Title: Gundam Seed Destiny (AU) - A love that will never be change

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: T

Notes: My latest GSD fanfic - where I shall totally change parts whereby I actually disliked in its' main series. Therefore, a total Alternate Universe - this story will be.

Pairings: Auel/Lunamaria & Athrun/Meyrin

Chapter 7 - Confrontations!

---

Cosmic Era 73, October 5

GMT 13 00 hours

Venue: Victoria Island, EAF Military Base

"That's it! Lunamaria Hawke - you are coming with me! "

The sudden sound of Auel's ordering tone of voice caused many to turn their attention upon the pale-haired 'Extended' pilot.

Neo Lorrnoke's expression was one of interest with the skeptical arch of an eyebrow - as if trying to figure out what his fellow subodinate was trying to do. Sting's reaction was one of bewilderment, before it changes to his usual mask of indifference. Stellar, meanwhile, still appeared to be oblivious to the happenings taking place around her.

Lunamaria's reaction was one of irritation, especially so when the pale-haired 'Extended' had make a grab for her hand abruptly - and without warning in advance. The redhead tried to remove her hand from the former's, but could only grimaced when the former's grip on her wrist had tightened itself, instead of loosening.

Grumpily, Lunamaria allowed herself to be dragged off towards the direction of the Military Building where the hostel of the EAF members were situated. No one dared to utter anything, for a single glare from the fellow 'Extended' pilot was enough to send them scurrying off in fright.

Auel's grip on Lunamaria's wrist did not loosen until they were inside one of the empty room, with the door securely locked after their admittance into the room. Lunamaria held her sore wrist to herself, as soon as the former had let go of it. Somehow, she was not surprised to find her wrist turning blue-black after being handled by the said 'Extended' so roughly.

"Speak! " The flat tone of Auel's voice, hinted at Lunamaria of the fact that he was getting angry.

Having known the fellow 'Extended' pilot since she was only five, Lunamaria felt herself holding her breath in response to the former's anger. Throughout her years of having known the former, Auel had never spoken to her in such a manner - before. Today was the first time - she found herself on the receiving end of Auel's raw anger.

For a while, words failed her - but that was soon forgotten as Auel shot her a death glare that rivaled hers'. Feeling angry herself, Lunamaria snapped.

"What?! "

Auel glared, before gritting out in sheer frustration. "You jolly well know what I meant ... ! Two options - either you tell me willingly, or I could very well force the truth out from your lips using my own methods. Trust me, it would not be pretty if I were to force things out from you ... I'm giving you three seconds to consider the options available, before I do things my way! "

Lunamaria huffed, as she shot the former a glare of her own. "You wanted to know the reason why I've been treating you the way I did - since morning?! Was that it?! "

Silence met her, there was no response coming from the pilot opposite of her - save for the glare that met her eyes when she looked up at the former. Lunamaria took the silence as the agreement to her statement, and proceeded on to start ranting about her unhappiness towards the actions taken by the EAF directing towards her home country - that she had the misfortune of overhearing earlier that morning.

Throughout the whole period of her whole ranting act, Auel had said nothing to interrupt her. Not even a word in defence of the EAF had been heard, it was just silence. The words died on Lunamaria's lips when she noticed the expression on Auel's features' - there was no unhappiness despite all the rude terms Lunamaria had taken to using while ranting. If anything else, the said 'Extended' seemed more amused than being annoyed.

In response to her sudden silence, Auel merely quirked an eyebrow at her and asked. "Are you quite done with your rant?! "

Since there was no response on Lunamaria's part, Auel began to speak. "Contrary to what you might be thinking about, my feelings towards the EAF was nothing sentimental. Therefore, regardless of how nasty your opinions towards the EAF were ... it meant nothing to me. To me, the EAF was merely the 'organization' that us - the 'Extended' were trained to serve under. "

To say that Lunamaria was baffled, was merely an understatement. For even the ZAFT Forces did meant something to her, so she simply found the thought of Auel - not feeling anything towards the EAF, unbelievable. As if sensing her disbelief, the former began to speak - again.

