Disclaimer : I don't own Gundam Seed or any of it's characters.
The story was inspired by Damagectrl's fanfic "Let Justice be done " in that it follows the theme of arranging marriages between nobility to bring peace between feuding nations. So, thanks Damagectrl for the inspiration.
I dedicate this work to KKornelia , my psychic twin Thanks for making me an Yzak*Flay fan.
Also, thanks to Neesa , who along with Kkornelia, convinced me to upload this, even though I am not happy with the work.
"It is for the good of PLANTS", his mother had told him. The three kingdoms of ORB, PLANTS and the Atlantic Federation had suffered from turbulent relations the last few years and border skirmishes had become common. The leaders from all three countries had agreed that marriages arranged between the nobility would foster closer ties between the nations and prevent an all out war. And she, Ezalia Joule, had personally asked for that girl, Flay Allster's hand in marriage from the King of the Atlantic Federation. She had met Flay a few times, before the war, on official visits to the Federation. "The girl was simply lovely, charming, from impeccable lineage. She would be a perfect match."
He had met her shortly before the wedding. She was just as he had imagined she would be: spoilt, immaculately dressed, frivolous, easily excitable, sharing none of his interests.
"You are exaggerating everything. Give her a chance," Dearka had said.
Easy for him to say, he was getting married to a girl he had fallen in love with at first sight. As for him, he was going to marry the type of girl that irritated him no end. Not some sensible, practical, intelligent and valuable soldier like Shiho. It was only when he had been faced with a future with that annoying girl that he had realised his feelings for his comrade perhaps ran deeper than he had suspected. What made it worse was that he suspected these feelings were actually returned.
Things only got worse with this revelation. The girl, or rather, his wife, wanted to spend time with him. "Let's go horse riding ," she had said a couple of times. Why she had wanted to do that was beyond him; the girl was barely competent as a rider and it was clear she was putting on a show of enjoying the activity. And his mother of course, always supported her new daughter-in-law. "Take her to Aprilius City, show her the museums" she would say. He couldn't have been more interested, and she couldn't have been more annoying. Always wanting to know something, always wanting to say something, wanting to hold his arm as though they were a couple (well, they were, but that wasn't the point).
"I tell you the girl is unbearable! She even wants to kiss me goodbye in the morning!" Yzak had exploded one day to Dearka, after she had turned up at the barracks with a basket for lunch.
"She is your wife after all," his best friend had replied. "Look, you need to find a way of making this work. I've seen how you are with her, stiff, cold, unresponsive. How are you going to produce the all-important heir to the Joule name and fortune if you carry on in this manner?"
That had been the worst of it all. Even that had been initiated by Flay. He had thought of it as duty and once she had gone to sleep, he had quietly gotten out of bed, dressed and left.
And then, shortly afterwards, they had started arguing. It had started one morning when she was adjusting his collar. He had found it irritating and snapped at her saying he'll get Shiho to do it once he was at the barracks.
"I wonder why you didn't marry Major Hahenfuss. You think so highly of everything she does, "she had replied in a cool tone.
That had been the trigger. From then onwards, she would make such remarks frequently. Unable to explain his frustration of marrying someone he had not wanted to in the first place, he would explode. Until one day, they had a huge argument over some trivial matter. She had followed him out of the study and into the hallway, accusing him of being a heartless beast who didn't appreciate a beautiful loving wife. He had swung around and shouted back at her "You are so stupid, pathetic and shallow. What do you know about love? You've been reared all your life for this position, being a nobleman's wife and you can't even do that properly. I've seen how you behave with other men, you have no shame. You probably flirt with the stable boy when I am away."
She had stood there, shocked, eyes wide open. He might as well have hit her. As it turned out, she slapped him and walked back to her room, her head held high, ignoring both her tears and the servants who had heard everything but were pretending to be hard at work.
He had felt bad about the argument but when he returned that day, the servants informed him that the Lady and her maids had packed their bags and left for the Federation. His mother had been visiting a friend in December City, and thank goodness, had missed everything. She would be angry and disappointed no doubt but there was nothing he could do about what had happened. He could only hope that Flay would realise the importance of keeping this marriage intact; one failed marriage would do nothing to improve ties between the two former enemy kingdoms.
