Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED.

Turn Ten: To Make the Right Choice

"We've got three Earth Forces warships heading towards the legged ship."

Athrun and Axis heard about the report as soon as the CIC in charge spotted the three ships. What they didn't know was that one of the ships contained a very important Earth Alliance official named George Allster. Even if they had known about this revelation, no one in ZAFT would have cared if the notoriously bigoted bastard had died or not.

The Vesalius stood beside the Von Trapp. Both ship's captains had to make sure that the Aker siblings are well restrained (or more likely, they had to make sure that Axis was restrained, seeing as how Alex was capable of restraining herself) and didn't get into fights. Alex herself became aware of the rare opportunity to not only destroy the three ship advance fleet, but the Archangel as well. So, she had prepped up her CGUE in case the opportunity presented itself.

"We're moving closer to the enemy fleet. They will be alert and armed because we destroyed one of their ships," Alex warned the crew of the Von Trapp. "We have to beat the Vesalius to the finish line, or we won't be able to win our little rivalry against the Vesalius and its crews."

"You mean, you want to beat Axis in this game, even though this is war?" Jaden Tanner asked back. Alex nodded and smirked.

"Oh, Jaden. You're the smart guy around here. Where's Cyrus?" she asked. A minute later, the Iranian returned to the bridge along with a new crew member, of Egyptian descent. "Cyrus, who's the new member?"

"This is Isis Meferu-Ishtar. She just completed her training at the ZAFT academy, and she was sent here to join us. She's a pilot of a GINN High Maneuver," Cyrus answered back. "She's also one of my best friends."

"A pleasure to meet you." Alex saluted to the new red coat. "I'm your new commanding officer, Alexandra Aker-"

"Ah! I may have heard about you. One of my ancestors was a part of the Solbrave Squadron. Naguib Neferu," the Egyptian answered in a surprised tone. Alex was surprised at this new information. "I will be joining you as of now."

"That's good-"

"What's going on right now?" Cyrus asked curiously.

"it appears that the enemy's three ship fleet has no intention of slowing down. They really are moving towards the legged ship," Alex answered back, "Activate all weapons and make sure that they're aimed at the warships. TheVesaliuswill fire after our ship has launched its attack. Relay this message to the Vesalius immediately."

Inside the Vesalius, Axis wasn't surprised by the message his sister had sent to the Vesalius and mumbled, "Typical tactic, sister."

"Axis!" Axis turned around and saw Athrun move towards him. "Are we launching yet?"

"We'd better. Otherwise Alex would call the shots and boss us around," Axis replied darkly, "and she would do it despite the fact that Le Creuset is the overall leader of this task force."

"It can't be helped. You, Alex and Le Creuset have more experience than I do, but she outranks Le Creuset because of experience. We have to live with that kind of reality," Athrun replied back as they climbed inside their mobile suits. "We'll get our orders to launch soon."

"We'd better," Axis answered back with a pessimistic tone. "But how long do we have to wait until we actually get out?"

"All mobile suits, you're cleared to launch."

Axis grinned as soon as he heard the order. "Axis Aker, GINN. Taking off!"

"Athrun Zala, Aegis. Launching!"

Once the Aegis and Axis's GINN launched out of the Vesalius, they joined the other Aker sibling who had already launched with her own team. Just as Axis had suspected, Alex had a squad that used the High Maneuver versions of the GINN while the leader used a custom CGUE that was three times faster than the new CGUE Deep Arms. Axis readied his rifle as he and Athrun raced to join the other Aker team.

"Even though we're looking for Lacus, we would certainly get killed in the long run if we missed this opportunity to sink the legged ship," Axis warned Athrun. "We're moving out."

"Roger."

OUTER SPACE

Tieria had returned from a briefing regarding the mission Fon Spaak had personally requested to be done when Regene had left the VEDA chamber that was installed inside the ship. His twin had learned that the Revive and Anew type Innovades were close to completion, and would be activated as soon as possible. Since Tieria and Regene had taken over VEDA, they decided to place a special rule on the Anew type Innovade, just so that she could have a normal life, despite VEDA's order to disappear every ten years. Tieria was more concerned about the Revive type Innovade, since he caused a lot of trouble, as much as Hilling Care did.

"Regene, how long until this ship arrives at the target location?" Leif asked Regene.

