Peace was a fleeting word in that time. Who could fathom such a lofty idea in an age of bloodshed, murder, and genocide? Human lives were extinguished in bright flames and explosions across hundreds of different battlefields. Everyone lost a brother, father, sister, mother, relative, friend, acquaintance, there was no one who had not been touched by the plagued hand of war. Was there a purpose? There seemed like one, at least in the minds of all the combatants involved. "For a pure, blue earth" or "for the evolution of humanity" were popular slogans, but sadly, only neat window-dressing; nothing more. However through the efforts of people who learned their lessons the painful, hard way, peace was somehow managed. The Naturals and Coordinators called for a cease fire between the two sides, each group realizing just how close they came to total annihilation. Lacus Klein, the self appointed spokeswoman for the future of mankind, was about to give a speech for all of humanity to listen to. Everyone watched the young, pink haired princess give her speech on whatever device was available.

"Citizens of humanity, I am Lacus Klein. I am giving this speech to tell all people that the time for senseless destruction has halted. I wish I could say the time for grieving and pain has ended, but there are many of you listening who have already lost loved ones to the war. We must respect those who have gone before us, and realize that by ending this war we have done the fallen the greatest service, by ensuring that we remain here, in peace. No more are we to look at our fellow man and despise him or her because we believe they are unnatural or inferior. No, these prejudices and hatreds must be buried in our hearts, never to rise out of the ground. Instead, we will plant the seed of hope and friendship in the ground so that our children and their children can enjoy the sweet taste of the tree of life. I hold out my hand to humanity in peace and with a sincere desire to walk into our bright future together…"

Lacus was an enigmatic woman, able to exude tranquility and calm, but at the same time be firm like a general. It was no wonder her broadcast had touched the hearts of millions watching, coordinator and natural alike. The open wound left by the war was beginning to heal, albeit slowly, in the minds of the populace. At the end of her broadcast, throngs of onlookers cheered and threw confetti and colored streamers in the air. There were two men, however, that weren't cheering about Lacus' speech. Lurking in shadows, both men seemed amused by the sight.

"She is something isn't she," said one of the men to the other.

"Well she does have a way with words, I'll give her that. It's too bad though, really…"

"What do you mean? I hate it when you play games…"

"What I mean is that it's too bad that her speeches are only words. Humans beings are human beings in the end you know."

"You got that right…"

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Kira Yamato awoke from bed in his quarters at the break of 'dawn' (if there is such a thing in space), hitting his alarm to stop it from making a very annoying buzzing sound.

"Dangit, it's already 7:30…" said Kira groggily.

Kira's quarters on the ship Serendipity were not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but they suited his needs. The young hero had been traveling around space with Lacus, acting as a concerned bodyguard while she handled a lot of diplomatic business. It was often very difficult to keep up with her goings on, but Kira managed to keep abreast of her schedule and show up when he could. Kira often wondered if she liked her new role, or felt that she was the only one to fulfill it. Either way, the decision was hers, not Kira's, so he had resigned himself to make himself available in case anything happened.

Putting on his clothes in a flurry, Kira checked himself in the mirror to make sure everything was straight. He had always liked uniforms, they made everyone and everything look so in order. It was always easier to blend in with everyone else, no matter who you were, if you wore the right uniform. Hurrying out the door, Kira made a beeline through the maze of corridors to the hall outside the main hall where all the other personnel were already gathered. Captain Maxis Badgiruel, brother to the late Natarle Badgiruel, did not seem pleased at Kira's slight tardiness.

"Kira Yamato, you are late. The dignitaries will be here any second," said Maxis in his trademark rigid and militaristic voice. "Sorry," quickly replied the young coordinator. Maxis' rigid manner was not frustrating in the slightest, instead, it kindly reminded Kira of Natarle. Kira immediately filed in next to Maxis.

"Salute!" yelled one of the soldiers near the doors leading into the docks. The mechanical doors opened with a swish and stepping through the door was Lacus Kleine as well as several dignitaries in full formal garb. Lacus, flanked by her 'Haro!' was at the head of the group, apparently giggling at a joke one of the dignitaries had made. She looked up to greet the entourage of soldiers. Although she did not outwardly show it, she also wanted to see Kira. There the young boy was, saluting next to Maxis.

"Good morning Captain Maxis Badgiruel-sama," said Lacus sweetly.

"Good morning Miss Kleine," responded Maxis. Looking over at the object of his affection, Kira wanted to call out to her, but felt it might make their situation too plain to the crew. After all, the fact he was her bodyguard was a little secret they kept. He would be the young woman's eyes and ears, especially in such a delicate point in history.

Lacus and her entourage made their way down the hall to the conference room where they would discuss the future of Natural-Coordinator relations. Kira had already gotten approval to be in the conference room alongside Captain Badgiruel. It was one of those rare moments Kira got to be right next to Lacus. The conference room was quite plain, with a long metallic grey table with a holovideo set installed in the middle. Taking their places, Lacus decided to sit in the middle of the table along the width, that way she'd be sitting right in front of Kira. Dignitaries from Zaft sat on one side of the table, while the ones from earth sat on the opposite.

