Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED. What a world!

There was fire, fire that raged everywhere. A casual glance around could reveal no building left untouched by the fire. There were sounds everywhere, sounds of battle, and sounds of wailing and crying. Babies crying, mothers crying, sisters crying, sons and fathers fighting. And dieing. Armored men clanking as they ran around, slaughtering everyone on a whim and showing no mercy. The fires cast multiple shadows, making it impossible to tell where the figures struck from.

No one could get a good look, but there was only one nation brash enough to attack defenseless villages and their inhabitants. Or maybe it was for revenge. Having dispatched one man who tried to put up a valiant fight, a soldier stepped past the cooling corpse and raised his sword, having spotted a lone figure, huddling among the ruins of a house. A boy stepped in front of the man's target, the boy's sister. Both men froze for an instant as the fire was just right to light up just enough of all three of their faces. Familiar faces, at least to the two men.

And all around them, the sounds of the battle could be heard, people crying out in pain as they were cut down, the fire as it raged across the village, and more wailing from infants and children. The defender was just as shocked as the attacker, and the sword lowered just a bit. An explosion marked the end of another building, and the soldier used that as an excuse to leave without striking down either villager.

The boy stood in his place, still shocked at seeing a face that he'd never thought to see in these gruesome conditions.

It can't be …

And suddenly the boy woke up, drenched in sweat. The dream was so vivid, so real, every aspect. He dreamed about it every night, every night since it had actually happened. Every detail in his dream, copied exactly from the horrifying experience. The one day that had changed his life forever.

The day his village was attacked. The day almost everyone he knew, died. The day that …

He clutched his forehead in a vain attempt to squash the thoughts before they could re-emerge and take control.

"Commander?" a male voice interrupted.

The man looked around the dark tent for a second before focusing on a black shadow, barely illuminated by the minimal light from outside.

"Scouts have just reported back, they told me it was urgent that they speak with you." The man continued he was used to doing this, almost every night.

Sighing, the man addressed as 'Commander' got out of his bed and stood up. His eyes closed for a second as he purged his dreams.

"I'll be right there, thank you. Did you tell her yet?" He replied, his voice sounding loud in his own ears.

Anyone new in the camp might have been confused by the lack of names the Commander provided when asking questions. But this man had been with the Commander since the beginning, and knew the person in question.

"I was going to tell her next."

"Good, carry on."

The informant nodded and left the Commander. His eyes snapped open, and he quickly dressed himself in leather boots, pants and a tunic. Stepping outside his tent, he squinted his eyes as they adjusted the light levels, dim as is was. There was major cloud cover, blocking out the almost full moon overhead.

Looking around, he saw three men enter a larger tent. He hoped it was good news the scouts had, and not bad news. But it was always bad news. He felt a head lean on his right shoulder and heard a soft moan of tiredness. Looking down, he saw who it was.

She had shoulder length blonde hair and honey brown eyes. She was wearing a red shirt and green pants with reinforced leather boots. It was his sister and second in command, Cagalli.

"Come on Kira, they're waiting, and I want to know what happened." She said, tugging his arm.

He nodded and they entered the tent where the three scouts were waiting. As they stepped through the door flaps, the men jumped to attention and saluted their top leaders. Kira irritably waved their salutes and told them to sit down. The men sat back down around an oblong circular table. There were various maps and papers on the table, from previous planning sessions.

"Your report?" no time for preamble, he had to know the news.

"Almost five days ago one of the Zaft armies attacked the Teldrassil Village with no warning and no mercy. We guessed their targets and tried to warn them all, but Teldrassil was the last on our list. Those that we did warn either did not believe us or refused to leave, figuring that the army would show mercy. We came upon the battle just as it started. It was a brutal slaughter." One of them said.

"Who led the army?" Kira asked.

"For certain in was Duel. No mistaking his style of combat, both personally and the directions the army received. The battle was over in less than two hours and the army moved on 20 minutes after that. We checked for survivors but there were none. Every house, barn, shed, anything standing was on fire, and all of the livestock were killed as well. Nothing that had lived before the attack was living afterwards."

The news hit Kira like a brick. It wasn't new, reports of villages razed to the ground and their people slaughtered were too common nowadays. But to learn that Duel, perhaps the most ambitious of the five, had led the attack personally made Kira clench his fists in anger.

Cagalli sighed in sadness, Kira and the one they called Duel had a very fierce rivalry. Kira had inflicted a wound upon the other man almost two years ago, and there had been several times when Duel went out of his way and attempt to repay Kira tenfold.

"And what about the rumors we've been hearing about the consolidation?" Cagalli asked, changing the subject so hopefully Kira wouldn't get angrier.