"Shortly. Besides, we may be able to see what Fon's up to now," Regene replied back, but Leif suddenly clutched his head, indicating that he's in pain. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing much. I feel as though something is out there to take over my body again," Leif groaned painfully.

Regene frowned. "It can't be Beside Pain again. You practically took him out."

"I know that, but he has the ability to upload his own personality into other Innovades too. There was a clone of Sky Eclipse that was taken over by Beside, but that clone died after he uploaded himself," Leif replied back.

"We're getting close," Tieria reported through his Quantum Brainwaves. "Get into your Gundams."

Every Meister started to move towards the hangar as the Gundams were being prepped up for combat. According to Fon's predictions, the mission would commence while the battle was still occurring, with possible losses to both sides. Moreover, a few mobile suits from the Vesalius and Von Trapp would show up in an attempt to rescue Lacus Clyne. All of Celestial Being didn't know about the Aker family, other than Setsuna. However, he only acknowledged Graham Aker as his worthy but one sided opponent.

"Two Nazca-class warships have been detected. They're the Vesalius and Von Trapp," Demetrius Vashti reported.

"Good. All Gundams, prepare to launch immediately!" Reena ordered.

"Roger that," Tieria acknowledged. "Tieria Erde, Hermos. Taking off."

"Hixar Fermi, Dagonet, locked on the target."

"Regene Regetta, Tristan. Taking off."

"Leif Recitativo, Diabound. Eliminating targets."

All four Gundams took off from the Ptolemaios 3 and flew in the direction of the ZAFT warships. Tieria noticed the Archangel had opened its catapults and launched the Strike and Fon's Astrea as the Hermos led its squad towards the white warship, but they had to keep a good distance away from the battle.

"About time you got here," Fon told Tieria. "One of the warships contains the father of Flay Allster. The Vice Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation, George Allster."

"That man? Out of all men who had to get involved in a battle, it had to be him." Hixar readied the sniper rifle, but the Diabound was immobile. "Leif?"

Leif moaned and groaned as his head was throbbing. "What's this painful headache?"

"C'mon, let me take over. You haven't gotten rid of me yet, Leif Recitativo,"the other voice called inside Leif's head."We have work to do, and we cannot allow the main branch of Celestial Being to succeed if we are to create a bit of chaos around the battlefield."

"Go away! I thought I got rid of you!" Leif shouted back.

"But I'm very hard to get rid of. Besides, you should know my ability to download my persona into other Innovades too, Leif," Beside Pain managed to take over the body he once lost control. "I'm not gonna lose this body ever again, you hear?"

"Leif?" Hixar asked, but gasped in horror as he heard a shockingly familiar voice. "Oh no, that voice. It's Beside Pain!"

"What?" Tieria asked back shockingly. "Who's he?"

"That guy's a nut job version of Ribbons Almark. He has a split personality, like Haptism. Only his is much far worse. He can upload or download his personality into another terminal, making him a cyber immortal," Hixar answered back as he recalled his battle against such a troublesome opponent. "I can see the white mobile suit engaging the Aegis."

"Look out!" Regene shouted out as a stray shot from Axis came close to hitting them. "That machine..."

"Mobile suits? With a solar furnace?" Axis wondered as he and Athrun shot down a couple of mobile armors. "Shit, it must be them. Celestial Being. Even with the masked Gundam face, I can tell by your solar reactors, Gundams!"

"There's another one," Athrun spotted a warship and destroyed it. He turned towards the Astrea as it grabbed its beam saber and clashed blades. "Wait a minute. This isn't the white mobile suit, and that's not Kira inside."

"Oh? You want to know where your friend Kira is? Tell me, Aegis pilot. What is so special about my good friend Kira?" Fon asked back as the Aegis was kicked aside by the Astrea. "Are you trying to lure him into ZAFT, even though he pretty much betrayed his own people just to protect his friends?"

"Why you..." Athrun growled, but the Strike fired its beam rifle to intervene.

"So Naruto and the Serpent Tail guys aren't launching at all because of their mission to protect Miss Lacus? That's fine. I can focus on getting rid of that incoming CGUE!" Fon cackled and fired the beam rifle at Alex's CGUE. "What's so special about that CGUE?"

"A Gundam...I see. So you're Celestial Being." Alex replied back and smirked. "If you're Celestial Being, then maybe I should try to capture your machine, huh Gundam?"

