Kira's Choice
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.
Summary: What would happen if Kira never trusted the Earth Alliance and when he and Athrun met face to face at Aube what would happen if he wasn't willing to lose his childhood friend again.
"Just like a wolf in sheep's clothing…" The reference that Nicol made was appropriate for the situation, and a good idea… but then, who? Just then a green object flew through the evening sky towards Athrun.
"Birdie." Was heard as a small mechanical bird landed on Athrun's head. Tori Athrun knew that if Tori were here then Kira was here which he had a feeling that was the case since long before they entered Aube.
"What's that?" Yzak already knew what it was he just had to ask.
"It's a mechanical bird." Athrun replied still staring at Tori in shock.
"Tori, Tori where are you come back here." The four of them turned their attention to a boy wearing a mechanics uniform who looked to be about sixteen running around seemingly looking for something.
"I think that bird's his." Athrun didn't here Dearka because he was so focused on the boy beyond the fence, but it didn't matter because he already knew that Tori belonged to the boy.
Kira was looking all over for Tori when he turned and saw Athrun with a group of boys on the other side of the fence. Athrun was looking right at him and was holding Tori.
Kira and Athrun both walked up to the fence and stopped about a foot away from it each. They stared at each other for a few minute before Athrun spoke. "Is this yours?" He already knew the answer but he wasn't about to tell anybody that. He slowly lifted the hand that held Tori and Kira held out his hand to retrieve the small bird.
"Yes." He replied quietly. The two looked at each other for a minute or so more before Athrun started to walk away.
As he watched Athrun get in a car with who he believed to be the three other Gundam pilots. He watched as the one with white hair was getting ready to start the car and before he could put the key in the ignition Kira stepped back about three feet then ran toward the fence. He jumped and did a handspring at the top of the fence and landed flawlessly on the ground outside the fence. "Athrun wait."
The Creuset team was amazed and surprised by the boy who had not only just addressed their team leader by first name, but had made a leap that should be impossible for any natural so it was clear that he was a coordinator but what was a coordinator doing in Aube.
"Ye…yes?" Athrun was confused but got out of the car and walked over to Kira no the less.
Kira smiled at Athrun and took a couple steps forward so he was less than a foot from Athrun. "It's been a while hasn't it Athrun. I missed you during that time."
If the team hadn't looked surprised before they looked surprised now as they heard what Kira was saying and became even more surprised when they heard Athrun's reply.
He smiled at Kira and gave him a friendly hug. "Yes it has been a while and I missed you to Kira."
Kira hugged back and slipped a note that no one could see into Athrun's pocket and whispered in his ear. "Athrun there's a note in your left pocket. Read it after you get about a hundred meters from this gate and make sure to show any team mates you brought with you.
With that Kira separated from Athrun and went to the other side of the gate. As ordered Athrun waited until they were about a hundred meters from the gate before reading the note in his left pocket:
'Athrun I knew that we'd meat face to face during my stay in Aube so I came up with a plan so that we won't have to fight each other anymore. I never trust the Earth Alliance and now that my friends are safely at home here I was going to leave the Archangel as well but in a way their trying to black mail me to make sure that I can't stop piloting the Strike for them no matter how much I don't want to. This only serves to prove that our suspicions of the Earth Alliance making work of my talents have been confirmed. If they lose the Archangel, the Strike, and myself I'll be free of them. I don't hate naturals but I'd much rather be around other coordinators. Ever sense my friends who were from Heliopolis found out I was a coordinator they've treated me different and grown farther and farther away from me. I can't stay here and I don't want to be in the Earth Alliance. There is a blue print of the Archangel on the back of this note, I want you to steal the Archangel and 'kidnap' me. I'll most likely be waiting in the hanger working on the Strike so in order to contact me tune into channel 96.38. The password to most of the locks is FAITH so if all of you memorize this you should be able to get to the Archangel relatively easy. -Ensign Kira Yamato of the Earth Alliance Forces-
Athrun then turned the note over and true to his word Kira had drawn a blue print of the Archangel with every room neatly labeled. Nicol looked over his shoulder and gasped.