"Without further ado I'd like to begin this meeting by congratulating all of you for coming her on such short notice," said the dignitary sitting at the head of the table, Zamus Latuarda. Latuarda was an aging old man with thin streaks of grey hair in his black mane. His face was rather long and stretched out, especially with his pointed nose.

"Ever since the cease fire was informally called between our two organizations, I along with several of my colleagues felt it was necessary to carry out a series of meetings to finalize our peace." Latuarda's short introduction was met with polite applause by the other dignitaries, as well a heartfelt "Haro!" from Lacus' pet. Putting a single finger to her mouth, Lacus instructed her little pink friend to be quiet.

"Miss Kleine, do you have anything to add before we begin this meeting?"

"No, thank you Zamus Latuarda-sama, I really will only be acting as an onlooker during these meetings. Consider me not as a dignitary of the Earth or of Zaft, but a dignitary of peace," said the young woman, standing and bowing.

Kira smiled sweetly, thinking to himself that nothing could be further from the truth. While Lacus seemed sweet, gentle, and submissive, she was the type of person whose sheer force of will could move mountains as well as the hearts of people. Lacus knew the importance of the meetings, and did not need to be forceful in her approach. No, simply her presence reminded all of the dignitaries why they were there in the first place.

"Well on to business then. Before we can really call a true cease fire, we must begin discussing disarmament plans for both sides. I believe our biggest priorities are the disarmament of all nuclear weapons as well as the dismantling of the Genesis."

"We've already begun the dismantling process, Latuarda," quickly responded Reyna Yargas, a ZAFT dignitary with neck length rust red hair that covered one of her light blue eyes. There was something about her smooth manner and overall haughtiness that irked Kira.

"We can finish the dismantling in a little short of month our head engineer estimates, possibly even before then," replied Yargas, a wry smile forming on her lips. Despite Lacus' genial exterior, she took great exception to the haughty Zaft dignitary, who she mentally deemed as "slippery".

"That is of course great news. What about the disarmament of nuclear weapons?"

"That is also already underway. As soon as we figure a suitable means of disposing of the nuclear payload the undertaking will proceed much faster. As it stands now though it may take at least a year given the sheer number of nuclear weapons we have," reported Major Traehwall, a rather muscular, tall man with a heavy set chin and brown hair.

"Well, please do put your heads together and come up with a means to dismantle them. I'm sure if you pool your brain power you'll come up with something," said Yargas, with just a simple whiff of sarcasm in her voice. Traehwall did not take the veiled attack too well, and was about to speak up when Lacus placed a hand on his arm. The pink haired princess simply smiled sincerely and said "Please do your best, we're all counting on your efforts," defusing the situation as easily as it had been set up.

Kira's distrust of Yargas had grown two fold, as well as Lacus'. Nothing could be done at the moment, though, as everyone's cooperation was necessary for the peace process to move forward. The meeting dragged on as meetings do, and Kira was getting especially bored. Looking out the window, his mind wandered out into the depths of space. The wounds of war will still fresh in Kira's psyche.

"Fley…" thought Kira, a knot starting to form in his stomach. His feelings for Fley would probably never be put to rest, and the pain of not being able to save her haunted Kira in his sleep. Sadly, Kira was one of those people that had a hard time working through feelings, especially sad or painful ones.

"Still, I don't think she would think ill of me now…" thought Kira.

The meeting ended fairly uneventfully, and the dignitaries began to shuffle out of the room. Lacus began to chat with Latuarda about various topics of interest. Kira caught a few glimpses of her from the corner of his eye as he saw the young girl in her element. There was … something … entrancing about Lacus, and mysterious at the same time. That special something is what drew Kira to her, and kept him by her side as her protector, even if it was in secret. After all the dignitaries had filed out, Maxis turned to Kira and saluted.

"Please make yourself comfortable on my ship Kira Yamato. If you need anything one of my staff will be sure that it is fulfilled with the utmost haste,"

"Thank you captain!" said Kira, turning around and preparing to take a good look around the ship.

"Um, Kira…" said Maxis, his voice markedly less official.

Turning around, Kira looked at Maxis. The young captain had a look of quiet longing in his face.

"You knew my sister did you not?"

"Yes, we served on the Archangel. It wasn't too long ago…" said Kira, trailing off at the end of his sentence.

"I see…I…didn't' get to see her much when we both joined the military…"

"She was the most capable commander I have ever had the pleasure to work with."

"Is that so…I'm…I'm glad and honored to hear that…" said the Captain, eyes slightly downcast and smiling.

Kira simply smiled and disappeared, floating down the long corridor to take a look around the ship. Lacus and Kira passed each other by in the corridor, their eyes meeting for only a few seconds. But a with only a few seconds, much was shared between the secret couple.

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Somewhere in Zaft, on a remote space station that most officials had lost track of over the years, a lone figure enshrouded in darkness looked at a few papers sitting on his desk. Within moments, his door opened, and a man wearing a light grey uniform with the insignia of a stylized eagle walked through the door.

"Your Excellency, the preparations are complete. The head engineer has given project Zeus the go ahead to be put into motion," said the soldier bowing low.

Turning his chair into the light, a platinum blonde haired man wearing a white mask put his elbow on the desk and his head on his hand.

"Well then everything is going along swimmingly. We'll be sure to give everyone a good show then," said the strange man laughing to himself darkly.

All hell is going to break loose.