"Tch. Not a chance in church, man," Fon answered back and continued to fire the beam rifle at Alex's CGUE. "Such persistence. Kira!"

Athrun and Kira traded beam rifle fire at each other and clashed blades at the same time. Fon on the other hand, was busy trying to lure the CGUE piloted by Alex away from the battlefield and would have succeeded if it hadn't been for Axis's intervention as he fired his rifle at the CGUE, forcing Alex to clash blades with him. Fon went back towards the Aegis and Strike, stalling for time until Celestial Being could intervene and possibly destroy both the Earth Forces and ZAFT fleet.

"You wanted a rematch, brother? I assure you, you will not win," Alex grabbed her sword and clashed blades with Axis.

"You're the one to talk," Axis spat back and kicked the CGUE aside. Alex gained control quickly and slammed the sword into Axis's shield as he flipped to the side and slammed his own blade into the other sword. "You, Mom and Dad have treated me like trash for too long, I've had enough of this treatment."

"Well, that's the way it works, Axis. You were born a defect, so we do have the right to distance ourselves from such a defective human being," Alex replied back maliciously, but Axis swung the sword into her cockpit. "That's not gonna work on me!"

The CGUE kicked the GINN's sword aside and grabbed it before lunging towards him. Axis paused for a moment and waited for Alex to try and stab him before he can(could) flip her over and possibly kill her. His GINN kicked the CGUE again, repeatedly until Alex regained control of her machine and sent the GINN flying into the asteroid. Both siblings continued to fight each other as furiously as possible, not giving in to each other lest they be labeled as a defect themselves.

"My entire family...they're never gonna be sorry for what they did," Axis snarled back at Alex.

Alex turned to her own ship. "Von Trapp, I want you to launch an attack on the last ship. If we can kill that bigoted bastard Allster then the better."

"Roger that."

Inside the Archangel, Flay frantically asked for her father's ship, despite the fact that Sai was trying to restrain her from looking for her father. Murrue and Natarle reminded her not to enter the bridge while in the middle of a battle. One of the CICs reported the damage Mu's Moebius had taken and that it was returning to the ship. Just outside, the Serpent Tail group could see trouble lying ahead, with Naruto and Elijah taking care of their own provisions.

"Where's that boy, Kira? He said everything was going to be OK," Flay asked frantically.

"He's doing the best he can. However, he's up against the Aegis, so it won't go well," Sai answered back sadly. "Still, he's doing all he can."

"But Kira promised me that daddy's gonna be fine!" Flay insisted. Once she and Sai were out of the bridge, she turned towards the room where Lacus was staying and grabbed her and returned to the bridge. "If they fire at my dad's ship, I'll kill this girl!"

Naruto and Sakura arrived at the bridge, shocked at what Flay had just done. "Take it easy, Flay. You don't want to do this."

Unfortunately, the Von Trapp and Vesaliusfired their guns at the same time and their beams hit the Montgomery, right at the bridge. George Allster died without having to see his daughter one last time as the ship begins to explode. Just outside the battlefield, Leif's own Diabound raced towards the Archangel while cloaked in its own device to make sure it wasn't detected.

"Just stop this fight, Axis. We have a ship to sink!" Athrun shouted to the male Aker.

"Commander Aker, we're moving towards the legged ship!" Cyrus called out to his commander while launching inside the High Maneuver. What they were about to hear would forever anger them.

"Attention, all ZAFT forces. Currently in our custody is PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne. We came across the life pod and took her in for humanitarian reasons, along with the Serpent Tail members who were assigned as her bodyguards. However, should you decide on attacking this ship, we shall take this as an abandonment of your responsibilities to protect her. Therefore, we will take care of this situation as we see fit!" Natarle announced. "We may also have to take care of her bodyguards as well, in any way we see fit too."

For once, Alex wasn't smirking or grinning. Her reaction to the news was a bit shocking. "How could they? Cowards! Do you have no honor at all? Or have you sacrificed your honor for victory?"

"See how despicable they are Kira? Can you justify fighting alongside those cowards?" Athrun asked back angrily. "I'll do my best to rescue her."

"Athrun…" Kira whispered, but didn't have time to defend himself as another mobile suit snuck behind him and aimed the beam rifle in the back. "What in the world?"

