Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: New-found Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam, 'tis owned by Bandai and Sunrise.

Summary: Cosmic Era 71, tensions between the Naturals and Coordinators rose to unbearable heights, resulting in the destruction of Junius 7. Join Kira Yamato, Miriallia Haw, Flay Alster, Tolle Koenig and the rest as they face life-altering choices.

Other information:

Dedicated to Hildebrant, an excellent writer in his own right, and the creator the Non-Canon Revolution

This fiction will contain many non-canon couplings and character deaths

CE 70, September

It had been three weeks since the start of classes at the Heliopolis Technical College, and for Kira Yamato, it had been three very lonely weeks. His parents were once again away on a long trip, trusting the house to Kira while they were away. It was nothing new to the brown-haired boy; his parents had been taking trips since he was 13 years old. While he was outgoing and friendly, Kira was also a bit untrusting of other people, and for good reason: he was a Coordinator, an embryo that had been genetically modified at birth to whatever desires the parents had.

Such desires often resulted in superior strength, speed and mental capacity than a normal Human, otherwise known as Naturals, due to their untouched genetic structures. The large performance gap between the two "classes" of Humans led to a lot of tension and hatred, forcing the Yamatos off the moon and into a neutral colony. Heliopolis was a haven for those who didn't care about the war or the differences between Naturals and Coordinators.

Suffice it to say, Kira had not encountered another Coordinator in the county he was living in. Kira used a lot of his free time exploring the undeveloped forested regions, wandering all over, like he was in another world. As a result, he found a lot of secluded spots with good views of the cities below and above. On this particular day, the sun was shining and the cafeteria was crowded. It was lunch time.

Kira unwrapped his chicken sandwich that he had made from his dinner leftovers. Biting a chuck out, he chewed thoughtfully, thinking of what he should make for tonight's dinner. The sound of laughter nearby caught his attention, and Kira noticed a group of four friends sitting and laughing together, three guys and one cute girl. Two more girls joined them, sitting down to eat.

He stood up to leave, having finished his sandwich, but a group of people stood up on a table, holding a drum that they banged on to get everyone's attention. "Hi there students of Heliopolis Technical College! I want you all to know that we will be hosting a Masquerade Ball in the main gym on October 17th! Tickets will be on sale tomorrow, and it will be a semi-formal event. We'll see you there!"

It was a good opportunity for Kira, nothing like going incognito and chatting with people. Perhaps he could find another Coordinator, or see what the general consensus about them was from the other students without revealing himself. The date was just under three weeks away, but Kira would have to start planning now to make sure everything would be in order by then.

Schoolwork he had no problems with at all, his course was mainly flowcharts and coding, and the two went hand in hand, making it easy to understand. Rather, it was finding suitable clothes for the occasion; he usually relied upon his mother for sound fashion advice, since his tended to be … off.

The three weeks passed in no time, Kira occupied himself by exploring more and more of the natural beauty in the nearby counties, as well as finishing his assignments with ease. On the night of the Masquerade Ball, Kira had picked out something decent, black slacks and a dark silver button-up shirt. He had found an odd-looking mask, one that covered the eyes and had a neat design for the forehead.

The mask was red around the eyes and nose parts with a thick white lining around the outside. Right above the nose extended a red rectangle, and from the rectangle were mounted two thick yellow fins, giving it the appearance of a V-fin on the forehead and an overall machine-like look. He nicknamed it the Gundam mask.

The Ball started at 7:00PM, but Kira was usually fashionably late for events, and this time was no exception. There were plenty of guests present by the time Kira arrived, dressed up in fancy gowns, dresses and suits. All of them had masks on, from lacy white masks held in place by a stick to strap-on masks in varying colors. Kira's was certainly one of the more unusual ones, with its color scheme and design.

There were three guys of various heights wearing matching tuxedos, differing only in the color of their vests. The tallest boy had a red vest, the shorter one with brown hair had a regular black vest, and the shortest of the three had a dark green vest. They were talking to a girl who was wearing a fancy orange dress that hugged her curves perfectly, billowing out slightly once it reached the waist and continuing downwards until it hit her ankles. She wore an orange mask with sparkles and a matching orange chocker with a small heart hanging in the center.

It was time to be adventurous; after all, he was virtually anonymous with his mask on. He walked up to the group of friends and interrupted. "I'm sorry to intrude, but may I have this dance?" he asked boldly, holding his hand to the lady. Kira could sense a bit of tension from the three guys, but didn't care too much as she placed her hand in his. "I'd be honored." She replied formally, letting him hear her sweet voice for the first time.

It was a moderately paced song, and a nice one at that, but all too soon Kira found that the song had ended. "Thanks for the dance." She thanked him when the song had ended. Feeling bold, Kira kissed her on the cheek. "Anytime." He replied. Her mask concealed most of her blush, but not all of it. She was speechless as she returned to her friends.

The black vest of the trio regarded her oddly. "What's up with you Miriallia? You look like you've gotten bad news … or good news." Miriallia Haw finally cleared her head, at least for the moment. "I'm fine Tolle, thank you for asking."