The scouts paused for a second. Describing a brutal slaughter of innocents was not the most pleasant thing to do, but then to quickly move onto some unfounded rumor made it even worse. But they all had jobs to do.

"We didn't have a chance to dig into that, Duel is only two days away from the next village." The second man said.

"Did you warn them?" Kira asked.

It was a pointless question, and all of them knew it, but most of them would be able to sleep better if they explained the situation and got it off their chests.

"We did, but most of them refused to leave. Those that did heed the warning simply went to different villages." The first one replied.

"What can we do? There's no way we can assemble and mobilize in two days, and even if we could, we wouldn't be a match for one army, much less all of theirs!" the third scout complained.

"There is nothing we can do for them anymore, except pray for their souls. Our newest recruits will be finished their training in a few days. We'll send out raiding parties to attack their outlying forts to gather supplies and hopefully draw more to our cause." Kira explained.

Cagalli studied her brother for a minute. He was her twin, and neither of them was sure which one of them was older. She constantly stated that she was the older one, but she didn't know for sure. He was several inches taller than her, with a more muscular build that started from when he was a child. His eyes were violet in color and his hair brown, and while shorter than hers, it looked more scraggly.

Of the few things they shared in common, one was the fire that burned inside of them, it drove them both. It had been almost five years since their village had been attacked and destroyed. Five years since that fateful day.

Five years since Kira had stopped being a kind hearted boy and started becoming a leader of men. Five years since Cagalli had secretly vowed revenge and joined her brother. Those five years were filled with lonely and depressing nights, frigid days, early mornings following late nights and too much pain, both physical and mental.

Kira had asked her many times since that day to leave for Orb, a neutral country and nation, to live in peace. He didn't want to see her hurt. She had told him every single time that she would stay by his side and fight with him. Kira made her swear it wasn't for revenge but rather for the preservation of life. She agreed, but swore revenge in secret anyways.

She turned to the three men, now all standing and arguing with each other to figure out a good plan to stop the rampaging armies. Most scouts she had ever encountered were independent people with plans and actions that suited a very small group. Kira was the leader of a large group of people and sought tactics that would benefit them all, which countered the scout's suggestions.

Unfortunately, boys were boys and they had to be right all of the time. Cagalli rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Shut up!" she yelled.

They all looked at her, the scouts in surprise, and Kira with a smile. Before any of them could continue, a man entered the tent, an intent look in his eyes and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He was tall and almost 28 years old, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He attracted many ladies attention and was also well-built.

"Kid, we've found something I think you're going to want to see." He said.

Mu La Flaga was one of the few people that didn't refer to Kira as 'Commander'. He was the leader of the "Endymion Hawks", a special unit that defected four years back and has been of great assistance since. Mu was like an older brother to almost everyone in the camp, and his knowledge was invaluable, especially to Kira, who saw the older man as a mentor.

"What is it?" Kira asked, thankful for the excuse to stop arguing with the stubborn scouts.

Mu looked at the scouts questioningly, and Kira took the hint. He turned to the three men.

"Thank you for the reports, you are dismissed, talk to the quartermaster for your payment as usual." Kira said, dismissing the scouts for the night and much of the next day.

They saluted again and Kira sighed tiredly as he returned it half-heartedly. All three men left with a little more bounce to their step as Kira turned back to Mu. Cagalli moved to her brother's side.

Neither of them spoke first so Kira raised his eyebrows in question, prompting Mu to smile even more.

"It's a surprise Kid, and I think you'll like it. At any rate it shouldn't really be discussed here." Mu said, confusing Kira and Cagalli a little.

Motioning them to follow him, Mu started at a brisk walk as the twins jogged to catch up to him. Kira caught Mu's arm and swung him around. Mu didn't miss a step as he turned and continued to walk backwards, facing Kira.

"Well?" Kira asked.

"Like I said, it's a surprise. But don't worry because only the Hawks know about it." Mu replied, grinning now.

Kira shook his head in disbelief as Cagalli giggled lightly. He eyed her and she eyed him back, her giggling not ceasing. Mu faced forward again and continued to lead them.

-

Echoing footsteps were heard from the hallway. The large doors opened to admit a single man inside. He saluted, bowed and moved forward, stopping 10 feet from the throne, and kneeled down, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Highness, Duel reports another village destroyed." He reported.

Patrick Zala sat on his throne, his short-cut grey hair barely visible underneath his ornate crown. He inspected the young man still kneeling in front of the throne. The boy had shoulder-length dark blue hair and was of an athletic build, and Patrick knew from experience that his son had green eyes.

"Stand, Athrun." He ordered. His son did so.