"Ah, so the mighty legged ship has resorted to dirty tricks in order to survive. A fitting strategy for a cornered animal with no options left,"Beside Pain sneered and licked his lips. The rest of the masked mobile suits appeared at the battlefield."Besides, we're here to make sure that you pay a heavy price should you kill the daughter of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, along with the Serpent Tail guards who tagged along with her. Of course, one of them is a boy who should have joined us. Or rather, the boys that should have joined us instead of fighting each other."

"What's going on?" Natarle asked, but Miriallia gasped.

"Our radars and all other communications equipment are being jammed!" Miriallia reported. "It's the same thing with the ZAFT ships! Yet, we're hearing the transmission."

"Correct! Now that we have your attention, perhaps I should address your concerns regarding an issue with turning a civilian girl into a POW. That action's really cowardly, but then again, Naturals are cowards,"Beside continued to talk.

"That's telling them!" a GINN pilot yelled savagely.

"Leif, could you stop your crazy alter ego from talking?" Tieria asked angrily. "You both are making things worse here."

"Of course it has to get worse! Tieria Erde, I'm taking over Leif's body for now,"Beside cackled. Fon arrived and aimed his beam rifle at the Diabound."Fon Spaak, long time no chat. I wonder why are you aiming your rifle at your own comrade?"

"I am doing this not because I want to kill my comrade, but because you're annoying," Fon growled. He turned towards the Archangel and yelled. "How could you turn a lost girl into a hostage? What would you accomplish with that kind of action?"

"We had to resort to drastic measures. Emergency situations call for emergency solutions," Natarle defended her actions.

Fon slammed his fist into the cockpit. "Bullshit! You just did it because you were backed into the corner, without any other options! Why did you allow a bigoted bitch to enter the bridge and turn the girl into a hostage? You could have the power to stop her!"

"Mr. Stad, remember your place-"

"Remember my place? My place? I'll tell you my place. I'm sorry, Tieria, if I have to do this. My name's Fon Spaak, reserve Gundam Meister of Celestial Being, and a student of Heliopolis. Yes, I am the same Gundam Meister that has been frozen in a cryogenic capsule for two thousand years so I could help restore balance to the universe when the Bloody Valentine War broke out. Should you proceed to take care of Lacus Clyne in any way you see fit, I will personally blow up this ship. As for the Serpent Tail guards, they can rejoin their ship or join us," Fon replied back in an angry tone. He turned towards Tieria and spoke back. "Now do you realize why I had to request for you guys to intervene? So they would be dissuaded from doing something stupid that could potentially escalate the war to the point where we could no longer intervene at all."

"Using a civilian as a hostage...that's clearly unforgivable," Hixar replied back and aimed his sniper rifle at the Archangel. He fired it at the CIWS and Gottfrieds as they blew up, while Leif/Beside used its GN Sword to cut away the cannons on both the Vesalius and the Von Trapp. "Be grateful we didn't decide to destroy your ships."

Naruto grabbed Lacus away from Flay's grip and went back to her room along with Elijah and Sakura. However, the battle wasn't completely done yet as Athrun found himself under attack by the Tristan and Hermos as Axis joined his comrade and Alex went back to the damaged Von Trapp. The Aegis dodged the beams coming from the Hermos as Tieria grabbed the beam saber and clashed blades.

"I gotta thank you for getting us to intervene here, Fon. Now I can take this opportunity to capture the Aegis and force the Zala boy to join us," Tieria fired the shoulder cannons.

"Like I'll join you when hell freezes over," Athrun snarled back. "I'm going to rescue Lacus from the Earth Forces. Don't get in my way!"

"I'm afraid I will have to get in your way. We know all about you, Athrun Zala," Tieria replied back stoically. "You and your family could have contributed to maintaining the peace we worked hard to attain, but your family decided to fan the flames of war. I don't know why you would try to aim a gun at somebody. Even if this is war, we are going to use armed force to stop all conflicts, including this fight."

"Do you think you're gods, stopping wars with more war? You're a contradiction! It's no wonder why my family refused to join you!" Athrun snapped back.

"Even if you do refuse to join us at first, you will have changed your mind by then. For now, I suggest you enjoy your status as a ZAFT soldier," Tieria moved away from the battlefield as the rest of the Gundams joined the Hermos in fleeing the battlefield.