"That's the layout of the Archangel."
"Yzak change of plans head toward the maid gate but park us somewhere where we won't be seen." As he said this he passed the blue print of the Archangel around to everyone. He started to think of Kira and smiled at the fact that Kira wanted to go with him and had finally saw through the lies the Earth Alliance had been feeding him. While he was spacing out Nicol turned the note over and gasped.
"The pilot of the Strike wishes to join us and is a coordinator?" Yzak looked up from driving and looked at the others.
"That boy from before was the pilot of the Strike?"
"I'm not sure if he'll join Zaft he probably wants out of the war and yes the boy you saw earlier was indeed the pilot of the Strike." Athrun answered quickly and then went into leader mode. "Nicol use the portable communicator we have and tune it in on channel 96.38."
"Sure thing." After a minute or so they had the communicator ready and Nicol tried to make contact with Kira. "Kira Yamato this is the pilot of GAT X-303 Gundam Blitz please respond. I repeat Kira Yamato please respond." The link was very fuzzy and it was hard to hear what was being said but no the less about a minute later they got a reply.
'Copy that this is Kira Yamato the pilot of GAT X-105 Gundam Strike. Sorry about the bad signal but I chose this channel because it's unlikely for anyone else to tune into it when it has this much static.'
"What's the status of the crew on board the ship?" Athrun hated having to take advantage of his friends' knowledge but right now he needed to.
'I'll check the ship and see if anyone's left. Report back to me with a plan in fifteen minutes and I'll probably have the crews status by then.'
"Understood. Make sure to keep a low profile and don't get caught. Oh and can you send a blue print of Aube as well so we can come in from several different locations at once"
'Sure thing I'll send it through to you through this link hook it up to a computer and I'll send it to you, Kira Yamato over and out.'
Athrun hooked up the communicator to a small laptop he had with him and waited about five minutes before the layout of Aube appeared on the screen.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Yzak had always had a sort of loathing toward the Strike pilot and didn't really want to work along side him but he also felt bad that Kira was being forced into this against his own will.
"Knowing him we can." Was all he said as he worked on a plan in his head. "Ok listen up. Yzak I want you to go in through entrance 96 and head toward the main hatch that leads to the command center, take over, and try to pilot the ship. Dearka I want you to go in through entrance 108 and get to the hanger where you should find the Kira, once you find him get to the command center and help Yzak. Nicol I want you to get to your Gundam and launch, use the stealth mode and search from the sky's for any intruders and once we take off land on the Archangel and spread your stealth mode over the ship. I'll be searching the ship for stragglers and making sure our launch isn't interrupted. Mission will commence at 1625 time now is 1600. Everyone understand their assignments?"
"Yes sir." They then went to work on memorizing the blue prints of the Archangel and Aube along with memorizing the password.
Fifteen minute later everyone was getting ready and Athrun called Kira. "This is Athrun Zala, Kira Yamato please respond."
'The Archangel is 96 empty and the captain is still on board but is preparing to leave. The ship should be 99 empty by the time you enter the ship.'
"Ok here's the plan. Athrun then went over the plan with Kira and by the time he was finished it was only two minutes until the operation was supposed to begin so he gave the go ahead signal. They each completed their assignment relatively easy. When Yzak had entered the command center he found that there was no one there and started to familiarize himself with the controls. Nicol was circling over the Archangel and created an invisible distraction for when ever someone went within ten meters of the ship. Athrun found a few soldiers wandering the halls who were then knocked out and thrown of the ship. Dearka was also able to complete his assignment fairly quickly for when he got to the hanger he saw Kira typing in the Strike and when Kira noticed him he smiled and headed of to the command center with him.
About five minutes after the boys entered the Archangel the four who were on board were ready to launch. Athrun was in the captains' seat and gave the order to launch; Yzak was at the controls setting a course for the Versalius, Kira was at the surveillance monitors to see if anyone besides them were still on the ship, and Dearka hovered over his shoulder.
"Dearka continue to search the ship and see if you can find anyone, if you do put them in the POW cells, Kira keep an eye on those surveillance cameras, and Yzak keep a steady course."
