So, been having a good life, writers?

I have. College has been straining, but I finally have some time off, so…here comes another SEED fic, just for the heck of it, involving long-unused OCs (with TearShieldAlchemist's permission, of course) Prayer Reeves, and Nina La Flaga. These two were too precious to not write about, after several years recalling their progressing troubles in What If.

So I'll give them a break, and give them some nice laughs to go.

"…It's been so long since the war ended, hasn't it?"

The blue-haired, orange-eyed male, wearing a worn-out set of jeans and an open tee that would be draping off his shoulders if not for his arms being in the sleeves, sat on the sand with his favorite book. Prayer Reeves, at last free from the strains of battle, had finally gotten the chance to sit down, go back to his regular life, and finish his studies. At his side was Nina La Flaga, wearing an opaque, white sundress lent to her by Lacus; she was finally able to settle down herself, after losing people close to her to the fires of war. To say such a time was very welcome to the two of them was an understatement.

"Yeah…to think we actually lived through all that." Nina chimed, looking over at her beloved.

"Nah, it wasn't that much of a surprise…we had a super pilot on par with Kira on our side. Though I have to admit, even with him, we had too many close calls to even count…" He looked up to the skies, deep in thought. Something bothered him, ever since he and Nina'd parted ways with the Hendeldorf and its crew. Where had Testament gone since then? He never sent them any messages, calls, nothing. Was what he said before they'd gone to fight the last battle true – that he was only a soldier, chained to his responsibilities, and only able to see his duty to it? Was he that radically changed by his position? …And if that was the case, could he have ended up the same way, if it dragged on long enough?

"You miss him too?" It was easy for her to see who he was thinking of.

"Yeah, I do." He looked back, focusing his attention on Nina. "I hope he didn't die fighting, or anything. The world needs more people like him."

"For someone so bent on destroying conflict? Mm…he has that sense of humor not a lot of people have nowadays…and an understanding even fewer hold onto," She started reflecting on it herself, recalling the one time he had been called over to their ship during the conflict.

It's foggy out, Nina thought to herself, as she stared out into the vast depths of fog surrounding the dock where the Hendeldorf had more-or-less anchored. She wasn't sure of what she was waiting for; all she knew was that people from the Joule, Zala and Yamato teams would be coming to support the war effort. If it was getting bad enough for them to bring such experienced pilots from there, then their situation really has gotten grim. She wasn't even sure if these people would make a difference.

"Excuse me." Someone chimed. Nina jumped out of place, quickly recovering her footing once she saw who it was. Heaven forbid, it'd become impossible to stay aware when fog was obscuring your senses…

"Yes?" was her only reply.

"We're from Zala team. Your commander called for our assistance, right?" The soldier tweaked his uniform as he spoke.

"Well, it's the reason you're here. Why wouldn't Commander Waltfeld call for you in this case?" She replied again, matter-of-fact. The elder just laughed, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

"You got me there."

"Go on ahead; everyone's waiting inside." The soldier nodded and made his way into the Hendeldorf, leaving Nina alone in the mist again. She couldn't help but snarl, finally running low on patience.

"Joule Team! Yamato Team! Where the hell are you!?" Her scream echoed throughout the mostly-empty area – eventually falling on the ears of a man, at least 17 years old, in the Yamato Team's standard uniform. He approached, covering his ears and trying to eke out the recoil from hearing her.

"Arrgh, there wasn't a need to shriek like that. I didn't think we were that late to begin with." He rubbed his temples. "Sorry to keep you waiting, either way."

"Just get going already; Zala team's already there, and you're chewing up the air." Nina was feeling less than stellar today; so much had happened over the last few days, and she needed to get away from it all.

"Whoa, no need to get hostile or anything. Besides, I'd rather you introduced yourself first." The man replied, keeping a saintly calm about him – though deep down, in all honesty, he was scared of this girl. Geez, what a temper she had.

"Nina la Flaga."

"Oh, I see—" That was all it took for Testament to have a double take. La Flaga? The same guy that died in the earlier Bloody Valentine conflict? No way! His eyes regarded the young woman in front of her, dumbstruck, baffled, and confused.

"Wait… you're the daughter of the La Flaga? The same pilot of the Strike?"

"Yes, the one and the same. Now get on board before I drag you there myself."

She's going to win over a lot of friends with an attitude like that, Testament mused to himself, rubbing his temple. "Well, isn't that news to my ears. Testament Zahra—it's a real pleasure to meet you too, Nina." He couldn't help but put a sarcastic tinge to the end of that; it was crazy how upset she'd get just because he was talking to her…even if it was clearly making him shiver. He motioned for the rest of Yamato team to go on ahead, staying at the girl's side.

