This is a one-shot on what if Kira was more injured than he was after the battle with the Aegis. Despite that, he still goes and saves the Archangel at Alaska, straining his injuries and making them worse. What will happen next?
This is an idea that has plagued me for… 3 nights. I just had to get it out! This is AU and I changed some stuff. P
"…" speech
'….' Thoughts
A.N: I have no clue exactly how long it would take to go from the PLANTs to Earth, so I'm making it up. P Tell me if I got it wrong and I'll change it. And this fic has no yaoi. It's pure friendship fluff!
I do not own Gundam Seed.
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Kira winced as the pressure from entering Earth's atmosphere bore down on his injuries. He knew he shouldn't be moving, he still had half-healed broken ribs and he could feel the stitches on his chest wound breaking. He didn't care, he just kept on going. He had a feeling that the Archangel needed him right now, and he wasn't about to fail her now. Especially since he knew Operation Split break was at Alaska, where the Archangel was residing.
'Hang on, guys, I'm coming,' he thought as he plunged down towards the Alaska base.
From where he was, he could already see the devastation, and he was only at the Alaska's coast. Everything was on fire, and he could see the bloody corpses of soldiers. 'Already?' Kira was surprised that the famous Alaska base couldn't hold the ZAFT attack for a day. 'Oh right, they probably send most their fighting troops to Panama. Dammit, it could take days for the troops to come back.'
He boosted the Freedom's thrusters and flew quicker towards the main gate. 'If the main troop is over at Panama, the remaining forces in Alaska won't be able to hold on. If that's true… the Archangel would be destroyed. I've got to get there quicker.'
Freedom's beeping caught Kira's attention. He spotted two GINNs speeding towards him. He quickly disabled them with Freedom's beam saber. He ignored the pilots' confusion and awe and continued on his way.
Kira's eyes widened when he saw the Archangel being destroyed. "Dammit!" Kira cursed and quickly took out Freedom's beam rifle when a GINN managed to get in front of the bridge.
Kira shot the GINN's beam rifle before it could destroy the Archangel completely. He winced as his movements completely opened his stitches in his chest and on his back.
He ignored it for the moment and placed himself in front of the Archangel's bridge. He spoke calmly, "This is Kira Yamato, is everyone alright? I repeat this is Kira Yamato. Please retreat to safety."
He heard gasps of surprise and joy. Finally the captain's voice reached out to him. "Kira?"
"Why are you still here?" Kira urged. "Retreat to safety! You guys won't last long out here anymore!" He activated his seed and started disabling the ZAFT mobile suits while dodging all their attacks.
"We can't," Murrue said sadly. "There's a Cyclops bomb underneath headquarters. We're just here to bait the ZAFT soldiers into the base and then the superiors will activate it and destroy everybody within 10 kilometers!"
'What!' Kira was nearly hit by a beam rifle, but his instincts got him away just in time. He opened up all communication with all the ships in the area. "Attention all ZAFT and Earth Alliance! Retreat from this area at once! There's currently a Cyclops bomb underneath the headquarters! Retreat to safety away from here!"
Kira could tell his words affected people as most ships began to turn around hesitantly. But to his disappointment, most mobile suits ignored him. He was about to repeat himself when a beeping notified him of a mobile suit behind him. He turned just in time to dodge the Duel's missiles.
"You think I'm going to fall for that?" the pilot's voice sneered.
'The Duel!' Kira's thoughts were immediately at the little girl and how she was killed along with other civilians because of the Duel. "What are you doing here? I told you to retreat already!" He flipped back to dodge the Duel's beam saber and took out the Freedom's. He cut off the Duel's bottom torso, just under the cockpit.
The Duel fell, and a CGUE appeared and carried it away. A rumbling caught Kira's attention. 'Dammit! It's activating!'
The Archangel lurched and flew out of the area at top speed. The Freedom caught a disabled GuAIZ before it was sucked into the explosion.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Kira laid sideways on his bed, careful to avoid touching his slowly closing wounds on his back and chest. It had been a few hours since he had met up with his friends again. It had been exactly 2 hours since his meeting with Sai.
