Chapter Text
Dust billowed in the freezing night air as Akira sat on his roof staring up at the stars. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he slowly pulled it out “Hello?” he asked and instantly smiled as he recognised the voice on the other end of the phone “Akira. You fixed your phone.” “Yeah, poor old girl, she's served me well.” “Most would say that whilst purchasing a new one.” “I know I know. How are you though mate?”
He smiled as they chatted casually about different topics of interest dancing around themes to do with work, family or the dreaded ‘relationship’ topic “So I have met this wonderful woman.” “Samuel Holt, You have a wife.” Akira said, unable to keep the tension out of his tone even as he made the joke “Akira you have been living alone in a shack in the desert for years.” Akira sputtered some nonsense about his humble home not being a shack until he heard the phone get snatched away from his friend’s hand.
“AKIRA KOGANE!” the sharp feminine voice of Colleen Holt scolded Akira down the phone and Akira practically cowered “Damn Colleen your children will be forces of nature.” He responded grinning and he heard Colleen sigh “As they will need to be. Now please tell me an honest truth, are you Aromantic?”
“What!?”
“Yes or no question Kogane!”
“No, No I am not. Please stop trying to hook me up with people.” Akira sighed and Colleen sighed also though hers was the more petulant sigh of an older sibling dealing with a toddler “Well if you don’t like it then why aren’t you putting yourself out there!?” “I have a type; Colleen it’s hard to come across!” Akira cried out and Colleen sighed again “Akira we’re worried about you. We don’t want you to be lonely.”
"I'd get a dog if I was... But I’m not lonely, I have the stars.” Akira informed them and he heard Samuel laugh slightly in the background “Plus,” he said calmly “The cactuses are brilliant for conversation, massive pricks though.” Colleen groaned and Samuel yelled out “I’m going to write that down!” Akira chuckled when he heard Sam make a mad dash out of the room, Once he was sure he heard the door close he spoke again “When are you planning on telling him?” this time Colleen chuckled on the other end of the line “Oh you know when he has a better selection of dad jokes.” “Oh, I’m sorry, are my ones bad?!” Akira cried out feigning insult.
He stopped mid laugh as he saw a burst of light trail down from the sky and into the sand dunes just a little beyond his line of sight “oh wow.” He said softly and then paused “Uh Colleen I have to go. Also do me a favour and tell your husband to stop trying to set up a date for me! Bye!” he hung up instantly not waiting for a response before beginning to clamber down off his roof.
Quietly he touched the floor and grabbed the axe he kept by the front door and then slowly cautiously began to gather up his things and approach the site of where the object had landed into the sands.
The deserts sky was a dark lapis colour speckled with stars that danced and swirled in the sky around the moon that bathed the sand and stone in a silvery glow that glittered and made way to shadow when Akira rushed across the land towards the crashed object. The crashed vessel, dark grey metal full of a shimmering lavender light that coursed through the shape, it was sort of reminiscently shaped like a bean with two arrow head points that jutted from the sides, small cannon like turrets underneath these sharp wings.
Akira stumbled back when the vessel caught fire at the back and instantly he pulled his axe out and began to swing it at what looked like tinted glass he was not expecting a sharp blade to jut out of the hole he made and then shimmer and vanish “Hold on! Let me do it!” He called too whoever or whatever was inside and pretended they listened as he drew back the axe and slammed into the glass harder than before and this time the glass broke.
The person who was inside leapt out and knocked Akira to the ground. He whipped around and stared at the person they staggered around a bit and then Akira grabbed its arm realising that the being was quite a bit taller than him staring down at him “Come with me.” He said and the person growled. It growled, like a being possessed and enraged so Akira let go of the arm carefully and held out his hands in a display of peace dropping the axe to the ground in the process.
It was the axe hitting the floor that was enough to make the person relax. It lowered the metal blade that rested in a hand and grasped its wounded side, “I have medical supplies.” Akira offered quietly and they stared at him from behind the mask they wore “I can help.” He added and the person stared at him then removed the cold grey mask that fitted over its face.