"Didn't I tell you to get on board already?" She barked.

"Yeah, but I still have time to kill." He stared out into the fog as he tweaked his uniform, before pulling out his sidearm and taking aim. "It's not like I have to be a militaristic prick all the time, you know. Guy's got to relax, sooner or later."

"Well, you're giving me a really hard time just by being around, so can you please leave?"

"Can't…not if you're gonna keep up that attitude."

She had nothing to say to that. Eventually, she just huffed and sat there next to him, still peeved. "Do as you please."

"Would that include wooing you in some way?" He smiled wryly, easily able to figure out the sort of reaction his words would get out of her. Here she was, all frustrated and tired, and he's asking if he could try to take her out on a date? When there's so much at stake at the moment, he should have hurried on ahead to the briefing?

"No," she scowled. "I'm already occupied anyway, and he's waiting for me to come back as we speak." Testament just stared at her for a moment, reading her expressions where he could, and overall trying to get a better grasp of her situation. Eventually, he spoke up, clarity of mind pulling through for him.

"Is he the right one for you?"

"Huh?" that brought her to her senses. "How did you know?"

"You just said you were occupied already, didn't you?"

"…Oh. Right." She shook her head, burying her face in one hand. She was well out of it today, and she knew it. She lost so much sleep, on top of getting deep into matters she shouldn't have…

"…So, are you going to answer?" He asked after a moment of awkward silence, turning his head to face her. Nina returned his stare with one of her own, but eventually just shook her head and started blurting out the first thing that came to her mind, not realizing the implications.

"…I don't even know anymore. He's caused me so much grief, so much trouble, and all the same, I still want to go back to him. He's done so much for me, and I haven't even taken the time to pay him back for everything…not even once." There was a hint of a smile, for a moment – a weary one, but a smile nonetheless. She still cared for Prayer, even so…the last thing she needed was to indirectly hurt him with what she'd done with Andre, and she'd done just that – now they're both at a loss as to what to do. It only took her moments before she gritted her teeth in realization that she was telling a complete, utter stranger what was going on in her private life, and snarled in further aggravation, grabbing her head. "Wait, why the hell am I telling you this anyway? I don't even know you that well!"

"Eh…It's not like I'm going to share your sex life or anything." She almost went completely red at his choice of words, but huffed again, turning away from him. He merely chuckled, and went back to staring out, taking aim again – before firing a shot that would likely not hit anything besides space.

Nina stared at him, slightly confused by why he would senselessly waste ammo like that.

"What was the point of firing your pistol at thin air?" All he did was holster his pistol, and get back up, turning towards the Hendeldorf.

"…Love can be just like that bullet I fired. It flies, but it never hits anyone until it's too late for them to make amends with people they've hurt." He walked past her and to the ship proper, but not before looking back at Nina, regarding her frustrated features one last time. "Be careful. War may be going on right now, but if you break your relationships where it matters most…it will cost you more than you will ever know."

She turned to face the Lieutenant. "How are you so sure?"

"…I've already been in your position at least once." With that, he entered the ship, leaving the Flagas' descendant alone again.

…What a weirdo… That was all that would come to mind for her as she saw him off. …Oh well. That just leaves Joule team…

Little did she know, though, that that man would be more right than she gave him credit for, once battle broke out.

"It's strange how the guy that seemed so scared of me once, was also the wisest one, isn't it?" Nina chirped, laughing lightly at the memory of how he'd cringed the first time around.

"If he really was scared, he would've run with his tail between his legs," Prayer chuckled with her. Well, it was true…if Testament had been so cowardly, he would've run the moment she started barking.

"And yet he didn't…and probably for the better; otherwise, we wouldn't be sitting here now." She stayed close to him, smiling warmly for the first time since the war had finally come to a close.

Prayer could only nod, and hug her in return. She was one of the few things that mattered to him, in the end, besides their new brother figure of sorts in Testament, and the rest of their friends… And if they'd lost him to another battle he went to wage? At least, they'd have each other to hold onto for comfort…and it's all thanks to the man that backed them up at a crucial moment.

…Said man eventually came landing in his blue, heavily armed Gundam, of all things, some time later, forcing Prayer to shut his book and hide it the moment it came crashing into the water. That…was not what he was expecting.

"What the hell!?" They both screamed at once as they covered up. The only thing that greeted them in return was the yell of an overly exuberant man wearing a worn out Yamato Team uniform, jumping out just after his mobile suit had made landfall.

"It is good to be back!" he grinned, only to be smacked in the back of the head by the Flagas' descendant as he hit the floor. Of course, befitting of someone whose feet had just touched the ground, he fell head-first into his Gundam's leg and toppled into the water, incoherent glubs becoming the only noises he would make for the moment.