The Archangel crew had nearly found out about his injuries when he accidentally tripped on his way of walking towards them, but he had covered it up quickly. 'If they ever knew, they would never let me fight until they completely heal.'
So, Kira decided to hide it from them as long as he could. He knew his wounds weren't life-threatening ones, but could become one if he wasn't careful. He had wrapped his chest and back wound tightly again, making sure his ribs were in place.
They were heading towards Orb, deciding to defect from the Earth Alliance. Kira knew that they were making the right decision. Earth Alliance had betrayed them, and nearly got them killed, it only made sense that they defect from it.
The captain said it will only take about 4 days to get to Orb, so Kira had a lot of time on his hands. In those four days, Kira checked up on the Freedom, and figured out all the weapons and machinery. He also went ahead and looked at the prisoner. Dearka Elthman, the pilot of the Buster.
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(Skipping ahead to after Orb's decision to not accept the offer of joining the Earth Alliance)
"All hands to level one battle stations!" Captain Ramius' voice boomed over the intercom. "All hands to level one battle stations!"
Kira jerked from his position on his bed, crying out when he fell down and hit his injured ribs. 'Dammit, my ribs are still broken. Guess the Earth Alliance had been spotted and is ready to attack.'
He rushed towards the launching deck, clad in his flight suit. His legs were numb, as he remembered having a large cut on his left leg and a twisted right ankle from the battle with Aegis. 'I'll worry about them later,' he thought. 'I hope I can survive this battle.'
He got into the Freedom and Miriallia's face appeared. "All ready to launch…" the girl said and frowned when she saw his pale face. "Kira? Are you alright? You look really pale."
"I-I'm fine," Kira gasped out. His ribs were jarring around and his chest was burning like crazy. 'I have to survive this one. I can't allow the Earth Alliance to take over Orb.'
"Are you sure?"
"Everybody is needed for the battle," Kira reassured. "I won't allow Orb to be taken over. Everybody's family is on there… including mine."
"Kira…" Miriallia sighed. "Alright, but be extra careful out there. You have remaining wounds from the battle with Aegis?"
"…Yes," Kira said. "Don't worry, they're not too bad."
"If you say so," Miriallia said doubtfully. "You promise me that you will go and have them checked in the medical bay after?"
"I promise," Kira said. "I'm all ready to go."
"All right then, systems green." Miriallia said worry etched on her face. "Be careful."
"I will. Kira Yamato, Freedom, launching!" The Freedom shot away, and Kira swerved away from a coming missiles. His eyes narrowed as he saw three new mobile suits. One was blue, yellow and red. Another was green, red, white and grey. The last one was black and red.
He attacked them head on, activating his seed. First he shot the green one with his beam rifle, and was surprised when it seemed to bounce off the shield. 'It can control any beam weapon!' He noted.
He barely dodged an incoming mace-like weapon, and the green machine barely dodged it as well. Kira was surprised. 'They don't care if they hit each other!'
He turned around and activated all his beam weapons and shot them at various mobile suits. He flew up and continued to shoot, disabling and destroying any mobile suit coming to close to the Orb main base or the Archangel.
The Freedom shook as it took a hit at the arms. Kira cursed for his inattentiveness. His ribs seared in pain, and he cried out as all his cuts reopened themselves. 'Dammit this isn't a good time.' He could feel the blood dripping down and soaking his bandages.
The black machine took this opportunity to sneak up on the Archangel. He raised his mace like weapon and was about to strike when –
"Oh no you don't!" A familiar voice cried out and a yellow beam blasted towards the machine. It dodged, and the Buster appeared and continued to fight it. "Yo, Kira. You fight the other two machines; I'll take care of this one."
"Thanks Dearka," Kira's voice shook. He gulped and held the pain at bay. 'There are more things to worry about right now.'
The pilots of the machines doesn't seem like they were Naturals. They fought as well as a Coordinator, which was impossible, considering that the supposed leader of this fight was Murata Azrael, the leader of Blue Cosmos. Kira was having trouble with the two machines he was fighting. Especially the green one since he couldn't lay a scratch on it.
