The new and improved version of chapter. Thanks to Meyrin-x-ZAFTgirl for being my beta!
Disclaimer: I wish I may, I wish might, Wish upon the first star I see tonight..... Dang it, it's raining. How am I to see any stars upon which I will wish that I own Gundam Seed? (T_T) Without a star to wish a upon I guess I will never own Gundam Seed..... But I do own Nira, Melissa, and all other OCs in this story as well as the plot(^_^)
It is the dawn of the Cosmic Era. Coordinators have started to populate the Earth and Blue Cosmos is being formed. Naturals who loved the idea of Coordinators now resented them and even rejected their own children. Eventually, there was only one place left on Earth for the Coordinators to go to, a small island in the South Pacific. As tensions run high, a young 16 year old Natural finds herself an outcast among her people, and she, like the Coordinators, have only one place left to them, a place aptly called, 'Refuge Island'.
'Refuge Island' was just as it sounded, a refuge for all Coordinators. It was practically impossible to get to. There was a small, volunteer-driven military airport; but before anyone was allowed off a commercial flight, they were tested to determine their Coordinator status. Coordinators would have no problem with this; it would be the Natural spies that had a problem. Naturals were immediately sent back to the "outside world". The only other way in was by boat; but because of shallow areas and coral reefs, one would have to use a small row boat. This how our young Natural protagonist got to the island.
"Melissa! Hey, Melissa! Wake up!" a familiar voice yelled.
Melissa stirred from her deep sleep. She opened her eyes and stared blankly at the face of her room mate.
"Just because you're at the top of the class, doesn't mean you can just sleep in whenever you want, and miss everything!" The room mate in question whipped the blankets off of Melissa, grabbed her wrists and forced her to sit up. "Now get up!"
"Okay, Okay. I'm up. Can you let go of me now Nira?" Melissa asked, still half asleep, and trying to pull her wrists free. She wanted to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
Nira let go and tossed Melissa's uniform onto her lap. Melissa sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Her red, wavy, mid-back length hair stook at weird angles. Her nightdress hung off one shoulder revealing the creamy white of the skin underneath. With her blue eyes still slightly fogged and unfocused because of drowsiness, she stared at the red bunch a fabric that was lying on her lap then up at her friend who was dressed in olive green.
"Hurry up. Today's the last day before we graduate and become official soldiers," she reminded Melissa.
Nira was from born in Japan but was raised in the Philippines. She had shoulder length dark brown hair, nicely tanned skin and dark brown eyes. She was a nice person but a neat freak. If something was even a millimetre out of place she would get mad. This wasn't a bad quality to have though when training to an engineer and mechanic in the Military.
"Yes, I know. And don't you mean volunteer soldier?" Melissa corrected, slipping out of her pyjamas and into her uniform. She could smell the eggs and hash browns that Nira had cooked for breakfast.
Melissa got into the driver's seat of the car and started the engine. The drive to the Military Academy was blissfully quiet for the first few minutes.
"Melissa, What's it like… being a Red?" Nira asked looking outside at the passing scenery, not really seeing it.
They were driving on the Coastal Highway, with the blue-green ocean and sandy beaches to the right of them and cliffs with houses and high-rises on top to the left. Refuge Island was a lot like Orb, the neutral nation, seeing as how both Islands had been created through volcanic activity. But unlike Orb Refuge Island couldn't use the geothermal energy from the volcano because the volcano has been extinct for at least three centuries.
"Probably the same as being a Green. I've only being given a Red Coat because of my ideas and designs, nothing more." Melissa replied focusing on driving. They lapsed into silence once again.
"On the news this morning… the first second generation Coordinator was born last night," Nira said after a few minutes, an attempt to break the silence.
"This island is going to become more overcrowded," Melissa commented, staring at the license plate of the car in front of her. "Even if the Orb Union is willing to take in Coordinators, it's only a small Island Nation itself." Melissa sighed. "The only place for us to go would probably have to be space."
"You and space! Why is it always space?" Nira fumed.
"It's been a dream of mine to live in space since I was a kid, you know that that! Besides, space is the only place the Naturals haven't claimed yet," Melissa pointed out.
"Don't you know the dangers of living in space!?"
"The same that are posed to the Earth, that is, without its natural defences."
"Then how are we going to get the materials to build a space colony, much less get them in space?"
"I'm sure the Orb Union or another neutral country can help us out there," Melissa calmly stated.
"You've thought of everything, haven't you?" Nira sighed.
"Yup!" Melissa smiled, and once more they lapsed into silence.
When they got to the gates of the academy, Melissa handed the guard their ID cards. The guard swiped them through a machine and the gate rose. Melissa retrieved their IDs, and thanked the guard. Melissa hated going through the gate. She had lived on the island for two years and did not want to be shipped out because she was a Natural. So far she had been able to keep her secret safe. No one, even Nira, her best friend and roommate, knew she was really a Natural. If they knew...well, Melissa didn't even want to consider that.
She parked the car and grabbed her bag before getting out. The two engineers walked up the stairs to the entrance and saluted to the soldiers standing guard there. Once inside, the girls slowly made their to class. They had to admit, they were going to miss this place. Everywhere they looked, they could see people getting ready for the upcoming graduation.
"It's just like a high school graduation," Nira commented casually.
"Really?" Melissa asked, looking around with interest.
"What do you mean 'really'? Didn't you graduate from high school?"
Melissa shook her head. "No, I was already disowned before I was able to finish grade 11."
"I see," Nira solemnly replied.
"You're late, girls."
The two girls turned around slowly, knowing they were in trouble. They didn't know who it was; they didn't recognize the voice. They were surprised when they saw who it was.