Kiss
A Gundam 00 Fanfiction
Introducing: Aya Castro - An OC by U.S. Air Force Airman
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“Good bye Aya! See you tomorrow!”
Aya waved good bye to her friends and turned to make her way home from the public high school. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh of relief that the day was finally through. She then smiled and almost outwardly chuckled. “How strange it is! That I find myself here stressing over school exams and a social life when it was only 6 years ago that the most pressing concern on my mind was how I would escape that terrible life and that monster of a man I was forced to call my father…” Aya thought to herself. Her long light blond hair was blown behind her in the warm summer breeze as she walked down the sidewalk leading away from the school’s campus smiling widely as she reflected on her life. “I really am so lucky…and grateful…to have been able to escape that man. Now I can live as I choose. I’m at the top of my class in school, I have such good friends, I live in this beautiful city. And I also have…”
Her thoughts were interrupted by the honking of a car horn. Aya snapped out of her reverie and looked up to find a red convertible pull up next to her. Inside the car was none other than the man that had just been on the verge of pervading her thoughts the moment before. “Hey there little lady- need a lift?”
Aya smiled and with surprising athleticism, launched herself into the passenger seat, landing gracefully with school bag in hand. “What are you doing here?” she asked of the driver with less curiosity than mirth in her voice.
“I got off work early today and seeing as I knew you get out of school at just about this time I decided to spare you the long grueling journey home on foot.”
Aya giggled mockingly, “Oh, my hero!” She leaned back into the comfortable leather seat of the car and looked over to her companion. Neil Dylandy. The smile which seemed to have permanently settled on her face widened. Aya had just jokingly stated that Neil was her hero, but she truly did uphold him to be her one true savior, though she would never admit it to him. There was no one that Aya held in greater esteem than this man who had come to her rescue in her darkest hour; this man who had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go, who had given her shelter and comfort, and who had cared for her even though she was a perfect stranger to him. He was her only family member. He was her brother, her father, her best friend…..and sometimes she even dreamed about what it would be like if-
“So kiddo got any plans for the weekend?” Neil asked as he took one hand off the steering wheel to reached over and ruffle the top of her blond hair. He loved to touch her. “There’s a fair in town for a few days. Maybe we should go check it out.” He took his eyes off the road for a second to offer her a smile.
Aya brushed his hand away in mock anger for messing up her hair. “Hmm a fair?” She pondered the idea for just a second. “Alright it sounds like so much fun!” Neil’s face lit up with a soft smile at the prospect of spending the entire day alone with the beautiful young girl at his side.
“I’ll call up my friends right now to see if they can come!”
The smile quickly faded off the older man’s face as he replied with an “Oh…” which went unheard by the still beaming younger girl who had already whipped out her cell phone and had entered into a conversation with a friend on the other line.
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It was a warm sunny day with not a cloud in the sky; a gorgeous day, perfect weather for enjoying all the fun, food, and festivities available to everyone at the fair. Aya explored the fairgrounds with all the wonder and amazement that a toddler experiences his first time at Disneyland. The open mouthed smile and the sparkle in her eyes seems cemented to her face as she skipped from booth to booth and ride to ride. As a young girl, her ‘father’ had never taken her to such celebrations so she could only imagine and dream of the fun such a place provided. And then she met Neil. It wasn’t her first time at a fair. Her older friend had taken her numerous times since she was 10, but each visit since then still held the same magical quality that the very first visit had held for her.
“Come on Aya let’s see who grew the biggest spud this year!” a high school girl called out as she along with a few other of Aya’s school friends that had been invited raced ahead.
Aya giggled, caramel apple in hand, “I’m coming, I’m coming!” She laughed and ran after her friends.
Neil Dylandy trudged behind the group of energetic high school kids with a frustrated scowl on his face. Once he was out of hearing range of the rest of the group, he voiced his inner thoughts out to the air around him. “Hey Aya! I have a great idea! Let’s go to the fair this weekend! You know, just us two! We can spend some quality bonding time together! Just the two of us!” Neil said sarcastically to himself in mock impersonation of what he had been saying only a few days before. Then in a high pitched voice, obviously impersonating the young girl, he said with appropriate hand gestures, “Oh I’d love to Neil! Let me just call up eight of my friends! Five of which are moronic teenage boys who follow me around like lost puppies drooling over me and fawning over everything I say and do!”