"There's no need to be surprise ... because' its' the truth. The EAF expected nothing less from us, either ... After all, we were nothing but pawns to them. Pawns that would helped them in their battle and war - we were created solely for the sake of fighting. Memories and our past should meant nothing to us. Feelings were useless - as they called it. What we absolutely have a need to possess - was our abilities to fight. "

Towards the end of Auel's statement, the fellow 'Extended' was spotting on an expression of utter detest. Lunamaria's mouth opened and closed, but she found herself at a loss of speech. Silence was the only response Auel had received from the redhead, no longer was the redhead emitting anger. Instead, Lunamaria Hawke was now spotting on a look of absolute disbelief.

Apparently, Auel was the first to regain his cool composure. Turning to the still stunned redhead, the pale-haired 'Extended' smirked at the former's reaction before adding as an afterthought that if Lunamaria ever felt the need to curse the actions of the EAF - she was more than welcome to do so. For listening to her rants would be a whole lot better than being subjected to her glares of hostility without knowing the clause of it.

With that said, Auel left Lunamaria alone in the room while he headed out for some fresh air. Lunamaria was left staring blankly at the empty spot where Auel had been standing earlier on for a few moments, before collapsing down on the bed behind her in weariness.

---

GMT 14 00 hours

Venue: Minerva

Meyrin Hawke was having her late lunch together with her three friends, Vino; Youlan and Shinn Asuka - when she noticed Athrun Zala coming in with the blonde princess in tow. Ignoring Shinn's words of protest, and the curious glances being directed her way by the other two technicians whom were present at her table - Meyrin beckoned for the two new-comers to join them.

"Are you sure ...that you want us over? " Athrun Zala queried, as he took in the grumpy expression on the red-eyed Coordinator's features. Moreover, he knew the former could never remain civil for more than five minutes with Cagalli around.

Meyrin shot Shinn a warning look, before looking back at Athrun Zala's skeptical reaction and said - firmly.

"Don't worry about Shinn ... I'll deal with him accordingly, if he crossed the 'line'. " With that said, Meyrin directed her warning words of caution towards all three members whom were present at her table.

"... Well, if you say so ... " Athrun finally gave up, and promptly settled himself into the empty seat opposite of the redhead.

That left Cagalli with the only empty spot that was directly across of Shinn Asuka, as Athrun Zala was facing Meyrin Hawke. The last two seats that was facing each other had already been taken up by Vino and Youlan, respectively.

"..." Silence reigned, for no one dared to speak - fearing that it might resulted in yet another verbal fight between the blonde and the current ace pilot of the ZAFT Military.

Finally, it was Meyrin whom broke the dreadful silence by directing a question towards the blue-haired Coordinator, seated directly across her. "So ... I take it as the two of you was back to normal ... ? "

Meyrin tried to sound casual, while taking a small bite of the teriyaki-chicken of her lunch set. That caused Athrun Zala to share a look with Cagalli, before Athrun turned back to the redhead and nodded in response.

The barely noticable nod from Athrun caused Meyrin to arch an eyebrow skeptically, before shaking her head in defeat. Obviously, Athrun had been the first to cave in ... it was obvious from the way those two were acting around one another. Giving up on the idea of attempting a verbal conversation, Meyrin opted for the alternative way of conversing.

Eyeing Athrun Zala plaintively, Meyrin shot a glance over to the silent blonde before quirking an eyebrow at the former - quizzically. 'What exactly was going on between the two of you?' Meyrin's eyes were asking.

Athrun Zala shrugged, indicating that he had no idea - himself. In response, Meyrin only rolled her eyes backwards before shaking her head at Athrun's reaction.

"You know ... I've never did like your father ... " Meyrin's sudden words caused a series of chain reactions, for no one knew the reason behind Meyrin's sudden decision to speak up. Thus, Vino and Youlan merely stared at Meyrin - blankly before turning their attention towards the still silent and unmoving blue-haired Coordinator.

Cagalli's reaction was one of surprise and uneasiness, before snucking a look towards the stoic and silent figure - seated next to her. Meyrin smiled secretly to herself, for Cagalli's little actions had failed to escape from her sharp eyes.

