Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: A Twisted Universe

Chapter 7: This is a Deus Ex Machina, Isn't It?

Written by Skywalker6119

Disclaimer: Gundam and all affiliated terms are owned by Bandai and not by me. If it was owned by me, it wouldn't be as successful as it is now.

I'm trying a new format for this story in this chapter. Most of the stories I've read have spaces between paragraphs, so I'll be doing that here to see how it looks, if it flows better.


Tsk, fsss. Tsk, fsss. Tsk, fsss. Pierce the fabric, pull the needle. Pierce the fabric, pull the needle. Mindless action, done without thought, automatically. The needle took up the whole of her consciousness. It was all she thought about. That was why she sewed.

Tsk- She stopped. She had run out of thread. And there was someone banging on her door, calling out to her. "Cagalli! Please! Open the door! We're all worried about you!" The frantic voice cried out to her, pleading, crying. It wasn't the needle. It did not matter. It did not register. She ignored it, taking more thread, continuing to sew.

An eternity passed as she worked. The stars grew old, died, and were reborn within the time it took to make a single stitch. Time held no meaning in that place, where the light never changed, the air never moved, the seamstress never stopped to rest. Sometimes everything would pause, as the world twirled, as she blacked out, but things would soon start again when she recovered, and the eternity would continue. But an eternity is merely eternal, not forever, and its end was announced with a loud BANG! She had been still for so long; her movements seemed strange and alien. Turning her head to the source of the disturbance, putting down the needle, opening her mouth to speak; none of it seemed natural.

The door hung on its hinges, its lock blasted away. Kisaka stood in the doorway, a remote trigger in his hand. He looked around the room, taking in the piles of clothing and bed sheets sewn together into massive pieces of fabric, covered with intricate designs. A dozen spent spools littered the floor, where Cagalli sat, another pile of fabric laying across her lap. Bags hung under her sunken eyes, a slight trail of dried blood hung beneath her nose, and her clothes hung loosely around her body.

The trigger dropped to the floor as he ran to her, calling her name. "Cagalli! Cagalli, what've you done!?" She just stared dumbly at him as he picked her up, cradling her in his arms, as he rushed down the corridors to the empty mess hall. Gingerly seating her upon a bench, he turned to get a cup of water from the dispensers, but the sound of Cagalli's voice stopped him.

"Don't bother…Kisaka. I don't…want it." Her voice was dry and whisper-quiet. It didn't sound like the firebrand that Kisaka had known back in the days when Aube had been a powerful nation on its own right; even when she had been wracked with guilt and fear upon returning to Aube and her people, she had still contained that fierce energy that made her a leader and a fighter. Now she sounded like she had never sounded before, defeated.

"Cagalli, you've gone four days without water or food. You won't survive if you keep doing this, you know that very well. If you want to live, you have to take this." Kisaka puts down a tray of food and a cup of water onto the table. With an angry motion, the first sign of passion that she's shown in four days, Cagalli shoves them off the table onto the floor. Again, in her defeated voice, she says, "I only want…to…d-die." There, it's been said. "I…betrayed them, twice. I…destroyed everything. I deserve…to die." Cagalli sat there, motionless as she spoke those words. Kisaka looked at her in shock, and maybe a little fear, or anger. He got another cup of water and set it down in front of her, joining her across the table.

"I…said I…didn't want it." She glared at the cup, a slight tint of her fire moving once more through her mind. Kisaka just sighed, and brought the cup to his side. Uzumi, I think it's time to tell her. I'm sorry, but she has to know. I can't allow her to continue on like this. "Cagalli. Look at me. You were saved for a reason."

"I can't imagine what cruel god would save me just to do this to me."

"I don't mean that you were saved by a god. By your father. Do you remember what you told me, when we were talking about your escape from Aube. Your father locked you within that bomb shelter when you would've rather gone with him to the command center. That bomb shelter saved you when the capital was bombed and the palace was destroyed. You had been left with everything that you needed, even a radio to signal rescuers and falsified identification papers. You're father prepared all that for you, remember? He knew that Aube would be attacked by the Earth Alliance sooner or later, and he wanted you to live, for this." Kisaka reached into his back pocket, pulling out a photograph and showing it to the silent Cagalli. There were two babies in the photograph, both sleeping, held by an unfamiliar woman. She recognized one of the babies was herself, a cute little button sleeping in a pink blanket. But the other baby, another cute little thing, but with brown hair and wrapped in a blue blanket, was unfamiliar. Kisaka flipped the picture over. On the back was written Kira—Cagalli.