The Freedom was taking a beating, and Kira could feel a haziness creeping into his vision. He shook it away. He was determined to last the fight and ignore the pain as long as possible. However, things weren't looking up, as Kira could feel the energy leaving him.
Kira thought he was going to die, especially when he tried to attack the green machine with his beam saber, and he missed. Then the blue one came behind him and shot his beam rifle at him. He knew he couldn't dodge it when it came towards him. But to his surprise, a red Gundam appeared in front of him and blocked it with its shield. And he was even more surprised when he heard the voice of the pilot.
"This is Athrun Zala of the special forces," the familiar voice spoke up.
"Athrun?" Kira's voice trembled, and he fought to make his voice steady, and he dodged a plasma beam attack from the green machine. "What are you doing here? Has ZAFT decided to stick their nose into this fight?"
"No, I'm here to take back that machine of yours, the Freedom," Athrun replied in a calm manner, but inside, he was jumping for joy. He was so relieved when he heard his friend's voice.
"You'll have to kill me to get it back," Kira shot back. Once again pain seared through his chest. He had a suspicion that he had a punctured lung.
"However, I have no intention of following that order," Athrun said. Kira's eyes widened.
"Are you here to help then?" he asked.
"Until I get some answers, yes."
With that the two reunited friends fought, and Athrun took note that Kira's attacks were getting sloppier, and it seemed that Kira was taking more hits than a Coordinator should.
"Kira?" Athrun was concerned. "Are you okay?"
"J-just fine," Kira responded, more weakly than he wanted it to be. Athrun was about to respond, when the three new mobile suits stayed still for a moment before retreating.
"They're retreating… good," Athrun said relieved. He landed the Justice on a sandy plain. The Freedom followed suit. "Kira… are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah…" Kira's voice had sounded weak and in pain to Athrun. And even after what happened to the both of them, he was concerned.
"You're wounded," Athrun noted. "I'm guessing from our battle then?" His voice was full of guilt now. He even felt guiltier when he got no response, and certainly more concerned. "Kira!" He pressed a button and Kira's face appeared on a screen in the top left corner. His eyes widened at the sight of his best friend.
Kira was panting heavily and his arm half clutched his left side of his chest. Kira's temple had a deep and large cut and it was bleeding profusely. His face was deathly pale and it had sweat pouring down it. His breaths became small gasps and it looked as if he would faint at any moment.
Athrun frowned. It should take more to make Kira feel this much pain. There should be more injuries inside his pilot suit. "Kira, can you come out?"
A weak nod was all Kira could do. Athrun quickly left the Justice's cockpit and was impatient as he was led down by the rope. He noticed that the Archangel group had gathered around, and was curious about who the pilot of the Justice was and why he would help Orb.
When Athrun touched the ground, he completely ignored the group that was standing there and quickly ran towards the Freedom. Kira was already halfway down when he hit the ground. By the time Athrun reached him, Kira was standing unsteadily, holding his helmet in one arm.
"Kira!" A female's voice broke out from the crowd. Kira's dazed eyes found hers, and Cagalli noticed the blood flowing down. "Kira? What the hell happened to you?"
Kira suddenly lurched forward and collapsed, but Athrun caught him in his arms. "Kira!" Athrun turned his friend over panicking. "Answer me! Kira!"
The only response Athrun got was violent coughing from Kira. Kira turned over and leaned on his arm, coughing. When he was done, he groaned in pain and fainted. Athrun caught him again and stared at the spot where Kira was coughing at. Blood was splattered everywhere. Panicking he looked at Kira's face, blood was dripping from his best friend's mouth. He laid Kira down and checked his pulse. Athrun's eyes opened wide in panic and he turned towards the crowd of people that were running towards him.
"His pulse is decreasing!" He cried out to them. The group halted, surprised. Athrun carried Kira in his arms. He ran towards them, screaming with panic. "Which is closer? The Orb hospital or the Archangel?"
"Archangel…" the captain took a quick look at Kira. "It's straight ahead!"
