moon

Epilogue

Here ya go Soma lovers! Even more lovely scenes! Honestly the end was supposed to be better but I'm going to college very soon so sorry! I feel like I made Soma a little OOC, but when you're stuck with a girl like Rin as your leader you're bound to pick up on some of her behavior and pace.

I even took a detour on purpose

So for just a little longer

I can be together with you

I even said jokingly

"Oops, my bad!"

I just had to indulge myself

On your smiling face and sparkling eyes

-Supercell, Sayonara Memories

"Relax…" he whispered into her ear and settled against her back. His warm hand went on top of hers and she swallowed at the close contact. His breath tickled her ear, and she hoped he wouldn't be able to hear the loud drumming in her chest. "Steady…" He let go of her hand but now rested his on her shoulders. Rin felt his chest against her back and she fought hard not to question his close proximity. "Now release!"

Her fingers relinquished their hold from the leather pad on her slingshot. The stone she used hit the rabbit hard on its hind legs—stunning it and breaking its legs in the process. Soma rushed over and quickly rung its neck for a quick death. Rin smiled with mixed feelings. She was happy she managed to get the hang of hunting with a slingshot but at the same time she felt sorry for the small creature. Another part of her missed how close Soma was willing to be in touching distance.

"So this is how you did it." She pocketed the wooden slingshot that Soma lent her and surveyed her kill. "Not too bad for breakfast?" Rin then looked at his kill and pouted at the accuracy. His shot hit a small plump bird in the head—instantly killing it.

Soma scooped up their kills and nodded in satisfaction. "You happy now?"

"Very. But how do you have these? And how'd you get so good at it?" Rin asked. She could somewhat understand if someone like Kota, who lived in the Outer Ghetto, knew how to use a slingshot for fun. But Soma was the past Director's child. So why…?

The buster blader looked around the forest as if to collect his answer from the trees and crossed his arms. "When my father used to bring me on research trips I'd get bored. One of his guards noticed and taught me how to make and shoot a slingshot. It wouldn't work on Aragami, but he figured it could help pass the time for a kid like me." He picked up a few good stones to use as ammo and stuffed them in his pocket. "I haven't used it in a while, but going camping helped me remember it."

Rin was pleased that he was openly talking about his past and even more so that he regarded the past director as his father again. She dared not to mention the God Eater that Soma mentioned because probably by now… Well, she didn't want to risk reopening old wounds on a good morning like this. "You should teach me some more so I can be a better shot than you!"

"Tch, like that'll ever happen," he ruffled her hair and lingered for a little bit before releasing her. She noted the hint of pride in his voice and giggled, as they made their way back to camp.

What they were met with more than destroyed the happy mood they acquired. The tents were collapsed messily, the firewood was mysteriously gone, and the two other God Eaters they traveled with were shouting at each other. Alisa brandished a frying pan while Kota held up a pot and lid in his defense.

"What is going on here?" Rin demanded as Kota and Alisa both turned to her in angry synchronization.

"He/She started it!" They accused and then went right back to their arguing.

Rin slapped her forehead. So much for a good morning. Soma shook his head as well but then leaned towards the 1st unit leader and whispered quietly. "Lets see how long it takes for them to notice." When he gestured to their game she grinned and nodded.

"Let's hope they don't."

While Soma volunteered to take care of the game, Rin ventured out to grab firewood. She was surprised at the amount of wildlife that still thrived here. Sure, there were still Aragami about, but something about them seemed…different. They didn't outwardly attack them and watched instead. In fact, Rin noticed the Kongou here were getting smaller and, dare she say, hairier. Dr. Sakaki told her that this forest was one of Fenrir's successful efforts to return the world to its previous state. A part of her questioned if hunting these restored animals was wise, but the doctor seemed to have anticipated them meeting these strange non-aragami creatures and said it was alright to hunt a few. Something about adaptability…?

When she returned to camp with armfuls of dry wood and twigs she saw both Alisa and Kota continuing their argument. Soma, who was surprisingly hoodless, got to work on the bird with a hard concentrated look on his face. Rin grinned and walked over to the rabbit and started skinning it like yesterday. She still couldn't do it as quickly as Soma, but at least she used clean cuts. Her eyes studied how much difficulty he had. He was tugging feathers off, but she could see some of the damaged skin tearing off the bird as well.

"Soma, how about I handle the bird and you rinse this and get some water." Rin offered the trade. He gladly took her up on that offer and took the bloodied rabbit and stomped towards Kota to grab the pot from him. Rin laughed when the buster blader knocked the gunner on the head. When he was gone, the 1st Unit Leader started where Soma took off. However instead of rough tugs off large areas of feathers, she did light tugs on smaller areas. It may have been a long arduous process, but eventually the bird was plucked from the legs to the breast with little damage to the skin whatsoever (She'd just give that area to the quarreling two as punishment). Rin then took one of her hunting knives and cut off the still feathered wings off the bird. They seemed too scrawny to cook for meat anyway.