"The boy is Kira Yamato. Cagalli…He is your twin brother." Cagalli gaped in shock, and didn't answer. Kisaka continued. "You were separated at birth by your father, a friend of Uzumi Nara Atha, who chose to adopt you. I don't know why he chose to do this, but Kira is part of the reason why your father sacrificed himself to save you. To continue the Atha name and restore Aube, you two were to find each other and work together to restore what we have all lost. You have to live Cagalli, for your brother…for you father, for Aube." Those last words echoed in Cagalli's mind as the world went black, as she fell into unconsciousness, the shock of these revelations and her attempted suicide overwhelming her.

---

The sound of conversation awoke her. As she gathered her wits about her, the sound stopped. "Cagalli!" A familiar voice cried out as someone embraced her. Vision still hazy from her sleep, she just embraced them back, closing her eyes and enjoying that nice warm body lying atop her. "Um…you guys. I'm right here."

Her eyes burst open, and she quickly shoved off that enjoyably warm body. Cagalli rubbed her eyes to clear them and slowly took in the scene. She was lying on one of the sickbay beds, hooked up to an IV drip. Sitting on a chair beside the bed was Kira, an embarrassed smile on his face; and lying on the floor, a thoroughly embarrassed Ahmed.

"Kyaa! What are you doing!? How long have you been here!? Why!?" Cagalli jerked into sitting position, holding her blanket in front of her with her left hand, though there was no need for it, while her right pointed at Ahmed. The embarrassment was starting to get to her now as well, her face becoming hot and a blush growing on her cheeks.

"Um, well, to answer your first question Cagalli," Ahmed smiled sheepishly as he said this, "We're just watching over you. We've been here about a day, since you collapsed in the mess hall. And um…we're…well I'm…um. Kira, could you please go outside?" Ahmed asked his friend, who was still smiling sheepishly as he watched the unfolding scene. "Sure Ahmed. Just remember to control yourself this time, hmm?" With that last remark, he was out the door.

"So you got rid of a potential witness. Now what are you going to do, attack me?" Cagalli smirked as she watched Ahmed's reaction. "No! I didn't mean what I did! I mean I did, but not on purpose! I mean…it was just…just a spur of the moment thing! I di-didn't do anything to you before that, and I d-don't want to do anything now!" Ahmed stuttered out his defense and he climbed back onto his chair.

"I know; I'm joking Ahmed. I know you wouldn't do something like that," Cagalli said with a smile. "Thanks for caring about me." She lowered her head with those quiet words. "I'm…sorry, Ahmed."

Ahmed looked at her sadly. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Cagalli. The only ones apologizing should be ZAFT. I…I heard everything Kisaka said earlier."

She looked at him in amazement. "You…you know…" Tears choked off her reply. He knows…

Ahmed placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know. I know, Cagalli. And I don't care, either." She looked at him with surprise, tears still filling her eyes. "I don't care that you are the heir to Aube, and that you joined the Alliance. All of that doesn't matter to me, because you are Cagalli Yula. And I love you."

---

(1)Kira sat in the corridor, hugging his knees. She's alright…she's alright. Thoughts of relief repeated themselves to him. Until this moment, he didn't realise the attraction he felt towards her. It wasn't love, or lust, like he experienced with Flay. It was more…subtle. Almost like the connection he had with Athrun before they had parted ways. Yes, that was it. Cagalli felt like a long-lost friend, something that had been ripped out of his life a long time ago.

Kira's musings were interrupted by the whoosh of the door. Looking up, he saw a fiercely blushing Ahmed rushing out of the room. Ahmed glanced at Kira and said, "Kira, Cagalli wants to talk to you." With that, he ran off down the corridor.