Athrun nodded his thanks before sprinting towards the ship. 'Please Kira, don't die on me. I just found out you were alive, don't die…'
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Athrun looked at Kira through the doorway of the medical bay. His friend was unconscious on the bed, with a breather mask covering his nose and mouth. He was hooked up to several machines. Kira's chest was rising steadily, and Athrun was deeply relieved for that.
The doctors had to start up Kira's heart again, because it had stopped. In that moment, Athrun was so panicked he had nearly kicked the doctors away when the heart monitor beeped, signaling the heart stoppage. Dearka came in just in time to restrain him.
(Flashback)
The doctors swerved around, getting bandages and needles. They had already connected Kira to the heart monitor, and it was signaling that his heart was slowing down. A doctor was applying CPR, but it doesn't seem like it was working too well.
Athrun stood at the doorway nervously. He had been shoved away by a doctor when they had seen the situation. 'Kira …' Athrun couldn't suppress his tears. 'Come on don't give up on me now…'
The heart monitor let out a long beep, and Athrun's eyes snapped towards it. 'No…' Athrun's eyes widened at the straight line. 'Nonono this can't be happening…'
The doctors moved quickly, taking the electric pads. The doctor holding it gave the instructions. The first shock… nothing. The second one… nothing.
Athrun's mind was thrown into chaos. He was about to run and do it himself when the medical bay door behind him snapped open.
"What the?" Dearka's voice came up. "Athrun!" The blonde boy held back the charging teen. "Stop it Athrun!"
"Give me a 300 the first time!" the doctor ordered. Kira's chest bumped up, but the heart gave no sign of pumping. "300 the second time."
"Let me go!" Athrun cried out. "Dammit Dearka! Let me go!" His instincts told him to go to his friend's side. "He can't die… damn it! He can't die!"
"Calm down Athrun! This won't help him at all!" Dearka pulled Athrun out of the room, which was hard since Athrun was kicking, punching, doing everything to get to his friend's side. "Let the doctors handle this!"
"360, first time!" Before Athrun left the room, he saw the heart monitor start up again. He felt relief wash over his body and left the room with Dearka.
The blonde boy led Athrun to his room. Dearka sat on his bed and Athrun sat on the other. "Care to elaborate?"
"Kira… is my best friend," Athrun said unsteadily. "He's the pilot of the Strike."
"Yeah, I know," Dearka said. "He visited me when I was held captive here. He seemed really nice and it surprised me it was him that gave Yzak his scar."
"Yeah, he is really nice…" Athrun trailed off. "Then you know I was the one who nearly killed him…"
"I heard around it was the Aegis who self-destructed and blew up the Strike with it," Dearka nodded. "And now, I'm surprised."
"Because you didn't think I would do such a thing to my best friend," Athrun whispered. "When I… woke up afterwards, I was in an Orb ship. And in it was Cagalli Yula Attha. She apparently was Kira's friend. When she found out, she knocked me to my senses. I really was sad, when I heard he didn't survive."
"But he did," Dearka pointed out. Athrun nodded.
"He did… but hardly," he laid down on the bed. "You saw him just now, he nearly died… again. His heart stopped, Dearka, I thought he was going to die and I was so afraid. I didn't mean to do that to him… I didn't mean to blow up the Aegis. But I was on a revenge rampage. I wanted to kill him before he hurt anybody else that I cared for."
Dearka said nothing, he just let Athrun talk. Maybe it'll make him feel better.
"But just now, when I saw him fainting and coughing and all, all revengeful thoughts left my head, and now, I don't know why I even wanted revenge and all. I know it was for Nicol, but I should've known that if Nicol knew Kira was my best friend, he wouldn't want me to kill him. And Kira… I've known him for so long; we had the best times together when we were kids. I laughed so much when I was young, and it was because Kira was always there to cheer me up, to make me laugh. How could I even think to kill such a dear friend? What kind of person am I? Am I so bloodthirsty that I would do this?"
"Athrun…" Dearka was shocked. "You were overcome with grief at the time. Everybody's mind doesn't work well when you're in grief. I know because I was confused why Nicol died, and Yzak too, even if he didn't show it. We were all sad that he had to die. We all wanted revenge. But it was you especially because you were the closest to him."