"I guess there really was no stopping Yzak from his rampage, was there?"

"Yzak needs to let loose every once and a while, otherwise he starts to take it out on us. But we could have sent Buster or Blitz with him." Athrun agreed.

"Dearka would probably go along with Yzak's plan for the hell of it and Nichol is too soft spoken to effectively override Yzak. Perhaps we should have sent the great Aegis?" Patrick explained.

"Me? I hardly think Yzak would follow my orders, he'd probably do just the opposite to annoy me." Athrun countered.

Patrick laughed at Athrun's tone of voice concerning his teammate and fellow leader.

"His tenacity and ambition is something he learned from his mother. Yzak may be stubborn, but when he sees a sound plan, he will agree with it."

"Or a plan that allows him to run free across the country side." Athrun added.

"Ha! Those are his favorite. He considered it a reward for all of his hard service these past few years."

"You ordered this rampage? Father, isn't that going a little too far for revenge?" Athrun demanded a little horrified that his father ordered Yzak to do those things.

But these orders had been coming more and more frequently. All of the armies had participated at least three times this year alone in the razing of over a dozen villages each time one army went out. Duel, the man known to his friends and superiors as Yzak Jule, took it upon himself to participate in more slaughters as time went on.

Athrun knew it wasn't because Yzak particularly enjoyed slaughtering people who may be innocent, in fact, they didn't provide much of a challenge which usually annoyed the leader more, but rather because he hoped to find their enemy, the Strike, and pay him back for all the past injustices.

Any humor left in Patrick fled immediately and his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Athrun, it has been over five years. Five years and we still haven't caught her killers! FIVE YEARS AND STRIKE IS STILL OUT THERE!" Patrick roared.

Athrun stepped back in fear. His father had a large temper nowadays, and it was better to have a little more breathing room, even if it meant showing fear. But part of his words made sense. Unfortunately, the rest seemed like they were born from madness.

"Father, I know you still grieve for Mother, as do I, but killing Strike will not change the fact that she is dead." Athrun said in a neutral tone, hoping not to anger his father more.

"Who said anything about killing Strike? He is to be captured so that I may torture him until I am satisfied! Now go."

Athrun bowed again and left the throne room. As the doors shut, a figure stepped out of the shadows from behind the throne Patrick sat up.

"Perhaps the young one is correct, Highness." He said with respect.

Patrick didn't bother to turn to face the man; he knew it was Rau Le Creuset, call sign Providence, the Grand Commander of the Armies of Zaft, and commander of the Providence Army.

"Maybe he is, but we won't find out until I have Strike's little whimpering body in my hands. Lenore was more than a Queen, she was my Queen, and no one can replace her."

Rau stepped into Patrick's view, confirming what Patrick already knew. In his early thirties, Rau had shoulder-length blond hair and a mask that covered his eyes, nose and most of his forehead. It had become the symbol of the Providence Army, an insignia that set them apart from the other five elite armies

"Don't mind the musings of this one, your Highness, I meant no disrespect." Rau said, apologizing

"Of course you don't Rau. Now go, inform Athrun about Siegel's impeding visit." Patrick dismissed his right-hand man with a wave.

Rau bowed and exited the room in the same manner as Athrun. The boy hadn't gone far from the throne room, Rau heard Athrun's footsteps echo through the hallway and quickly caught up to him.

"Athrun." Rau said, catching the boy's attention.

He turned to salute his superior. Rau saluted back quickly and motioned for the boy to walk with him. Athrun did so, walking to the left and just a half-step behind the Grand Commander as a sign of respect.

"You know of Lord Clyne's visit?" the masked man asked.

"I do, and I look forward to it. It has been a while since their last visit to our kingdom." Athrun replied, putting some truth behind his words.

Rau smiled, knowing why Athrun was genuinely happy for once. Lacus Clyne, the beautiful young daughter of Siegel Clyne, was engaged to Athrun, a marriage arranged by their fathers as a symbol of unity throughout the lands.

But to Athrun it was more. Lacus was someone whom everyone could love. She was appreciative of every good deed, but with Athrun commanding the Aegis army, it was harder for him to coordinate with the less frequent visits from his fiancée.

Lacus and Athrun had met as children at the Copernicus School, a place for gifted youngsters. Athrun had been called back after attending for a mere four years, and after that started his military training alongside Yzak, Dearka and Nichol under the tutelage of Rau.

The young Lacus had stayed at Copernicus until her schooling was complete and then she traveled back to her own kingdom to help her father with state matters. When they were told of the arranged marriage, both were a little apprehensive about the entire matter, and both Siegel and Patrick elected not to mention the name of the other.

