A few hours earlier

"Captain!"

Murrue jumped as the silence on the bridge was suddenly broken, awaking her from her reverie which had been so deep she could have fallen asleep without knowing.

No one had been happy with her decision of leaving Kira and Tolle behind, least of all her. None of the younger crew members had so much as looked at her since the decision had been made and even Mu had refused to accept it at first. But after a heated discussion she wished they could have avoided, he gave in. The whole ship had been unnaturally quiet ever since. The only words spoken to her were quiet, sad, and said with downcast eyes. She had heard many times that it was lonely at the top, but now she could testify to it.

"Yes? What is it?" Murrue asked, looking up.

"The Zakus, mam, they're retreating!"

"What?" Confusion laced Murrue's voice. "Are you sure?"

"Yes mam. "

"But... Do you know why?"

"No, I..." Neumann halted as a message appeared on the display in front of him. Running his eyes quickly over it his face took on a look of enlightenment.

"Actually," He said slowly his eyes still glued to screen. "I believe I do."

Curious, Murrue got up from her chair and stood behind him to get a better look. Neumann moved aside for her and began summarizing it.

"It's a message from Alaska. The Earth Forces have launched an attack on a nearby ZAFT base, and from the looks of it ZAFT is recalling all their forces in the area to help defend."

'Well that would certainly explain it.' She thought, tuning out the rest of Neumann's explanation and reading over the information on the screen herself. It seemed that the attack was a big to do and had been planned for quite sometime prior. Unlike most of the half cooked hit and runs which the Earth Forces were so famous for. Murrue didn't know who the odds favored in this fight, but either way, it had bought them enough time to get the Archangel safely to Alaska.

And perhaps a little more...

oooooooooo

"Commander La Flaga!"

Mu turned round at the sound of his name and found himself face to face with Murrue. "Yeah?"

"Come with me."

Murrue lead him to a side of the bay away from the many engineers absorbed in their work. "The Zakus have ceased pursuit." She said once they were out of hearing. "The EFA launched an attack on a ZAFT base and they have been recalled."

"Wow, that's a stroke of luck! What are you telling me for?" He asked, folding his arms and looking at her quizzically. Sure it was great news, but the reason Murrue felt she had to come all the way down here to tell him personally when the rest of the ship would undoubtedly know within the next ten to twenty minutes was beyond him.

"Because I've given orders to turn back and look for Kira and Tolle, and I want you to lead the search party." She said without hesitation, and with a certainty in her voice that could make even a General forget that she wasn't the one in charge.

"Wha... Really!?"

"Yes." She nodded. "We'll be there in less than an hour, so you might want to start forming your search party commander."

He grinned pure joy. "Aye, aye captain!" He responded, saluting her with all the enthusiasm his arm had.

oooooooooo

Murrue watched Mu almost skip away on his quest to find volunteers, and couldn't help but smile inside. His boyish excitement was quite contagious as he moved about the bay, slowly spreading the word. They didn't have time to make a list of people he would need, so instead he went from person to person, selecting those who he thought would be most useful in the search.

But as she looked on a cloud formed across her face.

By going back, she was of course disobeying a direct order given to her by a superior officer, to get to the Alaska base as quickly as possible. But that wasn't the thing that bothered her, she'd disobey an order any day if it meant possibly saving the life of one of her crew, and willingly face the consequences of her actions afterward. No matter what they may be.

But every piece of evidence suggested that both boys were dead, and though that didn't sway her decision in the least, she just hoped that turning back would raise the spirits of her crew, and not crush them.

oooooooooo

They arrived at the destination half an hour later. If Kira or Tolle were alive, Mu was determined to find them.

Mu glance at his search party of twenty odd people, spread out across the large area of forest. The majority of them were mechanics, Murdoch being among them. The remainder of the party was composed of a few soldiers who had come with them from Heliopolis, and anyone else the ship could spare along with himself and Sai, who he had allowed to come after a fierce amount of begging. But looking at him now, Mu wondered if that had really been the best idea. They'd been searching for a whole hour now and come up with nothing. Everyone's spirits were low, and any hope of finding either Kira or Tolle seemed a long way off. When they had first started, Sai had been the the most persistent one in the group, calling Kira and Tolle's names every few seconds, and refusing to move on until every rock in the vicinity had been up turned. But now he walked with his head down and every step he took dragged with disappointment.

Mu slowed his step until his pace matched that of Sai's.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Huh? "The teenager looked up at Mu as if noticing him for the first time. "Y..yeah, I'm fine."

"You know, it's not too late to turn back." Mu said after a moment. "I can't promise that what we'll find will be pretty."

"I know." Sai spoke so softly Mu almost missed it. "I knew that before we left the ship, but I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. I can't. I have to see for myself, I have to..." He broke off, and turned his head away, but Mu could clearly see the pain in his eyes.

Mu sighed and felt his own heart sink. "I know kid. I know."

They walked on a little ways longer without another word, halfheartedly scanning every area they passed with the others. It was a hot day, and the jungle around them made up for the lack of sun on their back by making everything below that much more humid. The fact that it had rained recently didn't help.

"Sir! I think I see something!" Both Sai and Mu looked up at the cry. One of the mechanics had gotten a little ahead of the group, and was pointing to something out of their sight. The party hurried to where the man was with Mu in the lead, and sure enough through the thick procession of trees Mu caught a bit of blue on white.

"It's the Strike!" He yelled, his heart leaping in his chest. Mu raced towards it, behind he could hear Sai's repeated cries.

"Kira? Tolle? KIRA?!"

Mu was the first to make it to the beach. Clearing the reaches of the forest in a time that would make even coordinators proud. But when he got the chance to look around, he felt his heart stop. Everything in sight was charred and black. The trees that bordered the beach looked as if they had caught fire, then suddenly been put out, leaving them bare of all leaves and as black as their surroundings. The beach itself was littered with many large pieces of metal which looked as if they had once belong to something, but what that had once been was anyone's guess. Indeed, the only thing Mu could recognized was the Strike, and even that not by much.

"Kira..."

Sai had caught up, and was now standing motionless next to Mu, a look of horror and disbelief covered his face.

After a few moments Mu turned to Murdoch and spoke in a quiet voice. "Come on, let's see what we can find."


AN: Thanks everyone for all the reviews on my last chapter! I honestly didn't think I'd get any until the story picked up a bit, but I guess I was wrong. Lol

Any critique is very welcome! One of the reasons I'm putting my story up here is to improve my writing, so criticism will not be looked on with an unfriendly eye. (Preferably constructive criticism though, since comments like "This sucks!" though true, are a little too vague for me to improve on. :P)