Athrun was silent for a moment, letting Dearka's words sink in. He got up suddenly. "Thanks Dearka, for the advice and letting me talk."
"No problem," Dearka said. He laughed. "Funny, isn't it? It's the first time we ever had a decent conversation. But hey, no problem. I mean, I would act like you if Yzak was ever hurt like that."
"Yeah…" Athrun half-smiled. "I'm going to the cafeteria, and then to Kira's room. I'll see you around."
"Yeah," Dearka replied. Athrun got up and went out the door, feeling better and more relaxed.
(End flashback)
"Uh… excuse me," a feminine voice interrupted Athrun's thoughts. He turned around and saw Kira's friends.
"Oh, sorry," Athrun took a step away, letting him into the medical bay. He saw the blonde boy smile slightly at him.
"Thanks for bringing him here," he said. "It looks like you two know each other. By the way, I'm Sai Argyle. This is Miriallia Haww and Kuzzey Buskirk."
Athrun smiled tightly. "I'm Athrun Zala."
"How do you know Kira?" Miriallia asked. Athrun froze.
"He's my best friend, since childhood," he replied.
"You-you're the pilot of the Aegis right?" Sai said tersely. Athrun's eyes widened. "Kuzzey once mentioned that he overheard Kira and Lacus talking about how the pilot of the Aegis was Kira's best friend." Immediately, Miriallia froze up and looked at the ground.
"I am…" Athrun said quietly. "I'm the pilot of the Aegis."
"You're the one who did this to him then," Kuzzey suddenly spoke up angrily. "What kind of best friend are you?"
"A guilty one," Athrun replied after a while. "One that's sorry, one that regrets everything he's done, including leaving him behind at the moon."
Sai spoke up, his voice surprisingly calm. "You regret it? If you do, then I have no problem of forgiving you."
Athrun was surprised. "What?"
"Because I regret a lot of stuff I did," Sai said. "Including the time that I got angry at Kira, and jealous. We never spoke to each other after that, and then he suddenly disappeared, supposedly dead, thinking that I hated him. I never got to say sorry, or anything."
"I regret it," Athrun confirmed. He turned towards the other two. "I suppose you two disagree."
Kuzzey shook his head angrily, but defeated as well. "I don't hate you… more like I'm surprised and a bit angry at you. You were the one that nearly took Kira away from us… twice, considering the fact that he nearly died again. But you were still the one that took Tolle away from us."
Miriallia sucked in a huge breath, and her breaths came in short. She stood up from her chair beside Kira's bed. "S-sorry," she muttered. "I have to go… tell me when he wakes up." She ran from the room and Athrun could see the tears in her eyes.
"Tolle was Miriallia's boyfriend," Sai explained. "He was the one in the Skygrasper… a fighter plane."
"Oh…" Athrun remembered how Kira had screamed for Tolle to go back. "I-I'm sorry."
The room was silent, and then Sai spoke up. "You know, it's alright if you want to sit here." He motioned towards the empty seat.
"No, it's alright. I'm going to the cafeteria for a moment anyways," Athrun said. "Thanks for forgiving me…"
Sai gave him a small smile. "I knew you couldn't be bad, the way you were so panicked when Kira fainted and all."
Athrun went through the door and bumped into a running Cagalli. "I'm sorry… Cagalli?"
Cagalli totally ignored his apology and bombarded him with questions. "Is Kira alright? Is he awake? What did you do to him? He better not be hurt! He's alive right? He isn't dead? Come on you! Answer my questions!"
"He's stabilized, don't worry," Sai spoke up. "But he hasn't wakened up yet."
Cagalli rushed and sat down on the empty chair. "Did he tell any of you about his injuries?"
"No." Sai looked worried. "I think it's because he knew we wouldn't let him fight unless he was perfectly healthy."
"Damn him and his good intentions!" Cagalli cursed. "Fighting with broken ribs! What kind of-"
"Cagalli," Athrun said. "If it weren't for him, Orb would've been lost."
"And the Archangel wouldn't be here anymore," Kuzzey added. He turned to Athrun. "Weren't you going to the cafeteria?"