Dropping the charade, Neil resumed his previous air of sullen defeat and reflected on what had caused this day that had so much potential to go so terribly wrong. To begin with, he had imagined this day to be his opportunity to take Aya out on an outing almost like a date….if not a full-fledged date. She was 16 now, a full grown woman, and he was able to see her as one. He was starting to look at her in different ways, he was now able to think about her and treat her differently….and today could have been his chance to experiment with all these new thoughts and….feelings…. but ultimately that plan of action was doomed to fail. She had immediately called up a sizable group of high school peers and he felt invisible to her amongst them. Neil wasn’t a super protective or possessive guy or anything, but it had been very difficult for him to watch Aya laugh at these other boys’ jokes (which he thought were not even remotely funny), be hand fed cotton candy, sit on the Ferris wheel with another boy, and overall just engage in flirtatious behavior with these half-whit numbskulls. Throughout the years, Neil had come to see Aya as a strong, beautiful, and independent woman whom he had grown to develop feelings for. He was starting to think, though, that perhaps Aya didn’t see things the same way. Maybe she still just saw him as an older brother or a father figure. If this was the case she surely couldn’t return the type of affection that Neil was starting to harbor for her. This seemed to be the case as she wouldn’t even pay him any attention while she was surrounded by all these other boys. Boys her age. Was that the problem? “Does she think I’m too old?” Neil asked himself. At the thought of this his heart sank and an uncharacteristic look of genuine sadness swept over his eyes.
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“You know, you looked so gloomy the whole day today Neil.” Aya stared at the older brunette from the passenger seat. It was well past sundown and after dropping off a couple of Aya’s friends at their respective homes after the fair, the pair was making their own way home after a long day of festivities. “I thought you said we were going to have fun!” The pretty blonde offered a hopeful smile to her companion urging him to join her in her high spirits.
“We did have fun.” Neil replied flatly to the girl without smiling or even taking his eyes off the road to look at her.
“Well…. I had fun!” Aya responded dropping her grin, sensing the seriousness of her friend. “But you-”
“That’s right. You had fun.” Neil cut her off. “And that’s all that matters.”
Aya looked confusedly as the older man. There was no anger in his voice. No frustration. But something else. Was it…..sadness? They continued the drive home in silence.
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Aya lay awake until late that night in her bed. She was exhausted from all the fun she had that day but she couldn’t sleep thinking about how upset Neil was. He was so important to her. What would make him act like that towards her?
“Well…I suppose I could have spent more time with him today…I did just run off with all my friends and left him to trail along behind us.” Aya replayed the events of the day in her head. “I guess he must have felt slightly awkward following a bunch of kids like us around. Wait…why did he want to come to a fair with a group of high schoolers anyway?” She pondered the thought for a few minutes. “He didn’t…..he just wanted to take me to the fair.” The words Neil spoke to her on the car ride home rang through her mind. “He did it for me. He just wanted me to have a good time. He just wanted to me to happy….” With this realization Aya played back the events of the day once more through her mind, this time focusing on different things. “Neil drove my friends and me out there today. He even bought me tickets for all of the rides. He even bought enough for me to enjoy them with my friends. He paid for all of my snacks today. He didn’t even ask….if he saw me looking at a snack booth he went over and bought me a treat right away…he even paid so much attention to me to see when I was getting tired and he stopped everyone for a break….Neil did so much for me today. He always does so much for me…and what do I do in return?” The young girl began to feel great remorse for the lack of appreciation she showed towards her friend.
“I feel so terrible. I’ve acknowledged only a fraction of what he does for me on a daily basis. I’ve taken so much of his kindness for granted. But it’ll change now. From now on, I want to show him the same kind of kindness he’s shown me for the past 6 years of my life. I want to devote the same kind of time and affection he’s devoted to me all this time. This man…..Neil Dylandy….he’s my hero. There’s no one in the world that is more important to me than he is. And I’m going to start treating him like that.”