What? What was that? Kira stood up and glanced into the room. A fiercely blushing Cagalli, hair more disheveled than Kira had noticed ten minutes ago, was leaning against the wall the bunk was mounted on. Looking up, she noticed Kira, and quickly started combing her hair with her hands.

The door closed behind Kira. Neither Kira nor Cagalli spoke, simply waiting. Cagalli was looking down at her bedsheets, now playing with her hair rather than combing it. Kira was leaning against the doorframe, watching Cagalli. Finally, Kira sat down on the opposite bunk. "What did you want to talk to me about, Cagalli?"

She stopped playing with her hair, and looked directly at Kira. "Kira, who were your mother and father?"

"My mom and dad? Why do you wanna know, Cagalli?" Kira asked hesitantly.

"It's sort of important."

"My parents were Caridad and Haruma Yamato. They were Naturals, scientists. They died during the Alliance's initial attack."

"Were they anything like you, Kira? In appearance, I mean."

"No, they weren't. I'd never heard of any family member having violet eyes before. Why is that important though? My violet eyes are one of the genetic modifications I got when I became a Coordinator."

"Your parents never…treated you special? Were there times when your parents kept secrets from you, or forbid you from doing things other kids were doing?"

"No. I thought I had a pretty normal life. What's this all about, Cagalli?" Kira asked tiredly.

"I always thought I'd lived a normal life. I might've been more privileged than most other people, and I might not've had the abilities of Coordinators, but I was happy, and the people around me were happy. That's what made it normal. Do you know where I grew up, Kira?" Cagalli pointed out the window, where, on the edge of the horizon, the charred crater that was Aube was just barely visible. "On that island over there, that small island, where people knew just how important they were in the universe. Utterly insignificant, just like Aube is now."

Shock didn't begin to describe the range of feelings Kira was going now. Certainly, there was a great deal of shock. Moreover, there was also quite a lot of anger, and rage. A native of Aube had left behind their country to go and fight for the people who had destroyed the nation in the first place and had forced Kira to travel the bloody path. "So, why'd you join the Alliance?"

"You're not mad? Furious in any way? Kisaka said that the members of AFLA would kill me if they found out I was from Aube."

"Oh, I'm furious. I'm wondering why were fighting for the Alliance. They went and conquered your homeland, and you go and join them. I do want to kill you, but I want to know why first." Those hard eyes, that cold expression, they spoke of so much hate and anger to Cagalli.

"Kira. Calm down and let me finish. I'll explain everything. Now, what did the Alliance do to the nobles after they'd conquered Aube?" Cagalli pushed Kira back down onto the bunk, and asked him in a calm voice, hoping to placate him. Of all people, a Coordinator should be able to understand.

"They, and their families, were rounded up by the Alliance. We…we never knew what happened to them." Kira looked down at the floor, those fearful and hateful memories flooding back into him. "Their disappearance was one of the reasons a lot of people joined us in resisting the Alliance and ZAFT. If we could restore our strength, maybe we could've found them. Do you know what happened to them?" He asked Cagalli with a forceful voice.

"I know a bit. I joined the Alliance to get some of them freed, the young Natural children. They were satisfied with the trade. The children were sent off to the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and I don't know what happened after that. The rest, they were taken away somewhere." She refused to make eye contact with Kira. Why bother lying anymore? If he's my brother, he deserves to know the truth, right?

'What if he doesn't understand? What if he doesn't believe? Why do you have to say that shameful truth out loud?'

Let's just say it. I don't want to keep lying.

"You traded yourself?" Kira's face was wrinkled in puzzlement. "Why would you be so important, Cagalli?"

"You promise you won't tell what I'm about to tell you to anyone?"

"I promise. You must've been related to someone important here, maybe some Morgenroete executive's daughter or something?"

"Not exactly." Cagalli suppressed a sigh. Well, this is it. "Kira, my full name is Cagalli Yula Atha. I am the daughter of Representative Uzumi Nara Atha."

Kira blinked. So, that's how it is. "So, you, who was our country's 'princess', the scion of our greatest and most honored family, joined the Alliance. And it turns out that you weren't even related to them. Then you really never betrayed us, because you were never one of us." Kira sneered at Cagalli, and stalked out of the room, leaving her with that spiteful goodbye.