"Kuzzey!" Sai warned.
"It's okay," Athrun said with a small smile. "I'm going…" He went out to the cafeteria.
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Kira groaned as the darkness of unconsciousness left him to the hands of pain of consciousness. He tried opening his eyes, but his eyelids were so heavy.
"Kira?" A feminine voice called out. 'Miriallia.' He recognized the voice. He struggled once more and successfully opened his eyes.
"Kira!" Sai's head popped into his range of vision. "You're awake!"
Kira closed his eyes at the sudden bright light. He opened his mouth but was hushed by Sai.
"You have a punctured lung," Sai said. "So it's better that you don't talk."
"H-how…" Kira ignored his warning. Sai sighed at that.
"You were here for a day. Athrun brought you here and you had to be revived," Sai's eyes flashed with fear for a moment. "Your heart stopped."
"A-Athrun…?" Kira rasped, wincing when his chest burned with pain. He turned his head slightly. Athrun wasn't here… 'Why would he? I killed his friend, I don't deserve forgiveness. I bet he hates me…' Kira thought with pain. He closed his eyes in tiredness.
"He's still here, on the Archangel, I mean," Kuzzey said. "Do you want him to come?"
Kira opened his eyes again, and stared at him. "N-no…" 'He wouldn't want to see me anyways.'
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Athrun stared up at the ceiling from his bed, contemplating on whether he should go and visit Kira. 'What if I go back and his friends are there? It was awkward last time…' He suddenly chided himself. 'I worry more about the awkwardness than I do about Kira waking up! I'm such a fool!'
He got up immediately and walked towards the medical bay. 'What kind of friend am I, really?' He stepped in front of the door, opening it and walked in. Kira's three friends have turned towards him when they heard the door open.
"Oh, hey," Sai greeted him. "Kira's awake."
Athrun's eyes opened wide when he saw Kira's violet eyes staring back at him. "Kira!" He was by Kira's side in a flash.
"We'll leave you two to talk…" Sai said. Athrun nodded numbly at him. Athrun sat in a chair and hugged Kira, minding not to touch Kira's many injuries.
"Kira… you had me so worried," Athrun whispered in Kira's ear. "I thought you died! And you nearly died again."
"A-Athrun…" Kira's voice was breathy and weak. His eyes filled with tears. "I-I thought you wouldn't want to see me…"
Athrun's eyes widened, shocked. "Why wouldn't I? Do you know how worried I've been? I thought I killed you!" Athrun hugged Kira closer, tears streaming down his face again. "I was so relieved when Lacus told me you were alive. I was so relieved… I'm so sorry."
Kira's eyes widened. "N-no, I'm sorry. For killing your friend. You said you hated me…"
"Kira…" Athrun let go of Kira and looked at him straight in the eye. "I don't hate you; I don't think I can ever hate you. Please don't think that. I wasn't thinking correctly when I said it. I should be sorry. It's my fault that you're this injured in the first place. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten this hurt and nearly died the second time… I'm sorry."
Kira winced, but turned and hugged him anyways, ignoring the burning pain. "No… if you didn't blow up the Aegis, I would've killed you. I would rather you hurt me than me killing you."
Athrun cried and held Kira closer. "Don't ever do that again, you hear me? Don't ever go out fighting when you're still injured. Please…"
"A-Athrun…"
"I was so scared that you were going to die. I nearly went insane when I saw the heart monitor stop," Athrun muttered. "I was so scared, so please, don't ever do that again."
"I-I won't…" Kira breathed. "I promise…" The two friends remained in that position, hugging each other, until Kira couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep. Athrun laid him back onto the bed and covered him in a blanket.
"Remember your promise," he whispered. "Don't ever do that again."
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End of the one-shot.
Sorry if the characters were OOC. I'm pretty sure Athrun is sweatdrops hehe.
As you have noticed, I suck at writing battle scenes, so I'm terribly sorry if it wasn't exciting. And I'm pretty sure that I've got some facts wrong.
Hope you enjoyed it, despite all my errors P
Review please!