Seated beside Meyrin, Shinn's reactions was the most interesting to watch. Initially, there was bewilderment and confusion - as the former probably thought that Meyrin was talking to him. A few seconds later, the confusion cleared off to give way to realization and anxiety - probably catching on to the fact that Meyrin was actually talking to Athrun Zala, rather than him.

Surprisingly, Athrun's only reaction was a plain nod of acknowledgement. Upon sighting the various expressions of the onlookers, Athrun was not surprised to find himself being faced with four sets of disbelieving eyes.

"I know ... this is not the first time that you are telling me - this! " Athrun Zala responded dryly, as he threw the fellow redhead a look of mock-annoyance.

Meyrin feigned surprised, before shaking her head earnestly and said. "No ... this is the first time I told you about the disliking feelings that I felt - towards your father. Last time, it was my sister whom kept on reminding you on how much we dislike your father ... "

"..." Athrun sighed, as he rolled his eyes heaven-wards at Meyrin's response. However, he nearly spat out his mouthful of water when he heard Meyrin's next statement.

"Athrun ... You have got to stop blaming yourself for your father's actions! I may have dislike your father - but I do like your mother ... Besides, you are not your father ... you are only the son of your father! However, please bear it in mind that you are also the son of your mother - Lenore Zala!" Meyrin said, firmly as she looked into the blue-haired Coordinator's eyes with intensity.

There was a period of silence, before Athrun broke away from the eye-contact and sighed aloud. "Alright - I got it! You can stop staring at me - already ... "

"Good!" Meyrin muttered aloud, before turning her attention back to her lunch set. A quick scan of her lunch set notified her of the fact that one of her fried prawn was missing in action.

Glancing back up at the person seated opposite of her, she was just in time to witness the usually stoic Athrun Zala swallowing the last portion of her missing prawn. Glaring at the former heatedly, the fellow Coordinator only grinned triumphantly at his achievements for a second before replacing the grin with one of his usual business 'smile'.

Meyrin huffed in annoyance, before hurrying through the rest of the food items on her lunch set. After the earlier stunt being pulled by the usually serious Athrun Zala - Meyrin dared not risk the chance of having her food being stolen, again. Therefore, she made it a mental point to finish whatever food items that was on her lunch set swiftly before the 'food theif' had another opportunity to strike.

---

Cosmic Era 73, October 6

GMT 08 00 hours

Venue: The Kingdom of ORB

The Minerva had finally reached the Kingdom of ORB, promptly at the global time of 08 00 hours. Upon reaching the destination where the Minerva crew members could finally allowed some time to themselves, especially for the bridge crew members whom had been undergoing a lot of stress during the journey across the Alantic Ocean.

The news of the EAF nukes attack being directed towards their hometown - the PLANTs had reached them, a while ago. Apparently, most of the countries within the Alantic Federation had decided to ignore their attempt at saving the world from a certain destruction by minimizing the threat of having the 'Junius 7' crashing into the Earth.

Instead, most of the Alliance members had decided to push the blame of the said event upon them - just because part of their own members within the Military had decided to follow through with the late Chairman's plan to wipe out the entire human race residing on Earth. So far, the Alantic Federation had already began their usual act of pressurizing the rest of the neutrality countries to join them in their alliance.

Captain Gladys appeared to be relieved by the fact that the Minerva was now fully docked in the open port of the Kingdom of ORB. Athrun Zala observed silently as he watched his employer - Cagalli shaking the hand of the Captain, as a gesture of grateful-ness. In response, the Captain had responded to Cagalli's words of gratitude with equal respect.

"Cagalli - its' time to go ... " Athrun broke in, reminding the blonde politely that they were already running late.

"Alright, let's go then ... " Cagalli nodded towards her bodyguard, Athrun Zala. Behind them, both the Captain and the Vice-Captain made a move to follow them towards the main gate.

After all, it was basic courteousy to meet up with the fellow committee members of the host country to show their appreciation of being allowed to enter the said country. Especially, with the current world situation - protraying the PLANTs and the ZAFT Military in a negative light.

