[Gundam 00] Beyond the Horizon
Title: Beyond the Horizon
Fandom: Gundam 00
Pairing: Lyle/Anew
Rating: G
Wordcount: 518
Notes: Might reflect some of the same themes that'll go into a later fic, but this one is set within canon and the other one will be AU.
Summary: "She liked to watch the sunset." Lyle follows Anew in the evenings and dreams his own dreams alongside her.
She liked to watch the sunset, and whenever they had the free time at the right time on Earth, she would slip off to do so. Eventually, he had started following her, with poorer and poorer stealth each time, and not once had she objected. Not even when he started taking her by the shoulders and kissing her as the sun slipped below the horizon.
Anew did not explain why she liked to watch the sunset, but here and there, she dropped hints. This time, she came as close as she ever had to saying it outright.
"Of course I know the sun never meets the earth," she said, gazing out at the horizon. "But doesn't it look like it does?"
Lyle shifted position on the soft grass of the hilltop, moved so that he was kneeling closer to her."It does look like that."
"Two very distant spheres in space," she said. "It looks like they're together, for a little while. And the way the sun's light turns pink and purple is so natural, isn't it?"
He turned quickly to look at her as she spoke, but she was only smiling dreamily. When she smiled like that, it was so hard to think about what might lie beneath. It was impossible to wonder how much she knew. She looked too beautiful.
"Lyle?" She looked askance back at him. "What's wrong?"
The words hung unspoken on his tongue. There was so much he wanted to say and so much he wanted to ask about. But he couldn't speak; the words fled as easily as thoughts back down his throat.
She rose halfway to her feet. "We can go back to the Ptolemy now, if you want."
Something about the position they were in struck him heavily: her almost standing, him kneeling before her. The thought flashed across his mind: if only he had a ring to offer, he could propose to her right now.
"Anew--"
He could tell her, Anew, marry me, and she would say yes, of course. Then he would take her by the hand and they would run away to somewhere more beautiful than this. They would be somewhere without Celestial Being and without the forces that controlled her and hunted them. Lyle would not be wearing the face of a dead man he'd barely known; he would be himself, and Anew would be Anew.
"The sun's almost gone," she said. "There isn't any reason to stay."
He wanted to blurt out, I'll take you to a place where the sunset never ends, and he'd have done it for her, too. But there was no such place, and no wedding dress and flowers waited for them. They both had greater missions to fulfill.
Lyle rose to his feet. "We'll come back here tomorrow," he said. "It's a good spot to watch from."
"We're supposed to leave for orbit tomorrow," Anew said.
He laughed a little, and around her it wasn't as self-conscious as it might otherwise have been. "Maybe we won't. Then we can come back here."
He'd pretend for a while longer.
Fandom: Gundam 00
Pairing: Lyle/Anew
Rating: G
Wordcount: 518
Notes: Might reflect some of the same themes that'll go into a later fic, but this one is set within canon and the other one will be AU.
Summary: "She liked to watch the sunset." Lyle follows Anew in the evenings and dreams his own dreams alongside her.
She liked to watch the sunset, and whenever they had the free time at the right time on Earth, she would slip off to do so. Eventually, he had started following her, with poorer and poorer stealth each time, and not once had she objected. Not even when he started taking her by the shoulders and kissing her as the sun slipped below the horizon.
Anew did not explain why she liked to watch the sunset, but here and there, she dropped hints. This time, she came as close as she ever had to saying it outright.
"Of course I know the sun never meets the earth," she said, gazing out at the horizon. "But doesn't it look like it does?"
Lyle shifted position on the soft grass of the hilltop, moved so that he was kneeling closer to her."It does look like that."
"Two very distant spheres in space," she said. "It looks like they're together, for a little while. And the way the sun's light turns pink and purple is so natural, isn't it?"
He turned quickly to look at her as she spoke, but she was only smiling dreamily. When she smiled like that, it was so hard to think about what might lie beneath. It was impossible to wonder how much she knew. She looked too beautiful.
"Lyle?" She looked askance back at him. "What's wrong?"
The words hung unspoken on his tongue. There was so much he wanted to say and so much he wanted to ask about. But he couldn't speak; the words fled as easily as thoughts back down his throat.
She rose halfway to her feet. "We can go back to the Ptolemy now, if you want."
Something about the position they were in struck him heavily: her almost standing, him kneeling before her. The thought flashed across his mind: if only he had a ring to offer, he could propose to her right now.
"Anew--"
He could tell her, Anew, marry me, and she would say yes, of course. Then he would take her by the hand and they would run away to somewhere more beautiful than this. They would be somewhere without Celestial Being and without the forces that controlled her and hunted them. Lyle would not be wearing the face of a dead man he'd barely known; he would be himself, and Anew would be Anew.
"The sun's almost gone," she said. "There isn't any reason to stay."
He wanted to blurt out, I'll take you to a place where the sunset never ends, and he'd have done it for her, too. But there was no such place, and no wedding dress and flowers waited for them. They both had greater missions to fulfill.
Lyle rose to his feet. "We'll come back here tomorrow," he said. "It's a good spot to watch from."
"We're supposed to leave for orbit tomorrow," Anew said.
He laughed a little, and around her it wasn't as self-conscious as it might otherwise have been. "Maybe we won't. Then we can come back here."
He'd pretend for a while longer.