Life's Little Triumphs: Sezter Gabbiani
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	Heads.  Tails.  The only thing which determined which side of the coin landed up was the most unpredictable force on Earth: Chance.

	Setzer loved to gamble.  Not for the money; he needed no other possessions than Daryl's airship and the clothes on his back.  Not for fame; he never lived for other people's opinions, not even when his name was known throughout the earth.  No, Setzer gambled for the sheer thrill of it.  The the outcome of the flip of a coin was as unpredictable as life itself.  Setzer always felt like he was in control when he gambled; ironic, indeed, as he was most helpless when the coin, or dice, or whatever he happened to gamble with, made its chaotic trek through the air.

	Daryl, too, had been a gambler, but her chip had been her own life.  She had been in a few brushes with death before the Falcon had crashed, but she never let that faze her enthusiasm.  Once, she even raced Setzer while her arm was still broekn from a previous accident.  Whenever Setzer thought of Daryl, he always remembered the way she was when he last saw her: bold, beautiful, and declaring that she would be known as the woman who flew closest to the stars.

	Daryl wasn't stupid.  She knew the chances she was taking: the dangers of flight, the unreliability of the Falcon, and her own ability to make mistakes.  In fact, she had jokingly named her first flying vehicle "Icarus", for the young boy in legends of yore who had died trying to fly higher than the sun.  She knew that, like Icarus, she could lose everything, but she gambled anyway.

	When they found the wreck of the Falcon--but not Daryl--Setzer automatically assumed that Daryl was dead.  And even if Daryl had survived, she probably would have suffered extensive injuries which would have left her unable to fly again.  That would have been a fate even worse than death; after all, Daryl loved flying more than anything.

	Or did she?


	"Aren't the stars beautiful?" Daryl sighed, leaning on Setzer as he flew.

	Keeping one hand on the wheel, Setzer reached back to hold Daryl's hand.  "They're not as beautiful as you."

	"Flatterer."

	"Really," Setzer pulled Daryl closer.  "You know when you look the cutest?"

	"When?"

	Setzer grinned.  "When you lose to me."

	Daryl whapped him.  "Jerk!"

	Setzer grinned even wider.  "You're cute when you're angry, too."


	When Setzer and Daryl weren't competing with each other, they teased each other and argued to no end.  But there were times like that dark, clear night, when Setzer thought he was the luckiest man in the world to be with a woman like Daryl.  She flaunted all of the traditional ideas of a woman, choosing the sky as the place to pursue her dreams.  No matter what setbacks she encountered, Daryl never gave up; she always came back twice as determined as before.

	And that was when it occured to Setzer that Daryl could be alive.  If she didn't die in the crash, Daryl would surely be alive; she would hang onto life with her every ounce of strength.

	Assuming, of course, that Daryl was still alive.  The chances were about as slim as winning the lottery.  And considering that Setzer had absolutely no idea where Daryl was, those chances seem almost next to impossible.

	But then, Setzer always liked to gamble when the odds were against him.  His job as a goods deliverer for the rebuilding effort was starting to get boring, anyway, as most of the towns had gotten more or less back on their feet.  He was sure that the others would understand.

	Setzer started up the engines of the Falcon; as the blades of the craft began to whirl, he made his way to the wheel.

	The Falcon began to rise into the air.  Setzer felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins, sending his heart into a frenzied beating.  He took in a deep breath and smiled; he hadn't felt this alive in years.

	"Ante up," he whispered to himself, tossing a coin into the air.
---
At this point, you're probably screaming: "Hey! This doesn't wrap things up at all! What about Daryl?"
Well, like I said in the story, there is a possibility that Daryl is still alive.  However, I'm not sure if I should go the WAFFy road and reunite them, or the angsty road and have Setzer never find her (or even worse, finds her, only to see her die--aren't I mean? :).
Therefore, I'm ending Setzer's story here, and leaving the rest up to your imaginations.

Yeah, yeah, I know that there's a Daryl's Tomb in the game, but it was never stated clearly whether or not she was buried there, right? ^_~
(Hey, in Evangelion, Yui had a tombstone, too, but we all know what happened to _her_... ;)
---
-"Dot"
http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/italian/70
http://members.xoom.com/dotchan (mirror)

Writer of Unnecessarily Long Author's Notes and Bad Spamfics. ^^;
Bane of the FFML since 1998. ^_^
Coming soon to your local inbox: Dragon Ball stories 
with -gasp- plot! ^_^


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