The group of four were nearing the main gate of the Minerva, when the blonde suddenly paused in her steps and turned towards the Captain of the fleet. That caught the Captain off-guard, as the former proceeded to consult the blonde politely if there was anything that the former was unhappy about.

Athrun said nothing but stood by as he observed the slight shake of Cagalli's head to indicate that nothing was wrong - before the blonde asked if the Captain could allowed the CIC officer by the name of Meyrin Hawke, to take some time off - that very afternoon.

That was indeed surprising, for the Vice-Captain of the Minerva was staring at Cagalli - strangely. The Captain, had remained rather composed but still - the look of surprise in the former's eyes was very much obvious to Athrun Zala.

"May I inquire on the reason - why? " The Captain of the Minerva, finally asked.

In response to the former's inquiry, Cagalli merely shrugged and looked over to Athrun for an answer. Since, the request had been brought up by Athrun Zala initially - and that the Captain of the Minerva was still waiting for an answer to her query.

Athrun had no other options available but to provide them with a logical response, and at the same time not giving away too much information. Especially, when he had a distinctive feeling that no one aside from those whom knew them personally should be told about Kira and Lacus whereabouts.

"Well, Meyrin and I were, in fact - old accquitances from school. I had the intention to invite her for lunch, this afternoon to do some catching up ... " Athrun finally responded, providing them with a reason that sounds somewhat logical and not too far away from the expected truth - either.

The only thing that he had wisely chose to leave out from his provided answer - was that the catching up session also included Kira Yamato and his ex-fiancee, Lacus Clyne.

---

Stepping out of the Minerva with Cagalli, walking ahead of him - and the two highest ranking officers of the Minerva behind him. Athrun Zala was hardly surprising to find nearly half of the Parliament members waiting around for Cagalli to emerge, and he nearly had to bite his own tongue to prevent a snort of laughter from escaping him.

Especially, when he witnessed the way Cagalli was being trapped by the Seirans' - with the father and son commenting about how much workload had been accumulated while the former was away from the country. Yet, Athrun Zala could not helped but frowned upon the actions taken by Yuuna Roma Seiran - aiming them towards him.

No sooner had Cagalli reached the former, the purple-haired representative had turned towards him with a half-mocking expression and thanked him for his efforts at taking care of the Head Representative. After which, the former had added that his duty was now fully accomplished and that - he was free to go off, if he desired to do so.

It would have been fine if that was all, but unfortunately not. Yuuna Roma Seiran had to look at him truimphantly, as the former placed a hand endearingly on the shoulder of Cagalli. Athrun Zala need not have to look twice to understand that it was a move to show off, to gloat - but what Athrun Zala do not understand was why did the former thought it necessary to show him those things which the former did.

What was more ridiculous was the way Cagalli had looked back at him, as if pleading for his understanding when the younger Seiran member led her away - heading towards the direction of the Parliament House. While Athrun Zala understood from the blonde's actions that the blonde felt nothing towards her supposed 'fiance' - Yuuna Roma Seiran, what Athrun absolutely do not understand was why, Cagalli had thought to seek help from him ...

After all, Athrun Zala was no one but a mere bodyguard of the former. Besides, with the straight-forward personality of Cagalli - the former could simply just inform that supposed 'fiance' of hers' to leave her alone, for she was not interested in Yuuna - at all.

Shaking his head to stop himself from dwelling on the matter further, Athrun Zala decided to make a move for the hostel where he had been staying - during his stay in the Kingdom of ORB over the past two years. He turned towards the Captain of the Minerva, and informed the former that he would be back in an hour's time to collect Meyrin.

The Captain nodded at him to indicate that she would indeed helped to pass the message along, before heading back towards the bridge of the Minerva. It was agreed that the Minerva would be led to the Morgenroete where the technicians situated over at the factory would helped to provide re-supplies, and repairing services to the fleet.

to be continued

Date started: 07/02/08

Date completed: 08/02/08

Date edited: 08/02/08