Gundam seed\destiny and all its characters are copyright their respected owners. I'm just having harmless fun.

[All over again]

Having the layout of the Archangel ingrained into her from as far back as she could remember, Nataru found herself standing in font the observation window staring out at the stars. The serene picture in front of her eased the tension of boredom somewhat, though she would feel more comfortable if the captain would issue her a task to perform. Nataru doubted that would happen anytime soon, she may have been given freedom to walk around the ship but where she could go was still restricted.

Then there was the man in the lift, the way he looked at her.

Nataru knew she was different and understood that compared to the average crewman she was somewhat frightening. The few that saw her in the halls would thank her for protecting the ship, but their eyes would quickly dart away out of fear for what she was. They did not trust her, and with good reason.

Though the Archangel's helmsman just now, he did not look afraid. He looked… sad. Nataru has never felt sadness, she has had no reason to. She understands fear, the fear of failure and reprimand, even death. Never sadness.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to find you here."

Nataru was pulled from her thoughts as she turned at the sound of LaFlaga's voice. She greeted the blond haired pilot as he took a spot next to the woman and joined her in gazing out into the expanse of space.

She took a sidelong glance at the man who had just joined her. He was the odd one of the ship, he was not afraid of her but he showed no trust either. She could tell, the way he would become tense in her presence or the way he would stare back with unblinking eyes. He was cautious and she respected that.

An awkward silence came over them as they both stared out at the stars. It was Mwu who broke the quiet, unable to take it any longer.

"You put on quite a performance out there, I expected you'd do well but not that well. I don't even want to know what kind of training you have under your belt." Mwu watched for a moment, scratching at his arm that was no longer in a sling. "But I have to ask, why did you defend this ship? You have no ties to us or Orb." Mwu asked as he stood next the stargazing woman.

"I am a soldier. It is what I do."

Mwu frowned, that wasn't an answer, and he was now beginning to understand why Murrue had such a headache after her little talk. "But you're a soldier who was designed to destroy us, this ship in general. Why would you go against that instinct?"

The clone's stone façade finally broke as a confused expression fell over her. "I… it was my duty to protect this ship and its captain."

Mwu chuckled. "Duty huh?"

The clone looked at him like she had said something wrong. "Is that the incorrect term?"

"No, no. Its just that's not the first time I've heard that." He shook his head. "So you only acted out of duty to Murrue, because she's been nice to you?"

The clone squared her shoulders, her gaze still wandering the expanse of space. "It's quite possible she saved my life. Despite its recent destruction that station was deteriorating, I would have eventually died in that pod if you had not found me."

Mwu leaned slightly towards her, a huge grin slowly creeping across his face. "So, you're trying to say you were honor bound to make it up to her?"

Nataru regarded him, wondering why this man was so much different than the others, why he acted so… un-soldier-like. It disturbed her somewhat. "Why do you place so much emphasis on those words? I am merely acting as I was trained to."

He scratched his head, a bit of a loss at how to explain. "To your original- to Natarle- they were the most important words in her life. It was the code she lived by as a career soldier, the basis that her family was built on." Mwu sighed as she shifted his weight. "I thought you were just another monster to come out of the pit that is Blue Cosmos, but after that little stunt you pulled. Well... I just don't know what to think anymore."

"You knew my original well?" The clone's eyes lit up suddenly at the mention of that woman's name, ignoring the monster jab that Mwu threw at her. "Yes, of course you did… you served on this ship with her, you..."

A sudden pain hit her behind her eyes as images began to flash in front of her. Feelings of being exasperated as another man made light of a dangerous situation during wartime. The clone grimaced and placed a hand to her temple.

"Hey, are you alright?" Mwu asked noticing the woman's sudden discomfort.

She shook her head trying make it stop, her hand pressed against the wall for support. "I remember you." She said through a clenched jaw as the pain intensified.

That took Mwu by surprise. He had only known this person in front of him for a few days. "Where do you remember me from?"

"I don't know… I just do." She rubbed at her eyes as the pain persisted. "It hurts."

"Murrue was right… you have her memories don't you? I don't see how that is possible but you do somehow. " Mwu was no geneticist, heck Mwu barely passed the first aid course but even he knew clones usually don't inherit anything from their originals save for DNA.

"Why?"

Mwu shrugged, then placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not really qualified to say, but if its any reassurance I know what you're going through. I was injured, practically dead until they brought me back, nursed me back to health but the bastards hid my identity from me."

The clone listened intently, hoping this distraction of conversation would take her mind away from the pain, or at least help the memories pass. "Who did this?"

"Same ones who made you. They named me Neo Roanoke, put me in command of one of their ships and their extended pilots. It wasn't until I was taken prisoner by the Archangel that I started remembering things."

"Things?" She asked, the pain subsiding somewhat as Mwu told his story.

"My old life, friends I had. It was Murrue that brought all that back to me."

The clone straightened. "The captain, I was instructed that she was cunning and ruthless. Now that I have met her in person I find she is neither. She is kind, too trusting, nothing my instructors told me seems to fit with this woman."

Mwu laughed. "Cunning maybe, but ruthless? Heh, I'll have to tell her that one. Something tells me the EA's opinion of her only comes from looking down the wrong end of the Lohengrin too many times."

Nataru snorted, not liking the distortion of information that was seemingly fed to her since her creation. "She should be more cautious, people can take advantage of her."

"People like you is what you're trying to say, right?"

"I am torn between my own identity, unable to trust my own decisions." Nataru turned her gaze back to black of space. "She would be wise to execute caution around me. I do not know the extent of my programming. It is quite possible I could… turn on you and not even know why."