"Retreat from this war zone immediately!" Alex ordered both ships as Athrun and Axis entered the Vesalius. "We're gonna need to have our ships repaired."

ARCHANGEL

A few days later, Flay got up from her hospital bed and cried on Sai's shoulder. Earlier on, she had witnessed her father's death at the hands of ZAFT, and the ensuing trouble that had followed when Natarle threatened to use Lacus as a hostage (though Flay herself wanted to kill the pink haired coordinator in retaliation for her father's death), that was when Celestial Being showed itself. To make matters worse, she and the other Heliopolis students had finally learned that their friend Robert Stad Jr., was in fact Fon Spaak of Celestial Being, and he was over two thousand years old.

"Flay," Sai tried to soothe her as Kira, Miriallia and the Serpent Tail guards entered. "I'm not sure if this is the right time."

"You...you said you'd protect my dad's ship! You promised me that he would be safe!" Flay cried out to Kira and glared. "You didn't keep your promise, did you? It's because you're a coordinator too!"

"That's enough!" Naruto shouted. "I don't know why you've decided to blame Kira for your father's death, but I can assure you that he didn't pull the trigger."

"But he's a coordinator! I've finally seen with my own eyes that coordinators killed my father. Kira didn't fight seriously because he's fighting a coordinator," Flay continued to cry. This time, Fon entered the room and sat down. "As for you, how could you lie to us about your past? All this time, you didn't tell us about your past because you're a member of Celestial Being. Why didn't you say anything? I bet that you were a spy aboard this ship."

"Look, I'm not thrilled that I had to reveal what I was really doing, but that's for the best. We intervene in wars and stop them with more force. I know it's a contradiction, but that's the way we were brought up!" Fon yelled back, while he glared back. "You on the other hand, used scapegoats like Kira and Lacus for your problems. I don't see why we should be friends any longer. Moreover, I am tempted to blow this ship to kingdom come."

"Then why didn't you do it?" Flay yelled again. "At least you could have put us...or me, out of my misery."

"I can't do that. If I did, then I'd just be as bad as Badguirel or even Le Creuset. I may have sunk as low as to threaten to blow up this ship, but at least I can restrain myself, which is something that you obviously lack. If you want to regain my respect and friendship, you will have to work extremely hard to change yourself. You have to fight your own fears and your own worst enemy," Fon advised her. "You are your own worst enemy, and you have to overcome that self. I believe in you because...because...because I care."

"Naruto?" Elijah asked back, but Naruto moved to the same room where Lacus was staying. He sat down and looked at her.

"Have you learned your lesson from that tragedy?" he asked.

Lacus frowned. "I don't know why that girl decided to threaten me even if I didn't do anything bad to her. I can see that she's confused and lonely."

"Cut the crap, Lacus. Obviously, you didn't learn from that experience at all," Naruto upholstered his newly issued gun. Lacus eyed the pistol suspiciously and with a scared look. "I am going to test you, OK?"

"OK, so what's that gun doing here then?" Lacus asked back. Naruto issued out an order.

"I want you to pick up that gun and point it at me."

Lacus recoiled at the order. Growing up as a pacifist, the idea of carrying a gun went against her beliefs. "I don't think that's the solution-"

"Pick up the gun," Naruto repeated, "and point it at my chest. Then, I want you to shoot me with that gun."

"No, this isn't right. Isn't there any other way?" Lacus asked back. She slowly grabbed the gun and pointed it at him, but hesitated to pull the trigger. She placed the gun down and looked away. "This isn't right at all."

Naruto sighed and grabbed a kunai. He placed it on the table. "I see that you hesitated to pick up a gun and shoot me. Now then, will you pick up the kunai and thrust it into your own neck?"

"Please, don't make me do this," Lacus pleaded.

"Look, I know that you don't want to do this, but I need you to grab the kunai and put it into your throat," Naruto insisted. Lacus slowly reached her hand for the kunai and hesitated to even pick it up. "All right, stop now."

"Mr. Uzumaki, I don't know why you told me to do these horrible things," Lacus asked curiously, and with a tone of frustration. "Asking me to do something horrible, why would you even suggest that I do that?"

Naruto closed his eyes and paused. It's true that he may regret his decision to test Lacus with such a horrible assessment. However, he had a motive in making these odd demands that could have ended in an argument for two people. After he opened his eyes, he saw Lacus' facial expression and nodded in satisfaction.