“Oh.” Akira whispered, staring at the other, it was beautiful in a dangerous way, thin fur sort of like peach fuzz but a regal heather colour with two darker stripes that tapered to a point that led an onlooker's eyes to its.
“Oh.” Those were the most beautiful eyes Akira had ever seen, yellow sclerae glittered against the luminescent indigo of its iris’s. Their ears flicked slightly as they stared at him, there was a nervous intensity in those eyes that made them sharp slits “Hello…” Akira said, meeting its eyes and the person tilted their head, fluffy ears flicking dramatically before they cautiously nodded their head and said “He-lo?” “Uh close enough…” Akira said smiling, “I’ll teach you some English.” He said and the other tilted their head a long smooth furred tail swished behind them and he turned to walk away pointedly not staring at this being, leading the being back to his house.
For the first time in his life his little shack in the desert felt inappropriate and broken, or at least it did till the taller being made an awed noise and their tail was straight out the tip pointing up to the air reminding Akira of when a cat was happy. “This is my house.” He said simply and the being nodded at him “Wait here I’ll get some bandages!” he said gesturing to the sofa and then moved into the small corridor that led to the stairs he simply grabbed a roll of bandages and some medicine to help him clean the wounds. He returned to the room and found the person patting a hand against the sofa tilting their head at it left to right the look on their face made it impossible not to laugh.
And though this startled the being it quickly calmed down and offered him a quizzical glance “Sorry, It’s a sofa.” He pointed at the rough seat and struggled to hold back his grin as it repeated the word over and over until it was perfectly pronounced “You’re picking up English pretty fast.” He stated and the other one smiled back at him then pointed at itself “Krolia.” Akira blinked and then hummed “Akira.” He responded pointing to himself and then pointed back at the other he attempted to repeat its name and failed miserably he was about to apologise when the purple being barked a laugh an amused rumble echoed from its chest and then shook its head “Krolia.”
“Krolia.” it nodded and then said his name, the pronunciation was a tiny bit off but at least it was distinctly his name “Yeah!” he said happily before he finally sat down opposite the being on the sofa setting the bandages on the counter beside him patiently waiting for the being to study the equipment.
Akira reached out a hand and carefully gestured to the being’s arm, it held out her arm the blood was a rich mauve colour and soaked the heather skin there was a thin layer of fur on her arms that matted with the blooded wound he stared at it and worriedly gestured to the fur “How does this not hurt?” he asked aloud and the being shifted and the pulled their arm back and licked the wound.
He tried not to stare as this happened, the realisation hitting him that this being’s tongue was rough like the tongue of a cat allowing for it to properly clean the blooded fur, “Uhhh.” He said softly and the being tilted their head at him then blinked and gestured to the now clean wound and fur as if explaining exactly why they did that “No I got that…” Akira mumbled and then shook his head deciding it was better to just assume this was how the being worked before reaching out to take the arm.
As carefully as he could he bandaged the injury eyes flickering between what he was doing, and the beings face until it yawned, and he realised the full force of the trust it was putting into him, and he relaxed finishing the job quickly and leaving the being with a somewhat neat white bandage that starkly contrasted the dark purple markings that covered the other beings’ arms and face.
“You look like a tiger.” Akira said and when Krolia blinked confused he picked up one of his photo albums he had stuffed down the side of the sofa and flicked through it till he got to a photo of the tiger he had seen whilst in a zoo many months previous, the creature despite its cage had looked fierce still holding the fire and power it would need to survive in the wilds.