"You mean like a trigger?" Mwu asked, a tad concerned that the clone was saying these things. He still had his reasons not to trust her, but the possibility that she could be a sleeper just raised this to a whole new level of scary. "But you decided to fight for her anyway, you followed her orders."

The clone stayed quiet, unsure of how to proceed. Her eyes then turned to Mwu's blue ones. "Would she have… the Badgiruel… would she have done the same?"

Mwu could only shrug in response. "Natarle was pretty a pretty serious gal, she didn't like to do anything outside of military protocol. She and the captain didn't get a long most of the time, arguing over orders and whatnot. Eventually Natarle would follow through, for the good of the ship. I think she would have approved of your actions."

The clone exhaled, eyes deep in thought as she came to the realization she had almost no knowledge of her original, at least nothing on the type of person she was. "I should take my leave, thank you for this discussion Commander LaFlaga."

Mwu nodded in return and watched as she turned her gaze from the stars and left.

"Looks like you were right." Mwu spoke as he caught up with his captain on her way to her office. "She's got memories that's for sure. But they don't belong to her- they hurt her. Even if something was passed down I don't think it's as simple as we think it is."

Murrue's pace slowed just a bit as she took in Mwu's words. "Still, it may be the only reason why we're all still breathing. Even if it's a long shot, I'd like to think whatever part of Natarle that came back with that clone is the what's making her act outside her programming. She had every chance to make a break for it during that battle, but not only did she come back, she attacked and destroyed those loyal to her creators."

"Speaking of programming. I went down to the cell after the battle, the only clue she left was the two guards tied to the bars by their own pants. You still sure this was a good idea?"

Murrue sighed. No she didn't think this was a good idea, it was a bad idea from the moment her curiosity made her open the pod. "Well it's too late now, and if she's actually coming out of her shell I just don't have the heart to put her back in that tank. "

"It's a clone Murrue. No matter what percentages the computer comes up with it's still a clone, she doesn't have Natarle's soul. These memories could simply be a freak occurrence, who knows what those mad scientists twisted into her DNA. She could be part… dinosaur for all we know!"

"Mwu please," She gave him her patent you're being an idiot glare "After what you've been through I can understand how you feel." They reached their destination, Murrue opened the door to her office and stopped, looking back to her top pilot. "Don't try to start anything."

Mwu grinned. "The only thing I'm going to start is trying to get your mind off that clone and back on me." He then reached out, a lock of her hair twirling between his fingers.

Murrue smiled at his antics as she took his hand and placed it against her cheek. She then placed a light kiss on his large fingers and backed away. "To your post Commander." She closed the door and left poor Mwu outside.

"Come" Murrue answered the chime to her office. The door opened with a swish and a tall dark haired man entered. Murrue put her computer into sleep mode and pushed her reports aside as she motioned for him to sit. "I was wondering when you'd come see me."

Arnold Neumann took a seat, looking just like what the proverbial cat dragged in. It was obvious he was hurting. "Captain, I'm pretty sure you know why I'm here."

Murrue sat back in her seat, her fingers interwoven and resting on her desk. She knew about Arnold and Natarle or at least had a suspicion of it. It wasn't painfully obvious, but her former XO was just that much nicer around Neumann that rumors quickly began to spread. "Have you talked to her yet?"

"Briefly, I bumped into her in the lift."

"What do you think?"

He took in a long breath not knowing where to begin. "I don't know, she looks just like her and I don't mean like a twin, she looks just like her." Arnold stressed. "There were some differences, she's a bit more… fit."

"Just a bit?" Murrue let out a small laugh. "How are you taking it… seeing her like that?"

Arnold looked up then, his eyes sincere. "Honestly, I haven't slept since we left that station. I close my eyes and I see her, I just want to reach out and hold her, tell her everything will go back to the way it was. That we could go home and get on with our lives, but I know that could never be true."

"Why is that?"

Neumann's shoulders slumped even more then they were already. "She doesn't remember me."

"At all?" Murrue may have been friends with Natarle, but if these two were actually lovers then why wouldn't Nataru have a memory of him?

"Nothing, she looks at me like I'm a stranger." He leaned forward in his seat, his elbows on her desk as he cradled his head. "It's killing me."

Murrue reached over and put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry Arnold, I have no idea what triggers those memories. It's possible a lot weren't transferred and if so…"

"I know… she may never remember anything about me at all." He let out a long drawn out sigh. "It just bothers me that random crew that never really interacted with her, can bring out memories when I can't."

"I don't know what to say, except telling you not to try to pry anything from her. I don't think I have to tell you that she's still a tad… unpredictable."

Murrue felt horrible now. She knew what it was like to lose someone dear to her, only to have him walk right back into her life. When she thought of it, it was the same predicament, the only difference was Mwu was not a clone and he ended up remembering her on his own. But those eyes when Neo looked at her for the first time, it tore her soul to pieces.

She squeezed his arm and gave him the only advice she could think of. "Well, if this is the case look at it this way. You get to fall in love with her all over again."

Arnold looked up, a sudden light behind his eyes as a flicker of hope was placed in his heart. It was possible, even if it wasn't truly her perhaps he could start all over, get to know her. She didn't exactly have friends, besides the captain and perhaps Mwu. Maybe he could befriend her, and with time maybe she'd remember even the smallest detail about the life she shared with him.

"Thank you Captain." He said as he stood up suddenly with a salute and left her room with a spring in his step.

A/N: Sorry for the wait, was having pc troubles. Talky talky chapter, next one should have some sort of action. But like I said these are just short one shot-ish chapters focusing on the characters. I hope to pick things up soon.