Thus, it was quite a pleasant surprise when Athrun and Lacus found out who they were supposed to marry, and suddenly it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Neither of them had any actual knowledge of the courting rituals, but they both went with the flow of things and enjoyed their precious time together.

Although Lacus had learned to love Athrun, the boy couldn't help but feel at times as if she loved another with all of her heart. As her friend and future husband, he wanted her to be happy, but at the same time, he lacked the courage to ask her if she was truly happy. Perhaps he had grown too comfortable with the situation to fully care about it, perhaps not.

"Lacus has grown a lot since you first met her, hasn't she?" Rau asked, interrupting Athrun from his thoughts.

"We all have grown Commander." Athrun replied neutrally.

Rau chuckled at Athrun's nervousness; the boy wasn't too sure to what Rau was referring too. Indeed Lacus inhabited the fantasies of many men, noble or otherwise, but she remained faithful to her husband-to-be.

They continued to walk down the hallways, wandering through the palace.

"His Highness believes that we are near the end of the war, with the upcoming marriage that will unify the lands and the actions of the five armies of Zaft. He believes that Strike will soon be dead, by his hands or another's." Rau continued, changing the subject.

"I wish I could believe as my father did, but my doubts plague me like dreams. I fear that harm will befall Lacus, and that Strike will gain more support as time goes on. I would do nearly anything to end the destructive rampages, but I know in my heart there is much fighting to do yet." Athrun replied sadly.

And they kept on walking.

-

"Alright Mu, what's the surprise?" Kira demanded.

It was about the fourth time Kira had tried to ascertain their destination and the previous three times he had failed, and rather miserably. This time was no different.

"You'll see Kid." Came the exact reply as the other three times.

Cagalli was curious as well, but she enjoyed watching Kira grow frustrated with Mu's lack of information. It obviously wasn't anything bad, otherwise Mu would have told them and they'd be in their battle gear by now.

But they had been walking for nearly thirty minutes. Where ever Mu was taking them, it wasn't a well-known place. Kira thought he recognized some of the unique foliage patterns, he was sure he'd been here at least once. Cagalli on the other hand was clueless as to where they were.

"Can you at least tell us where we are, or where we're going?" Cagalli asked.

Mu thought about if for a few seconds, then shrugged.

"Some people call it the Grove of Stars; I've passed by it a few times with the Hawks." He told them.

"So why are we going there?" Kira asked, hoping to get an answer.

"Geez Kid, you don't give up do you? No surprise there, but I won't tell you." Mu answered.

"Why not?" Kira demanded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Because I'll show you." Mu gestured off to the side, showing them what he was talking about.

It was the edge of a small cliff, maybe twenty feet tall. At the bottom was a beautiful scene, flourishing trees surrounding a small and calm pond, and wild flowers growing everywhere. The moon had finally broken through the cloud cover, the light shining down and illuminating nearly everything.

Kira looked at Mu with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Just look." Mu said. Kira sighed and turned to look.

Cagalli frowned and moved beside Kira as he looked down. To her, it was just a bunch of trees and plants, nothing special about it. But there had to be something, why else would Mu drag them out so far?

A beautiful sight indeed, and as Kira's eyes scanned over the Grove, he noticed something was out of place. It wasn't anything bad, but Kira looked again to see what it was. He looked more closely, eyeing everything twice and filing the details away, just to be sure.

Finally, he spotted it. The Grove was full of natural beauty and Kira saw why it took him so long to finally register what he was seeing. The object in question was just as beautiful, if not more so. Then a sudden notion struck him, and this wasn't a good one either. He turned to face Mu.

"Well?" Mu prompted.

"Are you crazy?!" he asked, raising his voice.

"Uh … yes?" Mu was utterly mystified at Kira's change.

"Do you have any idea what Zaft will do if they find out? Geez, we're trying to end the war without us getting wiped out, and this won't help. How could you even think about doing this?" Kira continued.

Mu caught on to what Kira was talking about.

"Woah there Kid, slow down. Gale was on his way back from patrol with his team when they heard something. They investigated and alerted me and the rest of the Hawks. I, in turn, found you and Cagalli. Whatever happened, it happened without our interference." Mu explained.

"This could still turn out very badly." Kira muttered.

"Alright, what the hell are you two talking about?" Cagalli asked, confused.

"Err, Mu will explain. I'm going down."

"Kira!" Cagalli said.

But it was too late; Kira had already leapt off the short cliff.


Well, here it is, another story. I was planning on doing Phase Zero first, but there was such a positive outcry for When World's Collide. Oh well, I guess I canstill manage to do them both at the same time. Please keep in mind this will semi-follow SEED's storyline ... but not completely. Please always Review after reading!

Thanks, Prayer