Krolia stared down at the beast and seemed to see the same thing that Akira did because it smiled then curiously flicked the page Akira smiled and began reciting the names of each of the creatures which Krolia repeated in a looping mantra. This method was continued over great time by the both of them, Krolia taught him far more than Akira found himself able to teach. He learnt that Krolia was female, a rarity in her species, and belonged to a group called the Galra though he would later learn that she was truly from a subsection of this group that followed their traditions and values that she felt the other group had lost. He learnt that her people lived galaxies away. And he learnt that she was a spy for her people into the larger group. That there was a weapon. And she desperately wanted to stop anyone from finding it.
They traded stories. Tales from their childhood and from their cultures. He told her about his stars and stories about his home. “So, the King killed the dog for no reason?” Krolia asked eyes wide ears pricked up and Akira laughed they were sitting in the sand dunes a short distance from their home, Akira couldn’t remember when he started referring to the shack as that but now, he had started it was impossible to stop, “Yes, he soon realised the truth though and out of grief and guilt he blamed himself. He built a statue for the dog to memorialise it.” Krolia hummed “We have wolves.” She said suddenly and Akira smiled “Really?” “Yes. They are not as simple as your wolves and we did not make dogs out of them. Well they are loyal to us like dogs are to your beings. They are as wild as their ancestors where they choose to live alongside us and for that we are as loyal to them as they are to us.”
Krolia looked wistful for a second and Akira smiled “I’d love to see them.” “I would love to show you them…” she returned and then her ears twitched slightly in near embarrassment “Could we?” Akira asked and she tilted her head tail flat out behind her before it shook slightly “I could fix my ship.” She said, “Or I could call for a rescue pod… and we could commandeer it.”
“That would be dangerous.”
“Yes…”
“But it would also be quite fun.” He tried not to grin as she beamed back at him, “Well we can start planning.” She said and stood up dusting the sand off her legs, human clothes suited her even if they were Akira’s old clothes and were a bit too short on her. They looked right; the dark colours of Akira’s clothes that he had leant her to wear blended well with her fur colour.
Happily, he followed after her laughing as she hugged him with his tail “Yeah Galra are cats!” he said, and she stuck out her tongue at the familiar joke Akira smiled and joined into step with Krolia as she lead the way calmly back to the house her indigo and yellow eyes flashed in the sunlight her body warm thanks to the heated rays of sun that soaked over them both as they continued to walk one gracefully the other slipping a tiny bit when the sand moved under foot.
Krolia wouldn’t let Akira fall though. Well not physically at least, Akira wondered quietly how she would react if he told her his feelings, he shoved it aside but then smiled up at the Galra opening the door for her as soon as they got to it, they chattered together as they entered the house and sat down on the sofa Krolia taking the edge furthest from the door draping her tail across her feet patting the spot close to her and smiled “Let's plan this out.”
The planning part was easy, Krolia had rescued a communicator from her ship’s wreckage and thanks to that the first phase of this plan was simple. The hard part was the part Krolia absolutely refused to budge on. “I am not claiming you are a prisoner! They will take you to the arena! Or worse.” She snapped and Akira sighed “Krolia it's not that big of a deal! I mean let’s be honest if that happens, we can fight our way out!”
The Galra turned to stare at him, her tail reaching out to curl around his leg but stopped before they touched, “Akira you must understand. The arena is vile, and, in that situation, they would take us both to a Galran central ship, or a colonised planet. We would be surrounded by threats. I would not be able to contact my kin. We would die if we tried to fight, and I will not submit you to the Galra.” Her eyes were sharp and left no room for argument but then he shook his head “Krolia come on! We don’t know any other method! I don’t even have to come along! You could just go yourself! It would be fine.”
He felt so much pain as he said that, and he felt so guilty about it, “I can’t do that.” Krolia snapped her tail lashed angrily and Akira flinched, he didn’t see the guilt in her face as her eyes softened and this time her tail that had been hovering near his leg twined around it finally. She grabbed his hand carefully, her claws brushing against his skin, “Krolia?”