---

"Well, what now? Aube's been destroyed, there's nowhere left for you people to go. We still have to go up into space to rendezvous with the Tenth fleet." Murrue Ramius, Natarle Badgireul, Mu La Flaga, Kisaka, and Sahib were gathered in the Captain's quarters, drinking their low-grade coffee.

"There were only two mass drivers large enough to propel the Archangel into space. The Kaguya Mass Driver here, and the Victoria Mass Driver. So we'll just go to Victoria, right?" Mu said. "It's pretty obvious what to do."

"You're forgetting our situation. WE," Sahib indicated to himself and Kisaka, "Aren't crewmembers on this ship. We're rebels, and just because Aube is gone, we're not going to stop being rebels."

Natarle sighed. "Well then, what're we supposed to do with you? There're more of you than us on this ship. If you won't join us, then you've gotta leave this ship. Problem is, some of your rebels are key bridge officers. What'll we do about that?"

"Drop us off, and don't talk about us." All eyes turned to Kisaka. "To get to Victoria, you'll have to cross the Indian Ocean. You can just take us to the Equatorial Union and drop us off there. Most of us don't want to get involved with your war. A neutral nation would be the best place to leave us."

"We can't just abandon the cause, Kisaka!"

"There is no cause! Aube is gone, anything we do now has to be in the interests of our future, and the future of the ideals that Representative Atha espoused. For those ideals to spread, we have to live to spread them. All of us from AFLA, we are all that is left of Aube, here on Earth. We are the only people who can hope to spread Representative Atha's message of peace and tolerance to the people here. Sahib, the loss of our cause allows us to truly spread it. WE are no longer tied to any country. We can spread that message to people across the world, without the stigma of nationalism, because we will become a part of the nations of the world, a community not separated by borders and suspicious of one another. THAT was the dream of our Representative, a nation of humanity, Natural and Coordinator, which would span the globe and reach out into space without being divided into territories and nations, working against each other. Now we can accomplish that."

Mu sighed, a hand to his face. If only the rest of us had shared that vision, he thought to himself, memories of the Grimaldi Massacre returning to him. "Let's do that, then. Maybe you people can help end this horrible war, and there won't be any more 'Hawks of Endymion.' There was little more to say, so this command cadre, made up of people from many nations, with disparate beliefs and goals, except for a hope for peace, began the arduous path towards that peace, and turned towards the refuge of the Equatorial Union. Behind them, deep beneath the waves and miles away, another group of people marched on the path of war.


Well, after long delays and stops, I've finally finished Chapter 7. More details on my author page. I totally rewrote it from the draft that I posted up on the site earlier. Sorry if it feels a little rushed, and if it's shorter than other chapters. Chapter 8 won't be up for a while if I continue to write at this pace, but I'll try to get it done by the end of September, and I'll try and shorten chapters so that the story is updated faster. Thanks to all my readers for sticking this far. Be blessed with the sign of the W, the A, the S, and the D.

Fleeting Dream will probably be updated faster than A Twisted Universe, because it's easier to write for. With this story, I've twisted things so far out of alignment that I can't easily borrow personalities from the show. So, even though my other stories will be updated more frequently, that doesn't mean I've put off working on this one, it's just that writing for this story takes longer and I'll be releasing other things in the meantime.

A Distortion of Truth is still in the outline stages, but the first chapter is taking shape. Chapter 3 of Fleeting Dream is also in the works, for anyone here who's reading my other story.

Note: If you are a fan of Kira/Cagalli that doesn't like them being related, please don't stop reading this story.

Here's to all the soldiers who have died and are still dying to make this world a better place. (Originally, this was put here around Memorial Day, but I rewrote it again and it's still significant.) Personally, I thought the decision to go to war was stupid, but once we start something, we should finish it.

Also, the images noted in previous chapters have been moved to a deviantart account, along with some sketches of mine done independently. It's on the homepage link.

Happy E3, Everybody! Too bad no one reading this will actually be there, but that's how it is now. Just watch Gamespot and G4, I guess that's all we can do, eh?

(1)I'm junk at romance things, with no experience in them at all. They are alien concepts and feelings to me, so when I watch such things, I don't really understand it, and thus can't really copy it into this story. Sorry.