For the Better

By MedliSage

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Day after day, all I did was dig.

Day after day.

Week after week.

Month after month.

Year after year...

Just digging.

Since coming to the surface, my life has changed dramatically. In addition to my new friends and enemies and the living environment, the loss of Bro has affected not only me but all of us greatly.

Everything's changed so much.

That's what I was thinking, anyway, when I heard a knock at my door.

“Hm? Come in.”

“Hi, Simon!”

“Oh, hi, Nia,” I replied back to her.

The door slid shut behind her, the light from the hall disappearing, leaving our only source of visibility the lamp I had in my room (which I always kept on dim).

“What's up?” I asked her, fumbling with my thumbs nervously and looking down. I hadn't known Nia all that long and I still hadn't been talking to people too much since we lost Bro two weeks ago.

She tilted her head to one side, looking at me in that adorably curious way. “Aren't you lonely?”

“Hm?”

“Well, you've stayed cooped up in here most of the day. I thought you'd might be lonely so I decided to pay you a visit.”

“Oh.” I paused for a short moment, freezing under her sweet thoughtfulness, almost forgetting how to properly thank her. “Thank you.”

She smiled that warm smile, walking over to my bed cheerily and sitting down right next to me.

We sat in an awkward silence. Maybe it was because of my recent closed-off personality due to the loss of Bro, or maybe it was due to my inexperience with girls. The girls in Giha village never even spoke to me, let alone sit next to me worrying if I was lonely.

“So why did you come to the surface?”

I looked at her, caught off-guard, lost in my own little world. “Huh?”

She stared right at me. “Well why did you come up? You used to live underground, right?”

“Ah, well... it wasn't really a decision, it just sort of – happened. A Ganmen came into our village, and Bro...”

It was still hard to talk about it. Without realized it, I lowered my voice and practically stopped talking.

“Hm? I can't hear you,” she said, scootching closer to me.

I probably blushed.

“Ah, um, well...” I fumbled with the covers on the free side of me, losing track of where I left off. “W-well, a Ganmen crashed into our village. I found this -” I held up the Core Drill – “while digging the day before, along with Lagann, so Bro and I were able to defend the village with Yoko's help, and we just sort of ended up in the surface.”

She nodded at me, not letting go of her gaze. Somehow, though, it didn't creep me out – she had this sort of caring, loving aura to her that kind of prevented it I suppose.

“This 'Bro' must've been an amazing person, huh?”

I looked down at the Core Drill, holding it it in my left hand. “Yeah. He was.”

I could tell even without looking at her she was staring at me. I shut my eyes in thought. After a moment, I felt something warm fumbling around with my hand holding the Core Drill. Instantly I opened my eyes, seeing her pale hand holding the drill, leaning against me to get a good look at it.

I could feel my face heating up. “A-ah, um, Nia –”

“This is really amazing, isn't it?”

“Y-yeah. It is.”

Another round of awkward silence passed as she continued to examine the Core Drill, leaning against me to get a better view.

After what seemed like an eternity she slowly let it go and leaned back. I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

I watched her glance at the clock on my nightstand, and took a look at it myself – it was late.

“I should head to bed, I suppose,” she said as she stood up.

I nodded. “Okay.”

She looked at me with a heart-melting smile. “Good night, Simon!”

I couldn't help but smile back. I was going to say, “Good night, Nia,” but I stopped without saying anything, caught off-guard as leaned down and threw her arms around me in a friendly hug.

For a moment, I wasn't sure what to do, but I managed to return the gesture, enjoying the brief instance of her warm, loving embrace.

Reluctantly I pulled my arms off her and she smiled at me, which I again couldn't help to return.

“Night!” She said, waving.

“Good night, Nia.”

“Feel free to talk to me anytime.”

“Alright.”

She smiled once more, before exiting the room. After a moment, I fell back onto my bed, looking up at the ceiling.

A lot of things sure had changed, but I suppose some change is good.

The end

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A/N: Well that was my second Gurren-Lagann fic... another short, fluffy, SimonxNia oneshot, this time told from Simon's perspective. Again, sorry of my facts are off, I haven't watched the series in a while. xD; Please R&R! :D