“You are a foolish being if you think I would leave here without you. If you thought, I could even do that.” Her eyes shimmered and Akira was in awe at her presence, Krolia had a presence. It was warm and surrounding a perfect mirror of the sensation of basking in sunlight, she was always warm and comforting. “I want to show you the stars, I want to show you my home and where I have lived, I want you to know how I feel.” Akira was frozen, unsure of how to react “I want to know.” He said finally and Krolia smiled softly “I think the correct thing I need to say in your language is that I love you.” “You're sure?” Akira asked the words the first thing he found himself capable of blurting out and Krolia smiled brightly, her grip tightening slightly as Akira held hers back “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Good, Because I feel the same.” Akira said and Krolia smiled brighter, shifting to touch her head to his shoulder “Are you hugging me?” he asked, and he felt her shoulders shake with a chuckle “Can I hug you properly?” she asked, and he smiled “Absolutely.” She leant deeper against wrapping her arms around his back holding him close, and he did the same happily “Do you want to take it slow?” “Might be for the best, too fast and my brother may murder you.” Akira laughed and buried his face in her shoulder muffling the sound “Your brother sounds terrifying.” “He’s traditional.” “So are you!”
They were both laughing now, and Akira pulled back, “It looks like we might have to change our plan.” He said slowly and she laughed “Yeah there’s no chance I’m letting us use that plan.” She narrowed her eyes and he laughed “I might know someone who can help.” He said and regrettably left the hug grabbing his phone. “Hey Sam. I think you owe me a favour.”
The new plan should have been much simpler, Okay no it was distinctly more complicated and revolved a lot of lies and old favours that Akira was finally finding a reason to call for them, “Are you ready?” Akira asked slowly and Krolia hummed “As I’ll ever be,” she grabbed his hand and smiled at him “The stars are calling.” She said softly and Akira smiled “Are you going to show me your stars?” “I’m going to show you the stars and their moons.” Krolia said, eyes glittering with delight.
They approached the ship, Sam had got it for them, staged a sort of destruction of it using the remains of an older model modified to look like a newer one. “Your friend is talented.” Krolia stated walking around the ship “I know.” Akira responded, trying not to sound so proud considering this wasn’t his accomplishment but his best friends “Let's get going then.” He said opening the shuttle, he wasn’t oblivious he saw the letter placed in the passenger seat in his name “Asshole.” He whispered quietly smiling. His friend knew he wasn’t going to be alone on this trip.
They had stocked up the ship with food, Colleen had clearly cooked a lot of the tubbed meals and Akira felt a pang of guilt that he wasn’t going to say a proper goodbye. “Sorry pall.” He whispered slightly taking his seat and opening the letter, he grazed over it and then smiled, as he saw the photos printed out from their time together, Colleen looking wonderful in her dress, Sam graduating at the Garrison, Akira becoming a fully fledged fire fighter, photos from their parties one a photo of Akira carrying Sam over his shoulders as the man drunkenly sang.
“Are you sure you want to leave now? Without saying goodbye?” Krolia asked, tilting her head as she stared at him, her eyes soft and gentle as they always were when they looked at each other, Akira smiled back at her “I’m sure. I get the feeling we will see each other again at some point.” Krolia hummed softly kissing Akira’s cheek before she slipped into her seat. They sat together in silence for a while and Akira noticed Krolia mumbling something under her breath and though he wasn’t sure of the exact wording he recognised a few words that referred to family and recognised the name of a few of the stars he had heard Krolia talk about.
“We don’t ask for luck.” Krolia said, suddenly grabbing the gears and flipping some switches turning the ship on “We ask merely for the fates to be kind.” She glanced at him “Hold on tight.” She scolded and he laughed “On it!” They took off into the sky and then into space Akira laughed and whooped as they shot past planets and stars Krolia was staring at him and smiling her ears pricked up as she watched him before turning the ship to swirl around an asteroid.
“I meant what I said earlier.” Akira said aloud and Krolia hummed curiously “I think I’m going to see Sam and Colleen again. I don’t know how. But we will.”