"You could have just come here by car, you know!" She spat at him, and for good reason: not only was she wet, but her normally opaque dress was now becoming see-through thanks to the water. She was now covering up in an attempt to hide her now grown figure, leaving Prayer shielding his eyes. Oh, he swears that he came here like this on purpose… It's like he knows how to throw off the both of them. …Something that, now that he looks at it, wouldn't be too far off, given how much time they spent…

Argh, sometimes I wonder if taking the time to talk with him was a good idea. Prayer moaned.

More incoherent glubs came out, before Testament finally surfaced from the water. For his misfortune and pain, he'd gotten a massive bruise on the side of his head. Impacting the hard metal a Gundam is made of isn't pleasant, after all.

"Now why'd you do that? I was just dropping by to check up on you two." He chirped, rubbing that same bruise and twitching every time.

"You got me soaked, idiot! Now I have to dry off before Prayer sees anything else!" the flustered Hawk's daughter continued covering up as she ran off. All she heard behind her was the sound of the elite superpilot's laughter. Oh, I am so going to maul him when I get back! Suffice to say, she was less than impressed with Testament's oh-so-awe-inspiring return home.

"...When she comes back, tell her I didn't see anything." Prayer muttered, burying his nose in his book from embarrassment.

"Sure, sure. Hope you two lovebirds have been getting along fine since last time we saw each other." He grinned. The boy groaned again; Testament had this unfathomable love for teasing the two of them, and there were times where it was just plain unbearable, especially when it was done in the middle of combat. But then, that was probably his idea of keeping up morale, strange as it was. Nevertheless, it did raise a question or two.

How is this guy friends with Athrun and Kira, again? That one he really couldn't get out of his head. There was no telling what he was doing when the pilots were all goofing off in those rare lulls from combat; heck, for all Prayer knew, Testament's prankster demeanor could have gotten him into more trouble with the commanding officers than anyone else would in their careers. The other was something quite rhetorical, considering his level of skill in the Zeloth.

Why did they keep him onboard, anyway? Oh, wait, because for all his goofiness he was more than capable of holding his own. Right.

"We're doing just fine," he finally muttered.

"Good to hear. I hear wedding plans are being made, too! Or is that just exaggeration?" Testament's amused grin never left his expression.

"Oh, knock it off." Prayer smiled in spite of himself; he had to admit, he did have a lingering want to marry Nina. They cared too much to not finally seal the relationship.

Speaking of Nina, there she was, still rather furious, though her dress was replaced with more casual wear. She stormed all the way back – and true to her thoughts, she wrung Testament's neck, having had it up to here with his antics.

Prayer felt a bead of sweat go down the side of his head at the display.

"He didn't see anythi~ng~" A dazed Yamato Team goofball declared even as he was shaken back and forth by the frustrated Nina. Of course, him being him, said declaration seemed to only earn him a more violent shaking around.

"Hey, calm down, Nina. He's right." The other boy's smile grew nervous, even as he went up to hug his loved one. "I wasn't looking the whole time, honest."

"Oh, alright…but I'm only stopping because it's you." She pouted a little, before releasing her victim. "So, what brings you out here, anyway?"

Testament made a face that looked like that of a kicked puppy after its master decided to shoo him off. Well, it would have, if he didn't look so utterly unconvincing. "I can't just come along and visit you guys? Argh, they don't like my company anymore!"

"That's the most obvious pity-seeking face we've seen yet." The pair palmed their faces in unison.

"Damnit, I thought that would work." He shrugged. "Ah, well. I just dropped by to bring you along for some time with the others."

"In your mobile suit." The couple's expressions all but said, 'are you making this up as you go along?'

"Mm-hmm. Didn't have time to wait for a cab."

They squinted at him for what seemed like forever, before shrugging. His mind really did work in the strangest ways.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Well, the truth of it was, they wanted to say 'I don't get you at all', but they knew full well that he was only going to make that stupidly unconvincing face again.

"If ya say so." Testament spoke in that gratingly sing-songy voice, both of them cringing at once. "What's keeping you from coming, then?"

The pair glanced at each other for a while before looking back.

"Nothing barring a change in clothes, I guess." Prayer smiled.

"Mm-hmm!" Nina followed suit.

"Great, then I'll be waiting right here by the Zeloth." Testament returned their smiles, overjoyed. "Everyone's there at Kira's place, you know. They'd really love to see you again."

"We know. And by the way…Testament?"

"Yeah?"

The pair walked up to him and gave him a tight hug.

"Welcome back. We missed you so much."