When the Archangel took off the Blitz landed on the ship and turned it invisible. It took them about three hours to reach their destination, when they got there they contacted the ship.
"This is Athrun Zala, Versalius please respond."
'This is the commander of the Versalius Locruse how may I help you.'
"Commander as you can probably see we've successfully taken the Archangel along with the Strike on board."
'Excellent work; tell me how did you accomplish this.'
"We had a little help from the pilot of the Strike."
'He helped you?'
"Yes he did. Apparently there were several close friends on board this ship and now that his friends are safe in Aube the Earth Alliance doesn't want to let him leave so they black mailed him into staying. He came up with this idea and he knows that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to stay in Aube because he's a coordinator so he's on the ship with us."
'Interesting, may I speak with him?'
"Of course, Kira could you speak with the commander for a minute." Kira looked up from the monitors when he heard this and walked up in front of the screen.
"Yes?"
'Tell me Mr. Yamato do you plan on joining Zaft now or do you wish to remain a civilian?'
Kira was silent for a few minutes and then turned to Locruse. "To be honest I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I could continue to pilot the Strike but I just hate fighting and I could go back to being a civilian but now that I've been a part of this war I don't think I could live a normal life."
'That is troubling, you could join Zaft and do things like working on computer systems and help design and build Gundams.'
"I doubt I'd be able to do that. It's kind of strange but I've grown attached to the Strike, it was kind of the only thing I could depend on while in the Earth Alliance." After he said this a small mechanical bird flew in the room and landed on Kiras' shoulder. "Besides Tori that is."
'Then what are you going to do?'
Before Kira could give his answer Athrun stepped in. "Commander the Creuset team is short one member and now that we have the fifth and final Gundam I believe that Kira would be a good choice to fill that spot." Both Kira and Locruse smiled at Athrun.
'I think that's an excellent idea but it's up to Mr. Yamato to decide what he is going to do. Although I would very much like to have him on our team and help us end this stupid war once and for all.'
Kira seemed to be in thought then looked at Athrun and smiled. "There's nothing to decide, I'm staying with Athrun." When he said this he a smile from Locruse.
'Very well, when you get to the Versalius I would like for Nicol, Athrun, Yzak, and Dearka to come and meat me in the command center while you transfer the Strike from the Archangel to the Versalius and then wait in the lounge for Athrun to come and get you.'
About an hour later Kira was waiting patiently in the lounge for Athrun when a mechanic came in the room.
"Hey kid did you put that damned lock on the Strike?"
"Oh yeah sorry about that. I forgot to remove it earlier." As Kira was walking toward the door Athrun came in.
"Hey where are you going?"
"I forgot to remove a lock I set on the Strike a while ago so I was just going to go deactivate it. It should only take about five minutes. About ten minutes later Kira and Athrun were standing outside the door to the command center.
"Kira before you go in tell me are you sure about this?"
"Not really but I'd be willing to go to the ends of the Galaxy to just so I could remain your friend." The two each took a deep breath and then entered the room. When they entered all eyes were on them, which made both of them feel uneasy.
"What took you to so long?" It was apparent that Yzak hated having to wait on the two and was very agitated.
"I had sort of forgot to remove a lock I put on the Strike months ago so I just gave the mechanics a little help by removing it." Kira said this putting his hand behind his head.
"Mr. Yamato I need to know are you serious about joining us and before you answer think if you choose yes then there is no looking back and if you choose no I'll have to escort you to the nearest Zaft settlement." Locruse looked at Kira hard as he said this waiting for his final answer.
"I've already made up my mind and I'm not going to change it. I'm staying here with Athrun, I'm not going to lose him again because of this war."
"Then you'll need this." Nicol said this as he handed Kira a red elite Zaft uniform. Kira put it on and looked at himself in a mirror. He looked pretty good in the uniform and not only that but wearing it just felt right to him.
THE END
(Well what do you think? I got the idea from Precognition74's story Incognito not anymore. I want to write a story where Mu La Flaga fails in saving Kira in space and Kira's captured by Zaft but it'll be a couple days before I do. I may write a sequel to this story but I'm not sure so please review.)