Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Shinn hated babysitting.
Watching the boy while he played with his figurines across the room, Shinn continued reading his magazine. The lounge was deserted currently and the room was quiet for the moment. Though it was large and could seat half the crew, it was messy with reading material thrown about. The tables were worn and the chairs uncomfortable. Fortunately, the couches attached to the metal walls were comfortable; though Luna commented that orange was an ugly color for the furniture. The same could be said for the orange carpet.
He had been saddled with the task when Kira took off to retrieve another one of his daughters. Luna and Meyrin had left to go shopping for supplies as well as Athrun. When Shinn expressed his desire not to attend, Luna angrily stated that he had to his part for the mission; hence his new babysitting role.
So far, Sebastian had stayed quiet and did his own thing without being a problem. This made things easier for Shinn since he did not know the first thing about babysitting kids other than his sister. It almost made him afraid because if his relationship with Luna did go farther, it might mean that she would be interested in having children.
"ZAFT sucks," said Sebastian out loud suddenly, startling Shinn who then gaped at the kid for his comment.
"Excuse me?" asked Shinn, his surprise turning onto anger.
"I said ZAFT sucks; they're nothing but a bunch of hypocrites," stated the young boy, giving Shinn a cold stare.
"ZAFT are not hypocrites; we only do what we need to do in order to protect our homeland. The Earth Alliance was the murderers, not us," said the ZAFT pilot in anger.
"The Earth Alliance were no saints but that was because of a few in the Governments that held all the power. ZAFT tried to commit genocide on two separate occasions and the population of the PLANTs did nothing to stop them," said Sebastian as he continued to lay out his Space Wolves in formation.
Shinn bit back a retort and thought about the boy's statement. He had to admit that it was somewhat right. When Zala preached the extermination of Naturals, there was very little outcry from the PLANT population except for those loyal to Clyne and they were very few in number. When Durandal was about wipe Orb off the map, ZAFT stood by and was willing to let it happen. Only the Joule team rebelled and fought to save Orb.
However, Shinn was not about to let the kid call his military murderers and went on the offensive.
"When the EA attacked the PLANTs during the 2nd War with nukes, there wasn't much outcry from the populations of the Earth Alliance," argued the ZAFT pilot.
"That was because of what happened with the drop of Junius Seven; the people were angry and demanded revenge," argued the boy back.
"And yet we now know that LOGOS arranged for that colony to drop. So that makes the EA even guiltier," said Shinn.
"But it was still carried out by rogue ZAFT soldiers; ZAFT soldiers who committed war crimes during the war such as the massacre at Panama and were never once reprimanded by the PLANT Government in the aftermath of the war. ZAFT soldiers who were allowed to roam free and acquire military equipment for their operation with no interference from ZAFT itself. And since we are on the subject, Durandal knew about the colony drop in advance and did nothing to stop it," stated Sebastian.
"What are you talking about?" asked the young man. Shinn had not ever heard that when the war was over.
"Think about it; how can Gilbert Durandal have such intimate knowledge of LOGOS in a short amount of time? You saw the announcement he made; he had so much knowledge about an organization which was supposed to be secret. That kind of intelligence does not come about quickly and happens when a good amount of time is invested; especially the part where LOGOS was connected with the colony drop. The man always knew about LOGOS as well as the colony drop in advance. He even knew the raid at Armory One was going to happen," stated the young boy with conviction.
Shinn was shocked and disturbed at the same time. The boy's statement made sense in a way that he never thought about even after the war. Shinn always believed that he became a puppet when the Destiny Plan was announced. If the Armory One and Junius Seven was known ahead of time by Durandal and the ZAFT leadership, then they were just as guilty as LOGOS.
The ZAFT pilot was also disturbed that he was being lectured to by a young boy who seemed far more mature than what he should be at his age. Shinn knew that the boy was special, but this was a little over the top. He suddenly cringed at the thought of what the boy's grades would be at the academy if he attended.
"So you're saying that ZAFT sucks because of Durandal and Zala, but the EA is cool because of the actions of a few?" Shinn asked with skepticism.
"I did not say the EA was cool but that ZAFT cannot claim that they are more benign than the Alliance. ZAFT sucks because all through the war, they claimed to be fighting for the people. All they were doing was making things easier for Durandal to initiate his Destiny Plan," said Sebastian.
"And the "actions of a few" statement?" inquired the ZAFT pilot.
"The Earth Alliance is made up of a group of nations; nations governed by democratic systems. The Atlantic Federation is a democracy that in times can be ruled though a minority. The Blue Cosmos are not made up of the entire AF but are in control of key positions within the Government. That's what happens in Democracies; it sucks but that is the case. During the two wars, that Blue Cosmos Minority controlled the EA because of ZAFT's actions," informed the young boy.
"But the EA started the first war, not ZAFT," protested Shinn.
"Junius Seven was nuked by Blue Cosmos fanatics, not the Earth Alliance itself. When ZAFT dropped its neutron jammers, millions of Naturals suffered and died because of what a few did. ZAFT let its anger cloud its judgment and the Blue Cosmos rallied the people because of it. Thus the minority were able to control the majority through fear because of what ZAFT did."
"What are you, some sort of philosopher?" asked Shinn. He hated to admit it but the boy's arguments made sense.