Tolle couldn't reply, a red-haired girl in a deep red cocktail dress grabbed him by his arm. The dress was backless, showing almost all of her backside, and the skirt portion stopped mid-way past her thighs. "Come on, let's dance!" she said energetically, dragging the boy out onto the dance floor to dance to a slow romantic song.

They passed by Kira on the way there, with Tolle managing to say a few words. "Uh … sure Flay." As the night progressed, Kira danced with a few more girls and got a few comments about his mask and where he got it from. Kira saw no more of the girl he had danced with, so he decided to ask her friends where she might be.

"Miriallia? I think Tolle took her home earlier." The tall one said. "Tolle did what now?" Tolle asked, walking up. His hair was a bit ruffled and Kira could see smudges of lipstick on his face. "I was just telling our friend here about how you escorted Miriallia home." The tall one explained.

"When, tonight? Sai, man, I've been dancing with Flay all night long, and I gotta tell you, she is one fine girl." Tolle danced a little to the beat, snapping his fingers as well. Flay came back from wherever she was latched onto Tolle. He winked at his friends and took Flay back to the dance floor. Sai shrugged, and Kira walked off. "Some friends they are." He muttered, passing by Tolle and Flay who were busy making out in the middle of the floor.

He passed by another group of three people busy gossiping. "Did you see that big guy running off with that girl in the orange dress?" one girl asked. "Oh yes, I think he wanted more than she wanted to give." Another one added. "Well she might like it." They all giggled.

Kira eyed a guy wearing a duster coat. "Nice coat man." He complimented, walking up to him. "Thanks man, it's really comfy." The guy replied. "Yeah, I'm going to need it." Kira said in all seriousness. "Wait, what? Hey what are- hey, that's my coat!" he protested as Kira got the jacket from the guy. "I'll bring it back later!" Kira yelled over his shoulder, bursting out the doors and into the streets.

He slipped the coat on and looked around. "Hey, this is a comfy coat." He mused, but then paused as he heard something that sounded like a garbage can falling over. It probably came from the alleyway just two blocks away. Kira ran as fast as he could to get there, hoping he was doing the right thing. When he got there, he unfortunately confirmed that he was.

The large man threw Miriallia against the stone wall and pinned her there. "I'm going to enjoy this." He said, ripping her mask off. "If you come any closer, I'll scream." Mir threatened. "Go right ahead, who's going to hear you? Everyone else is inside enjoying the party, so it's just you and me, and trust me; I'm going to make you scream." He reached forward and tore the front of her dress down to her waist and then pulled her mask off. "Oopsie, look at that, your dress tore." He said in a child-like voice.

Kira took this opportunity to act. A few feet in front of him were two chain-link fences on opposite sides of the alley, narrowing the actual path to a few feet wide. The fence itself was over fifteen feet tall, and where the fence ended, two sets of emergency stairs began up the sides of the buildings, but the odd thing was the connecting bridge at every level between the two buildings.

He took a running jump, propelling himself off the ground and maintaining his upwards momentum, he scaled the fences and grabbed hold of the lowest bridge and swung onto it. The man turned to see who was shaking the chain-link fence, but saw no one. "Damn cats." He muttered and turned his attention back to Miriallia. She had seen the masked man effortlessly scale fences and disappear out of sight, eliciting a spark of hope from within her.

Another sound interrupted the man, the sound of the air catching in thick leather. And it was coming from above him. He craned his neck up and around just in time to see a man almost floating down from above, wearing a demon-like mask, his fists ready. Before he could do anything more, Kira collided with the would-be rapist, making him collapse faster than a house of cards.

"Are you alright?" Kira asked after landing gracefully. She nodded, so he draped his jacket over her. "Thank you, I didn't think-LOOK OUT!" Kira turned at her warning as her attacker rose and procured a knife out of his pocket. He stabbed the knife at Kira who grunted as he put his entire body behind a single punch, sending the attacker towards unconsciousness and a dumpster.

His body hit the upright cover and fell into the smelly dumpster and the lids followed him down. Kira turned back to Miriallia. "So you're sure you're alright?" he asked again. "Yes, thank you." She replied honestly. "I'll walk you home if that's okay with you." Kira offered.

Her home was about a ten minute walk from the school, and it was ten minutes of rather tense silence. Kira kept his mask on, keeping his face hidden from Miriallia, even though she was probably curious to know who her savior was. They reached her doorstep. "Thanks again for the dance earlier." Kira said as she turned to face him. Milly smiled and then looked worried as she glanced at his shirt, now turning red with his blood.

"You're bleeding! Come inside, we've got to bandage that up." She insisted, unlocking her front door and dragging Kira inside. "There's a bathroom upstairs, second door on the right. Take your shirt off, I'm just going to change into something else." Milly ordered.

Kira had his shirt and mask off by the time Mir entered the nice bathroom, wearing a pink tee and a pair of faded tight jeans. "It's really not that bad, I doubt I'll be bleeding for much longer." Kira told her, wiping some of the blood away. "We should still bandage it up, the wound could reopen. Besides, this is the least I can do for you; after all you've done for me."