"I want to see the real Lacus Clyne. I know that you have the ability to see into other people, but you haven't used your ability to see into yourself. The things that I've told you to do, my purpose was to see how you would react if you were defenseless and you couldn't even use a weapon to defend yourself. Now that I've seen your reactions to the things I've dared you to do, I can see that you have failed to understand the one fundamental fact: that in war, you cannot escape from the chaos and suffering around you. Failure to adhere to reality is like an inadvertent malice," Naruto answered back.

"Still, it was horrible for you to suggest for me to do such things," Lacus replied back.

"Yes...it was indeed horrible. However, that was just a test. What if your life was in danger? What if you were attacked and you couldn't defend yourself? You would die, for sure. Hesitation can lead into a quick death," Naruto advised her. He sat down beside her and looked at the pink Haro. "Flay Allster threatened to kill you unless her father's ship wasn't attacked. You didn't react like a frightened person would normally react. You may have good ideals, but they're worthless if you can't stand up for them."

"I saw her emotions. She was troubled," she told him. She remembered Flay's frantic cry for her father to live, and the shots from both Nazca-class warships that tragically ended George Allster's life. Most of the ZAFT soldiers were probably celebrating at the fact that they killed a member of Blue Cosmos. "She only wanted to be with her dad. If I saw my dad in danger, I'd cry out for him to live."

"Yes...that is true. Going back to ideals, they're worthless if you can't fight to defend for what you believe in. That's how revolutions break out, because a group of people want to fight for what they believe in, even if they had to die. Nations are shaped through time because they can fight not only to defend their ideals, but to protect for what they believe in. If I recall, there was a revolution where colonists didn't want to be ruled by a king anymore and strove to govern by themselves. That was how the United States of America was born. All revolutions in the world may be violent, but they are necessary in order to bring in the wave of reform. The PLANTs are no exception to this fundamental fact," Naruto explained carefully. "I don't know about this, but I can tell that we all want to live peacefully. And that peace cannot be kept by force alone. It must come through understanding. There are many paths to understanding and people have lost their way. Misunderstandings occur and conflicts break out. Two groups of peoples cannot live side by side just because they're different. In the shadows, there are those who strive to keep up the conflict."

"That's horrible. I do understand Defense Chairman Zala's reasons for escalating the war in order to bring it to its end. His tactics aren't right; people would(will) die fighting, and for what?" Lacus asked back.

"You've gotta understand, lots of people want to avenge the deaths of their loved ones. Athrun may have told you about how he lost his mom in the Bloody Valentine. I don't know much more about this. I heard it from Kira, but he has a justification for continuing the war, fighting for the right of coordinators to exist. What if he didn't push for the escalation of the conflict? The PLANTs would be obliterated without remorse. Truthfully, the Earth Alliance Forces are very bad, and they did succeed in bringing about the demise of the Earth Sphere Federation. Moreover, I have an enemy here who wished to kill both me and my former best friend because he wanted to fight for a world his grandfather envisioned. Here again, is where we must ask ourselves: should our beliefs be worth fighting for if they're the right ones? If our beliefs are wrong, do we change them or keep fighting for them, even though they're wrong?"

"I think everyone should have their own opinions," she surmised.

"Yes, but those opinions often clash. That is another root that leads to conflict. In the end, no one wins or loses because they're both dead," Naruto finished his conversation with a dark tone. "Thank you for having a conversation with me, Miss Lacus. Now that we've located the Vesalius, the Serpent Tail will bring you back to the Vesaliusand we, the Serpent Tail, will go down to Earth where we will join the PMC Trust."

"So you're also fighting for your own survival and for no reason other than to get into the heat of the conflict," Lacus replied back. Sakura entered the room a minute later with Kira, Elijah and Fon following her. "You know, you should have your own happiness, Mr. Uzumaki. You can make everyone happy, everywhere in the world. But you need to make yourself happy once in a while."

"Well, we should start escorting you towards the hangar. I'll go and talk to the captain," Naruto offered. He and Fon arrived at the corridor where Murrue and Mu were having a conversation. "Excuse me, captain."

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Murrue asked.