"I haven't decided yet," said Sebastian as he rolled a dice and moved one of the Space Wolves forward.
"So, if you were old enough, who would you have fought for?" the Gundam pilot asked.
"The Earth Alliance; someone has to clean up the trash within its house," stated Sebastian with a smirk. Shinn, not sure what the boy meant, decided not to let the matter drop; his head was starting to hurt with all the thinking involved in the conversation.
"How do you play this game? I've seen it only a few times in the PLANTs when I was at the academy," said Shinn as he sat down at the table where Sebastian was playing.
"I'll show you; you are the Orks and I'll be the Space Wolves," said Sebastian with a grin.
For the next hour, the two continued to play and Shinn enjoyed the feeling of being a kid again. It was then that he realized that he wasted time on being a soldier because of his hatred and desire for vengeance.
It made him wonder where he would be if his life had been different.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Thank you for all the clothes," said Molly as she and Kira headed to the Freighter.
"Your welcome," said Kira and he groaned at all the weight he was carrying. He never though clothes could be so heavy.
Molly seemed like a miniature version of Fllay with a mix of Cagalli thrown in. Though she looked a lot like Fllay in regard to her face, she had short blond hair just like Cagalli's. It was almost a little disturbing seeing how different the women were.
Molly was currently dressed in a new pink dress that Kira had bought her when he picked her up from the place where Chanka positioned her in. Though it was technically an orphanage, it seemed more like a boarding school for girls. Unlike with Sebastian though, getting her out took a little more pull and it had come down to a DNA test to prove that the girl was related to him.
The girl, who Kira felt intimidated around, demanded that she be treated like a princess and saw fit to order Kira about as if her were a servant. She immediately demanded that he take her shopping since her wardrobe would have taken to long to pack and bring with her.
Kira had refused at first. He needed to get to the other children as soon as possible and could not waste time on a shopping trip. However, he conceded to the girl's demands when she gave him a look that came out of the past; a pout face that Fllay had used on him when they were together.
Not even Cagalli could be a match for that.
Molly, in a single hour, had spent every credit that Kira had on him. She had purchased everything from shoes to dresses and was on her way to bathing suits when Kira had finally put his foot down. He had to remind her that she was still very young and that he was out of money.
Molly had huffed but conceded.
As they boarded the ship, Molly looked about and did not seem impressed by what she was going to travel on.
"Why are we traveling on this piece of junk?" asked the young girl with disgust, angering the sailors around them.
"Because it is more convenient," Kira answered, ushering the girl inside as quickly as possible so that no one else would get angry.
As soon as the two entered the lounge, Kira dropped the bags of clothing and went to sit down. Athrun and the rest of the group were already there and Luna smirked at Kira as he rested after carrying all the clothing.
"Princess?" said Sebastian, standing up and staring at the newcomer in surprise.
"Sebastian?" Molly exclaimed, surprised as well. The two ran at each other and hugged. It was a touching scene to all who watched.
"What are you doing here sister?" asked Sebastian.
"This man brought me; he said that he was going to bring me to momma," answered Molly.
"He said that to me as well," said Sebastian, looking over at Kira.
"I miss her; we can do each others hair like we used to," stated Molly happily.
As the two kids chatted away, Athrun walked over to the couch and looked down at his friend who seemed exhausted.
"She wear you out?" asked the Orb General with a smirk as he looked at all the shopping bags.
"This is going to be harder than I thought," admitted Kira as he yawned.
"At least they are happy," observed Athrun as the two kids continued to talk. Molly was criticizing Sebastian's clothing while he stood there and just shrugged.
"Yeah; I'll let Fllay see them in a few minutes. Maybe this will cheer her up," stated the young man with hope.
Athrun just nodded and did not bring up that Lacus had called while Kira had been gone. It seemed that she knew the situation and wanted to talk to Kira about it. He did not know what she was going to say but knew that it could make things complicated.
Fortunately, he was wrong.
Author's Note. First off, I am sorry that the quality of this chapter is a little down in relation to the past chapters of this fic. But my health has not been all that great due to the smoke in the air because of the wildfires here in California. You know it's bad when you can't tell the difference between cloud cover and smoke in the air.
Secondly, I recently came in contact with a group of fanatical Gilbert Durandal Fanboys. And yes, they DO exist. These fanboys, though entitled to their opinions, are more extreme in their beliefs that Gil was the true hero of the series and that Lacus was the one who ruined the CE's best chance for peace.
Personally, I think this is a pile of crap.
So this is one of the reasons for the conversation between Shinn and Sebastian; A way for me to remind people why Gil was one of the villains of the series. I also want to make it clear of my feelings for ZAFT. They are not the villains for this fic, but that is still my opinion. I hope I did not offend too many of my fans.
Also, keep in mind that the Sebastian in this fic is not the same as the character I used in honor of. They are similar, but separate as well. You will be given more of his views in later chapters.
On a side note- I happen to be a Centrist so don't take me for being on either side of the Political Spectrum. The statement about Political control works for both sides of politics.
I have no clue when the next update will be out. I plan on updating a few fics ahead of this so I cannot give an accurate timeline. I just hope you can be patient with me. The next chapter will feature a family moment between Fllay, Kira, and their children.
Please R&R!