It was pointless to argue, once Miriallia Haw decided to do something, it would be done. First she wiped the excess blood off of his ribs and then cleaned with a damp towel. She then used hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wound. Kira hissed a bit, but then stopped as she put an absorbing bandage over the cut. "Hold that there while I wrap it." She ordered. Kira did so, and Milly took a roll of gauze and started to wrap it around his chest.

"You know, this is a bit much for a scratch." Kira tried to convince her, but she just wouldn't have it. "There, all done! That wasn't so bad now was it?" she announced, sitting up straight to admire her handy work. Kira nodded in approval, and caught Miriallia's eyes.

It was her first good look at the one bold enough to kiss her on the cheek and brave enough to help her. She was amazed at the depths in his brilliant violet eyes; it was like staring into never-ending pools. Kira leaned forward, almost hesitantly and was about to pull back when Milly leaned in, reciprocating his move. Her soft blue eyes closed as their lips neared …

A persistent fist banging on her front door interrupted them, making Mir jump a little in surprise. "I'd better get that." Miriallia stood up and hurried down the stairs to answer the door before the annoying pounding sound woke her neighbors. She opened to the door to reveal Sai, Tolle and Kuzzey, all mask-less, and all looking worried.

"Miriallia! You're ok!" Kuzzey announced needlessly. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked. "Well some guy smelling like garbage said he got beaten up by some other guy in a freaky mask and that that guy had taken you. We all got worried and ran to your home!" Sai explained it.

"So if it was true, then what made you think she'd be at her home with the creep?" a voiced asked from behind her. Milly turned to see Kira walking down the stairs, his blood-stained shirt back on and his mask in his hand at his side. His statement threw the three stooges for a loop. "Yeah Sai, what made you think that she'd be here if the rumor was true? Stupid knucklehead." Tolle scolded his friend.

"You believed it too, Tolle. Chowderhead." Kuzzey muttered.

None of the three had a good answer for Kira as he came to a stop beside Miriallia. "So what are you doing here then?" Sai demanded. Miriallia glared at him. "He was the one who helped me Sai, lay off of him." Kira's cut and bloodied shirt hadn't escaped any of their notice, but it was Tolle who spoke up first about it. "So what happened to you then?"

"I was a bit slow on the uptake, that's all. Merely a flesh wound, if that." Kira explained. None of them looked like they bought it, but they weren't going to press that issue, at least not for now. "So then what's your name?" Tolle asked, curious to know his name.

"I'm Kira Yamato." Kira extended his hand in greeting. Each of the boys shook it along with introducing themselves formally. "It was a pleasure to meet you all, but I must get going." That got Miriallia a little depressed, but there was little she could do to stop him from leaving.

"Nice to meet you Kira!" Tolle called after him, but Kira had already disappeared into the darkness of the night. "That's weird." He murmured. "Well I think I'm going to take a nice steaming hot bath to relax, read a good romance novel and then turn for the night. Thanks for your concern guys; I'll see you at school tomorrow." Milly announced, telling them in the nicest way to leave her alone.

"Right, see you tomorrow then." Tolle agreed, leaving her, and followed by Sai and Kuzzey.

School was bit subdued the next day, most of the student population, along with a lot of the teachers and professors, were tired from the previous night's events. As a result, there was a lot of free time for the students, and even the administrators agreed that it was the best course of action for the day.

So Kira spent most of his morning wandering around the thick bush a few acres away from the campus grounds, exploring new paths and new places to visit in the future. He found one place in particular, a flat and grassy plain, with a single willow tree and its branches providing a beautiful spot to have a picnic, or a rest.

He stopped back at the school for lunch, sitting in his usual spot and unwrapping a roast beef sandwich. Before he could bite into the delicious sandwich, someone pulled on his arm, forcing him to stand. "Don't sit all alone Kira, sit with us." A beautiful voice said. It was Miriallia, inviting him to sit with her and her friends.

He couldn't really refuse her offer, not that he wanted to either, so he hastily grabbed the remains of his lunch and moved to their table. "Hey guys." He greeted jovially. They all seemed pretty intent on their lunches to give any more than a casual greeting, except for Milly. She seemed quite eager to know about Kira. "So we had free time all morning, what about you Kira?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, me too. I wandered around the grove of trees a couple of acres away from here, and then it was lunch time." Kira replied. They chatted back and forth about various things, and all the while both of them never realized just how strong a relationship could be forged in a single night.

It is finally here, the long awaited re-write of Gundam SEED. I swear I've had this idea floating around since I started the Keshitai all those many months ago, but it kept getting pushed backas I started True Feelings, V90, Icess, my several one-shots, Things We Do and many others. In a stroke of luck (or maybe just one hell of a coincidence), Chief decided to revamp the FIA site, knocking the forums offline just as I gained approval for a PlanetSide section in the Games category, so the one-shot "Oshur's End" is the only story in that archive. The multi-part FIA story I've planned will have to wait for approval from my outfit (since the characters in the story will be the real FIA, my comrades in arms).

So it gives me an opportunity to begin this story, as well as mention that there is now an official sequel to Icess planned, and work has begun. So Please please please Read and Review this story, and browse on over to the PlanetSide section, see what you think of "Oshur's End". Keep an eye out for more from me!

With thanks,
Prayer