A crackle of fire from behind her gave her an idea for how to deal with the tiny bits of quill still attached to the bird. Rin brought the bird over to the fire Soma started (When did he come back?) and turned the bird over the flame just enough to burn the leftover quills. Soma nodded appreciatively at her work. "How did you learn that?"

Rin shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I guessed." Soma offered to do the rest while she distracted the other two. Rin still couldn't understand why he didn't want them to know just how good a cook he was, but she gave up. A part of her was happy for the growing secrets just between them. Rin walked over to the sulking God Eaters on a wooden log and sat between them. "What's wrong now, guys?"

"She's upset that I ruined this camping trip!" Kota declared. Alisa flipped her hair elegantly to the side and turned away.

"You're the one that's upset that we didn't go to the beach, Kota."

Their leader sighed. "Guys, seriously? I hoped you were fighting over a different topic by now!"

"Well actually…"

"Shhh!" Alisa shushed the young boy but the damage was done. Their leader's eyes were filled with curiosity and nothing would stop her from finding out what it was. "It's nothing, leader. Don't worry about him."

"No, now I'm interested. As your leader, I command you to tell me!" Rin crossed her arms with a smug smile on her face. A few feet away they could hear Soma scoff. She raised a brow in response. "Do you want to say something, Soma?"

"If I had a fenrir credit for every time I wanted to say something, I would be poor as dirt right now." He answered and a smug smirk of his own. Kota finally noticed Soma by himself doing something by the fire.

"Whatcha doing over there?"

"Kota, why don't you go fix the tents now," Rin quickly said after getting a glimpse of Soma's warning glare.

"But…"

"Let's go, Kota," Alisa surprisingly took the reins and stood up. She sent a knowing wink to Rin before pushing Kota. The 1st Unit leader shook her head and walked over to Soma, who was creating rabbit stew. The bird was wrapped in some kind of foil and sat on top of another fire he started. Except this one had a wooden structure around the flames that allowed the bird to sit on a wire over the fire. If the visuals weren't enough, the smell of cooking meat woke her stomach up.

"Chef Soma, how in the world did you learn to cook so well? Minus plucking birds," she joked at the end and sat next to him. He wisely chose to ignore her and poked the fire beneath the stew instead. After a moment of careful thought, Rin continued. "Was it the same one that taught you how to shoot?" When he nodded slowly she smiled wide. "What was his name?"

"…Phelix," he answered after a short pause. "He used short swords, so he gave me tips and tricks when I got old enough to learn how to fight." Soma lifted the lid of the pot and stirred its contents. Rin's mouth watered from the scent wafting over. She could have sworn she began to openly drool when he lifted a spoonful to her lips. "Tell me if it needs anything else."

She blushed at the fact that he was feeding her and prayed to the hidden moon that she wasn't being too hopeful again. Rin blew on the soup and took a tentative sip. Her eyebrows rose in appreciation and her embarrassment soon passed. "That's delicious! It's better than anything I've ever tasted!"

"Moron. It's not that good," he shook his head at her reaction and stirred his creation one last time. Rin once again noted the pride in his tone and giggled.

"Someone is in a very good mood today. Was yesterday's gift that nice?" For some reason unknown to her Soma's cheeks turned a light pink. "Eh? Really? I don't remember doing anything else… Did anything happen after I fell asleep?" If anything, the pink turned darker and he pulled his hood back over his head. Rin sulked and childishly kept bumping her shoulder against his. "Somaaaa! Tell meeeeee!"

"Now who's acting like a kid?" the buster blader flicked her forehead and grabbed a bowl to scoop out her helping. She accepted it with pouting lips.

"You're lucky you're such a good cook or I wouldn't be letting you off the hook so easily, Chef Soma."

"Whatever, kid."

The final day arrived and it was time to leave. After all, they were still God Eaters and regretfully all vacations must come to an end. With the campsite packed and cleaned of their presence all four of them began to make their way out of the forest. Out of punishment, both Alisa and Kota had to carry the luggage and supplies all the way to the chopper that would pick them up. At the mouth of the forest Rin hesitated and looked back at the green forest. She could see tiny flocks of birds overhead and another squirrel staring at her from a tall tree. The sounds of the restored area would quickly leave her once they arrived back at headquarters, and who knew when they would get another break. Rin wanted this memory to last.

"You know…"

The 1st Unit leader turned to her right and saw Soma looking inside the forest too. It surprised her that Soma started yet another conversation with her, but she refused to tease him about it this time. Something about him seemed different… Especially ever since the night she brought Soma to 'the moon'.

"I never heard where you wanted to go."

Rin blinked in confusion for a moment before smiling warmly and going over to his side. Quietly she leaned up and whispered her response into his ear. She even dared to rest her hand on his chest to keep balance. After a few seconds he raised a brow and met her gaze as if asking her, "seriously?" When she nodded sheepishly he sighed and ruffled her hair in silent promise.

"That wouldn't be so bad, I guess."

A/N:Do I smell another SomaxMshe fic coming up? Maybe not soon but this gives me room to make another one eventually, haha. So I wonder guys…where does Rin wanna go? Hehehe