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“Look at this one! Let’s watch this tonight!” Aya pointed excitedly to a movie poster with a man and a woman on it with a giant planet behind them. Feeling bad about how Neil didn’t enjoy their day at the fair, Aya apologized the next day to him and suggested they go out to the movies the next night. Now Neil found himself outside of a large and popular movie theatre with an overzealous girl on his arm pointing at different posters trying to decide which film to watch.
“MARS huh?”
“Isn’t it such a classy title? No over exaggerated description like ‘The Ugly Purple People from Under Ground Try to Take Over Mars’!” Aya smiled as she dragged her companion over to purchase the tickets. “Besides, I really like the actress in this one. Layla Waters has got to be my favorite! She’s finally going to have the main female role!”
“Actually I believe the lead in being played by Rhonda Wellington in this movie” Neil replied.
Aya furrowed her brows. “Are you serious? No I know it’s Layla! I saw her name on the poster!” she protested as they made their way into the darkness of the theatre. “I’ll bet you anything.
“Alright, you’re on.” Neil smiled as the couple took their seats and the already dim room faded into total blackness as the previews began to roll.
“I told you it was Rhonda,” Neil proclaimed triumphantly as the two walked through the theatre parking. Aya’s arm was locked around Neil’s as they searched for the red convertible. Locking arms was a thing Aya did often with her friends, male or female, but this was the first time she had done so with Neil. And he was enjoying it.
Exasperated, Aya sighed. “OK so she wasn’t the lead character, but she was a superb supporting actress! Doesn’t that count for something?”
Spying the car Neil replied “Nope. Supporting actress does not count as lead. You lose sweaty!” He hopped into the driver’s seat. “So what do I win? It was a bet right?”
Aya landed in her seat and let out another sigh of defeat. “Yeah….what do you want?”
“Hm. Offer me something good.” Neil smirked.
“Something good huh….” Aya was silent for a moment, then he finger went into the air. “I know! How about a kiss?” She smiled innocently.
Neil’s smirk faltered for half a second being caught off guard by the girl’s response. He quickly recovered however and gave a short laugh before leaning towards her and turning his face offering her clear access to his cheek. “I think that’s a pretty good prize.”
Aya leaned forward and lightly brushed her soft lips across his cheek.
Both leaned back into their seats smiling. Neil started the car, and pulled out of the parking lot. He then gently placed one hand atop Aya’s hand in her lap and they drove the whole way home like this.
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It was late when they got back to Neil’s apartment. Allowing the girl to enter first, Neil closed the door once both of them were inside and then leaned back on it. “Well I had fun tonight!” He said with an air of satisfaction.
“Well that’s good. I’m glad you had a better than at the fair.” Aya smiled at him.
“How did you enjoy our little date?” Neil asked the girl.
Still smiling the girl cocked her head to the side. “Date?” She asked in amusement.
“Yeah- what else would you call it? By the way I demand a better kiss. What I got back in the car was hardly any real contact.”
Aya smiled and stepped into him, leaning her body against his lean form. She wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a firm kiss on cheek, holding her daisy soft lips to his face for a few seconds before bringing her face from his.
“….Better?” she asked smiling up at him, still leaning against his body.
Neil looked down at the girl with an expression she’d never seen on his face and answered, “How about just one more?”
Aya closed her eyes and reached up with her face once more, but instead of feeling his cheek, she found her lips pressed softly to his own. Without moving away her eyes flew open in surprised, but her shock soon faded away when both of Neil’s hands found their way to both sides of her cheeks and he pulled her face closer to his deepening the kiss. His thumbs lightly caressed her temples and his lips worked against hers and her mind melted away as her body edged closer and closer to his.
Neil broke the kiss, pulling back his face leaving Aya gasping for air, face flushed. “Thanks….and now…. I’ll give you a kiss….”
With that Neil snaked an arm around the girl’s slim waste and pulled her tight against him and caught her lips in his own again.
They stayed that way for a long time.
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TO BE CONTINUED.
maybe!
hopefully.
haha i wanted to add more! darn procrastination!
hope you liked it! :]
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