Flay Allster returned to the PLANTS a few weeks later. She had left angry, humiliated and hurt but returned a more composed and quiet young woman. "These things happen in every marriage," Ezalia's letters urging her to return had said. "Yzak does not hate you; he merely needs time to adjust to the situation." Yzak's letters had been more curt; two letters, one with a brief apology and a request to return, the other stating the importance of her return. Not that she had needed him to remind her. King Muruta had told her the same. She had approached him to request a dissolution of the marriage only to have been met with a sarcastic reply, " So, is this all what Lord Allster's daughter can do? Four, no three months into a marriage and you want out? What a disappointment. Well, it's about time you grew up Flay Allster and learnt that there are things far more important in life than your precious little heart. Make it work or risk losing your inheritance here. " She had known straightaway, there would be no escape from her future; trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who could barely tolerate her. What was sad was that perhaps she had foolishly fallen in love with her husband even before she had met him. As a young girl, she had met Ezalia on various occasions. The latter had always had a fondness for her and would often talk about her son. Handsome, brave, intelligent, he had sounded like a knight in shining armour. The young girl that she was, Flay had developed an image of the type of man she would love to marry someday, and that image had been inspired by Yzak Joule. What Ezalia had forgotten to tell Flay was that her precious son was also short tempered, lacked social skills and was in love with another woman.
Oh yes, she had known about Shiho very early on. Call it woman's intuition but Flay had suspected something so she had asked her maids to indulge in idle chitchat with the servants. But she was not overly worried. Flay had been raised to be the wife of a nobleman and as such, she knew she had to get her husband's attention. She asked him to go riding with her, his hobby not hers, but after a couple of times, he had always found excuses. She then learnt he enjoyed history, but he showed no interest when they went to museums. She was sure he never heard anything she said about her interest in art and design and architecture, or how Queen Natarle of the Federation herself had consulted Flay in all matters regarding décor when a new wing had been added to the palace last year. Flay had even tried visiting him at the barracks, to share with him for a few moments the different world he inhabited. But nothing seemed to work. It was infuriating to Flay; she was young, charming and beautiful but her husband couldn't care less. Any other man would have been happy but Yzak clearly found even the physical side of their marriage unappealing. He had left as soon as he thought she was asleep, leaving her to cry alone in the big bed. But that one encounter had proven to be enough. She only hoped this child would be a boy; men treat their wives with more respect when they give them an heir, she had been told. And hopefully, she would never have to endure any more nights of cold, calculated passion. She had arrived in The Plants after her father's death a few months earlier, hoping to find love and happiness. Now, she would close her heart to both.
Ezalia had been overjoyed at the prospect of becoming a grandmother. The news and separation seemed to have softened Yzak somewhat. Major Hahenfuss' transfer to another city only served to make him realise that he had not been head over heels in love with his subordinate. Of course, this did not imply that that he was in love with his wife either. But he didn't like the quiet and subdued woman with dull eyes, who kept to herself and had minimal conversation with anyone.
His mother too had noticed the change and had decided that Flay needed to keep herself occupied. "I hand over all responsibilities of the Joule Estate to you my dear," she announced one evening at dinner. "With the work of the Council this past decade, I have had little time to give to the Mansion or the Estate. It's no wonder they are not what they used to be. I am sure you will do an excellent job," she had said with a smile.
Both Yzak and Flay had looked up surprised. But Flay had given her thanks and assurance with calm composure while Yzak had only looked on, wondering whether his mother had not overburdened the girl. The Joules were aristocracy, with money and land aplenty. But it was true that the loss of his father, his mother's work and his responsibilities as an elite ZAFT commander had meant that their house had lost some of its grandeur. But Flay had surprised him. From the very next day onwards, Flay spent every evening in the study, pouring over blueprints and thick ledgers. During the day, she would go around the Estate, talking with every servant and tenant. And he started seeing changes. The food served at the table was better." The old chef was cheating us of quality ingredients," she had said. The house looked brighter. "Dark old curtains and walls kept the sunlight away," had been her reply. One morning, he had risen early. Feeling hungry, he had decided to get something from the kitchen when he had another shock; the kitchen looked nothing like the dark, cluttered place it used to be. Flay had thoroughly re-organised and modernised it, with light coloured walls and cabinets, and all the mod cons of the day. When he mentioned this to her during breakfast, she had given him a small smile and said, "I am glad you like it. I am planning an extension to the house next year."
Surprised, he had enquired who would design and supervise the project. She had simply replied "I will."
"I don't know what she's thinking of. I mean, changing curtains and wallpaper is one thing, but designing and supervising an extension?" he had said in an incredulous tone to Dearka later that day.
"Why should you be so surprised? She was trained as an architect after all," Miriallia, who had been visiting Dearka at the barracks had replied.
He hadn't known that! He vaguely remembered her talking about art and her interests in the early days of their marriage. But he had never paid her much attention. Suddenly, he realised how little he knew this woman he had exchanged vows with. He watched as Dearka showed Miriallia around the barracks and winced inwardly when he remembered the time Flay had paid him a visit. He had snapped at her, not bothered to show her around and barely eaten the food, despite knowing that she had prepared the meal herself. As he watched the couple, he thought there was something about them - something intangible, something indefinable, something that declared to the world that they were in love and happy with each other. The Zalas and the Yamatos had it too. He thought of himself and Flay, of how they must appear in public; of their unease with each other, their lack of conversation, of Flay's laughter which was hollow. And he wondered how it had all gone so wrong? Surely, marriages were not supposed to make people so unhappy?
