Phase 7: The Young Ensign

"I-It's yours!" Yzak sputtered, nearly falling down in shock.

"So that must mean that you're a pilot." Dearka concluded.

"Oh, now this is interesting..." Nicol commented, intrigued by the girl. Athrun gave her an odd stare.

"So that means you're with the Alliance?" he questioned. Everyone hushed when they heard Athrun utter those words.

"But then, how did she even make that thing? Wouldn't you have to be a coordinator to do that?" Yzak asked, not quite understanding the concept.

"I'm not with the Alliance, or anything for that matter... I just like to design them, is all. I just happened to find them constructing it and didn't want them to take it away. So I took it back..." she answered to them, not knowing if what she was telling them was exactly the right thing to do.

"I wasn't just taking it back because it was stolen..." she began as she looked up at them all. "I don't want to bring it into this war..." her eyes shifted as her speech became a bit more relaxed. "I'm not a coordinator, but I suppose you can't exactly call me a normal natural either. I guess I'm not much of a pilot yet, either..." she joked to herself as a smile grew on her face. "I guess you four must be good pilots. I've met quite a few so far, but you all seem different from them." she said cheerfully, though it felt as if she was trying to change the topic.

"Different? I don't see how we're different! We're all people aren't we?" Dearka chuckled. Athrun turned his head, hearing some kind of commotion coming from the hangar. Quickly realizing he had left Ai's machine there, Athrun rushed back to the hangar, with Yzak and Dearka right behind him, leaving Nicol alone in the room with Ai.

"Oh those guys..." Nicol muttered with a sigh. "I understand where you're coming from with all this, but you have to be more careful next time. Losing your life at such a young can be sad really." He gave Ai a happy smile, glad that there as someone almost his age with him. all of the crew was older than him and sometimes it just got a bit annoying.


Meanwhile in the hangar, Athrun, Dearka and Yzak were trying to sort out the problem about Ai's new machine. Until he saw that Creuset had also reached the scene.

"Please commander, I'm sure it'll do us some good!" Athrun pleaded, trying to keep the commander from trashing it.

"And this new girl had better be willing to pilot it, we're going to strike again very soon..." Creuset stated.

"Yes sir..." Athrun muttered, beginning the trudge back to sick bay, along with Dearka and Yzak, hoping that Ai wouldn't freak at the explanation...

"It's not that I want to lose my life, or even risk it..." she said as she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her shoulders. "More that I want to do my part peacefully..." she turned her gaze to him.


"Nicol... how old are you..? And why did you join in all of this?" she asked, a bit curious as for an answer. She never really understood much behind anyone's reasons for joining the military. It was all due to what had happened to her family. Being forced into a war without fail.

"Heh, I'm the youngest one on this vessel at fifteen, well, except for you, and as for the reason I joined this war? Well, I would've rather been composing music!" he chuckled, turning to see if Ai was listening. "It hasn't been easy though, there's been plenty of casualties..."

All of a sudden, Athrun, Yzak and Deaka entered the room.

"We have a slight problem..." Athrun began. "It seems that Creuset wants you to pilot that thing..."

"If you don't then he says you're of no use to us and that we should just get rid of you..." Dearka added, slightly shuddering.

"He wants you to take part in the attack on the Atlantic Federation that we've got going in about a couple days!" Yzak explained.

"Oh no...what are we going to do? Do we even have a choice?" Nicol questioned. Athrun came over to Ai's side.

"My apologies for all of this trouble..." he muttered, slightly hanging his head. The other just gave her looks of pity, for having dragged her into this war.

Ai looked around at them all after hearing their grave news. She moved her hand over to Athrun and took gentle hold of his as she smiled. Her gaze was soft and heartfelt.

"Don't apologize..." she said to them as she smiled weakly. "I knew it would have to happen... sooner or later..." her glance shifted somewhat, as her fatigue was beginning to weigh in on her condition. "If I must then... I must... I can't change that." she added as she let go of him and curled up a bit.

Sacrifice after sacrifice...

"Well, then you might wanna get some rest, tomorrow's gonna be the day when we do all of the preparations, and I'm pretty much thinking that Creuset wants you to help out as much as you can..." Yzak remarked. Athrun looked at her; he had expected her to be yelling at him or something, but not doing something, well, so compassionate.

"Don't worry, we won't let anything bad come of you..." Athrun promised, earning him nods from the others.

"Hey, why don't we update that Gundam while we're at it? It looked a bit unfinished to me, not to mention that it'll give you a better edge in battle." Dearka commented. Nicol gave her a hopeful look suggesting that maybe things might turn out better for tomorrow.

"If you need anything, just ask for one of us, okay?" Nicol remarked, giving her another smile.

"Let her rest now...otherwise we'll be talking all night." Dearka stated, starting to leave the room.

"Alright." replied the others in unison, who then walked out of the room, well except for someone who had hung back...

"You said you were with the Alliance for a awhile right? Then, have you seen a person named Kira Yamato by any chance?" came a soft voice from beside her bed. It turned out that Athrun had stayed behind and gave Ai a hopeful look as he asked that question.

"No... I'm sorry, I haven't..." she answered, a bit regretfully. The tone of his voice hinted to her that this person was more than just an acquaintance to him. 'That name sounds so familiar...' she thought for a split second but then turned her attention back to Athrun. "Thank you..." she said as a tear rolled down her face from the corner of her eye. She then buried her head beneath her arms as she closed her eyes.

'Crot... Orga... Shani... Will we have to meet again on the battlefield..?' she thought to herself as she slipped from her huddled position and stretched out on the bed. 'I don't want them all to fight... Not against one another...' were the final words in her mind as she slipped into her sleep, not knowing what awaited her when she awoke.


Author's Note: Aw... A whole Phase without any Druggies whatsoever, so I thought I might as well let Ai mention them just to put it out there that those three are still in the story! Yeah... I've been liking to add comments to the end now, seeing as most of you viewers out there don't like to do anything but view... But just to put it out there, comments are very much welcomed!