"The Serpent Tail needs to escort Miss Lacus back to the Vesalius. We have our mobile suits aboard this ship, so we're gonna need to bring her back.(have the ability to bring her back,)" Elijah replied back. Natarle heard the conversation from her room and stepped out.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Natarle replied back, but Elijah gave her the mission ad that Murakumo sent him.

"We were supposed to guard Miss Lacus until she could be brought back to the ZAFT forces. We are obligated to complete our mission, so unless you wish to block our entry into the hangar, the Earth Forces Moon Command will have to pay us up double the salary of what Siegel Clyne has paid us. Plus, we would persuade Moon Headquarters to give us more money so we could pay the personnel of Artemis for the damage all of us had made as compensation," he replied in a business like tone.

Murrue nodded. "We do have to grant your permission. Even though you're not military, we can't obstruct your missions unless the Earth Alliance and ZAFT would want to seek the services of the Junk Guild."

"Oh boy, do not mention that in front of Gai Murakumo," Sakura reminded the warship captain. Natarle led the Serpent Tail crew and Lacus into the hangar as she climbed into Naruto's Ahead Smultron. "Thanks for the accommodations. We would pay you, but we would have to clear that up with Mr. Murakumo."

"OK. Murdoch, open up the hangar doors," Natarle ordered.

Murdoch heard the order. "For what?" He noticed the Serpent Tail suits that were coming out. "Oh, of course."

"Naruto Uzumaki, Ahead. Taking off!"

The Ahead led the rest of the mobile suit force out of the Archangel's catapult and moved in the direction of the fleeing ZAFT ships. As Naruto spotted the Vesalius, he opened up a channel and spoke.

"This is Serpent Tail member Naruto Uzumaki. We have Lacus Clyne in our custody, and will bring her over to your command. However, we will do this on one condition: that you release Tsuchigumo Hotaru out and turn her over to us."

Inside the Vesalius, Le Creuset was surprised at the sudden appearance of the Serpent Tail suits. "All right, we'll grant your request."

The Vesalius'sdoors opened up as the Aegis launched out with the Tieren trailing behind the red mobile suit. Athrun opened up his cockpit to see if Lacus was indeed inside the Ahead. Sure enough, Naruto opened his cockpit doors and Lacus waved at him while wearing an old ESF space suit.

"Hello, Athrun."

Athrun smiled and frowned. "Thank you for guarding her. Still, I'm surprised Kira isn't here. He should have joined ZAFT though."

"I know. He would have if he didn't move to Heliopolis. Then again, you can't turn the clock backwards. It's a pleasure to have met you, Athrun Zala. I can see that you will have a strong spirited wife as your mate, but you two will have to show me that your beliefs are worth fighting for. Oh, and just for your information: I told your father that I was also attacked by those metallic shape shifting freaks," Naruto replied back. Athrun was surprised, but he smiled as Hotaru's Tieren rejoined the Serpent Tail group. "I'm afraid this means that you and Kira may have to fight each other."

"I'm afraid you're right. If only I could see him one last time, to convince him to join me. There's no reason why he shouldn't remain in the Earth Forces," Athrun insisted. "But that won't happen at all, will it?"

"Time can only tell, Athrun. That will be when Kira has to come to the crossroads of destiny. He must decide to fight for his friends or his own people. He has good friends, all of them are Naturals. Our friend Fon Spaak, he's not just an average Natural, but he's not a coordinator."

"Athrun, time to get back inside!" Axis's voice called out from the GINN. He gasped at the sight of the Ahead and trembled. "An Ahead? Surely, you're not an A-LAWS soldier, are you?"

"Nope, just a mercenary," Naruto smiled and waved goodbye to the ZAFT soldiers goodbye. "I do hope that we won't have to fight each other too soon."

OK, this is the last arc for the NarutoxLacus interaction. I may have done a bit of a crappy job with the interactions, from the first meeting to the test of resolve to see if Lacus can be gutsy enough to pick up a weapon and fight for what she believes in. The real arrow-piercing love story will begin in the late stages of SEED, so don't hold your breath. Tell me what do you think of the interaction.

Another thing too, next chapter will be the PMC Trust Arc. I've decided to skip the battle that will happen when Kira activates the SEED mode in order to focus more on developing Athrun's character, plus another OC that will show up. (Note: Genesis Paladin owns the OCs Axis and Alexandra Aker. I get to own the OC Dmitri Smirnov, a descendant of Sergei Smirnov.)