But things seemed to be taking a turn for the better. They had entered a new phase of their lives without actually realising it. Parenthood, a state neither was prepared for, can bring about many surprises. One evening, returning from a dinner, seated opposite each other in the carriage, he saw Flay smile, as she was looking out of the window. Curious, he asked what she found so amusing. She had looked at him for a moment before saying, "Give me your hand." He had obliged, and she had taken his hand and placed his hand on her belly. With a big smile she had asked "There, can you feel it?" His eyes had widened, first in surprise to her action, and then, as realisation dawned, the surprise had given way to genuine excitement. They talked about the baby, properly for the first time. And thus, a bond was created between all three long before the baby was born.
A few weeks before the baby was due, a ball was held to celebrate the PLANTS - Federation Peace Treaty. Flay had insisted on going even though Yzak had felt it was too close to her due date. "I have plenty of time," she had snapped. At the ball, she had been happy to meet some of her old friends who had travelled to the PLANTS for the occasion. She had not seemed this happy or excited in a long time. The gossiping women of PLANTS who had long ago taken a dislike to Flay for various reasons, were quick to notice this.
"I was so surprised to see you here, my dear! I don't know anyone who's attended a ball in this condition!" Mrs Hawke said.
"Clearly, ladies from the Federation think very differently of such matters," the social climber Mrs Hahenfuss had sneered. Casting a sly look at Yzak, she had added, "I suppose, Lord Joule is impatient to see the baby."
This had puzzled Yzak but Flay had clearly been annoyed. She had excused herself, leaving a perplexed Yzak to deal with the women. He had caught up with her in the gardens, demanding to know what that had all been about.
"Isn't it obvious?" she had replied, her eyes tearing with anger. "They are all waiting to see whether the baby looks like you or the stable boy! Or anyone else for that matter!"
He had been rendered speechless by the outburst but she had continued, "Why do you look so surprised? Don't you think our servants gossip with other servants? I've had to put up with this type of rubbish ever since I've come back. But all you care about is how I behave with these women!" Bursting into tears, she had started to move away, when, all of a sudden, she gasped, as pain stemming from her back onto her belly crippled her, causing her to bend over.
Yzak rushed to her aid, helping her to the carriage. Neither had been prepared for this. First babies take a long time, everyone had said, but this labour had started almost without notice and had progressed at an alarmingly fast rate, so much so, that he had carried her from the carriage to her room, fearing that she would give birth whilst in his arms. The baby, a girl, with the sapphire blue eyes of the father, and the red hair inherited from the mother, had brought a new focus to their lives. He, the brave soldier, had never felt so proud yet so vulnerable; she, the lonely young wife, had finally found someone to shower her affections on ,who in turn would love her unconditionally. Watching the two of them learning to be parents, putting someone before themselves, gaining a sense of comfort with each other, Ezalia fervently hoped the couple were on their way to marital bliss.
Yzak turned as Flay entered his room. She had come to see if he was ready for the Zalas' Anniversay Dinner. He had been struggling with his tie and had been waiting for his valet to arrive with his coat. There had been an awkward silence; a certain memory had surfaced drowning the shared joys they had experienced in the past few months. Flay had sought to get out of the situation by suggesting she go and search for the valet. She had turned to leave but had been stopped by his gentle yet firm grasp of her wrist. Slowly, she had turned, hesitant and uncertain of what was to happen next. Holding both her hands in his, he asked her if they could try again. Not for the sake of baby Natalya, for if that was the case, they were doing a good job already. No, he asked her if they could give it a try for their sake.
She had looked up to see his face, wanting to ask him, why the change? One look of his eyes, told her the depth of sincerity and earnestness that lay there. Yet, she still asked him, "Why?"
"Because I don't want to live in the mistakes of the past. I want US to have a future ," came the firm but sincere reply.
The future? She had stopped thinking about it, just as she had tried to stop herself from loving him. But she had failed at that. Which was a good thing really. Had she succeeded, she would not have been able to feel the happiness slowly exploding through her veins as the truth dawned on her. Feeling all teary, she had closed her eyes, opening them only, when she felt Yzak's hand gently wipe away the tears from her cheeks. She took his tie , stretching her hand to straighten his collars , gave him a smile and impulsively, gave him a hug. As he returned the warm embrace, she knew, whatever the future was like, she would now welcome it with open arms.