Fandom: Gundam Seed
Genre: Romance/General
Rating: PG-13
Type: Multi-part, chapter 8
Pairings: Nicol/Melody (OC), Athrun/Cagalli, Kira/Lacus
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Gundam Seed.
Author's Notes: As usual, this was my latest written version. I had managed to salvage certain parts from the original version and fits them in -- the rest were in the trash can.
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Chapter 8
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Timeline: C.E.71, 1 April
Venue: PLANTs -- Ayman's Residence
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Michelle Haw was watching the official appointment ceremony of Athrun's father -- Patrick Zala as the new Chairman for the PLANTs Supreme Council on screen. She was currently taking up residence over at the Aymans' -- again. Sitting beside her and was on the verge of falling asleep was her five year old cousin -- Steven. The boy had obviously taken a liking to her and would not let her go elsewhere, without following.
Apparently, that was what her Aunt Margaret had said when Michelle arrived late on the night of 28 March, C.E.71. Her first task for the night was to get her stubborn cousin into bed; which she had accomplished -- easily.
She was then greeted by Steven's father, her Uncle whom was related by marriage. The last time she was staying over -- the former had been too busy with work to made it a point to greet her. This time around, her Uncle had been on leave -- thus, had the opportunity to assess her fully.
Michelle's pregnancy was no secret, she had already informed the Aymans -- in prior. Her Aunt Margaret had frowned before asking her about the father; Michelle had been frank with her Aunt about the father being one of the ZAFT elites pilots -- but did not exactly revealed Yzak's identity.
After all, it would not do good for anyone else to discover the fact -- yet. Especially, if such news were to travel to Yzak's mother -- Eriza Jule, before Yzak could brought it up; himself. There might be dire consequences to deal with -- at a later stage of time.
Once the direct boardcast of the Ceremony was over, Michelle turned off the television and roused her cousin. It was late at the PLANTs, but judging from the time difference -- it should be just about noon time over at the ORB.
"Come, Steven... let's get you to bed." Michelle told her cousin, whom blinked bearily before making a move to head to his bedroom.
Thirty minutes later, Michelle emerged from Steven's bedroom and headed into the kitchen for a glass of milk. As she poured the milk into a tall glass -- Michelle could not helped but mused on her sudden change in diet habits. In the past, she hated milk with a passion and she would never drink them -- without being forced. Now, it was entirely another matter -- she refused to sleep without having a glass of milk, every night.
/How Ironic.../ Michelle thought as she finished the glass of milk and rinsed it clean; before placing the glass back on the counter. Turning on her heels, she headed into Miguel's room -- which was now officially, her new bedroom.
Entering the room, the first thing she did was to flip on the lights and took out a novel lying in the drawer -- untouched. That was the novel she had bought previously while on the PLANTs -- but had forgotten to bring it down to Earth with her. Tonight, she was going to finish at least half of the book -- before retiring for the night.
Meanwhile, in another parts of the Aprilius City. Namely, the Zala's Mansion -- the new Chairman had been plotting something against the Earth Alliance Forces. He was working feverishly on the proposal on the 'Operation Spitbreak', he had brought up the proposal during the Council's Meeting -- earlier on in the day.
Patrick Zala had claimed that it was a proposal to strengthen their current 'Operation Uroboros' -- but in actual fact, it was entirely a different issue. He was planning to eliminate all the Naturals residing on Earth -- for he felt that only Coordinators should be considered good enough as the new human beings.
However, he knew he could not lay everything out in the open -- since he knew the previous Chairman -- Siegel Clyne will never approved of his proposal if he was to come outright with his plans. Thus, he had twisted his words a little around the bend and conned everyone in the Council into approving his proposal. Since, the Council had already approved his plan officially -- now all he had to do was to bide his time, until the moment comes -- so that the plan could be put into actions.
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Timeline: C.E.71, 15 April
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Two weeks after Patrick Zala had finally been declared as the new Chairman for the PLANTs Supreme Council -- the Archangel crew had finally departed from ORB Union heading for Alaska Military Base of the Earth Alliance Forces.
Kira Yamato was preparing himself for the upcoming battle in his Mobile Suit, the 'Strike'. Despite everyone on board telling him that it was probably just him -- being paranoid. Yet, he knew it was not the case.
There would no doubt be an ambushed from ZAFT once they left the territory of ORB. That was because, he had seen Athrun in ORB. Although, no one knew of it but he believed Athrun would not let them off the hook -- that easily. Especially, since Athrun had already knew of their presence in ORB.
If possible, he really wished not to fight against Athrun. However, he knew it was impossible for they were on opposite sides, henceforth a fight would be involved. Somehow, he had a feeling that this upcoming battle was going to change everything between him and Athrun.
He sighed as he gave 'Strike' a final check before proceeding on to set 'Strike' on stand-by mode. Just as he predicted, ZAFT launched an attack straight after they left the territory of ORB and set off towards the direction of Alaska -- the Earth Alliance Forces Military Base. Taking a deep breath, he took off with the worst scenario in mind.
True indeed, the battle was a fierce one. He dodged every attack that 'Duel' had been hurling at him, while 'Buster' was seen fighting the Skygrapser that Mwu La Fllga was operating. Meanwhile, 'Blitz' was seen helping 'Buster' out.
It was at the point of time, Aegis intervened. Having no choice, he engaged Athrun in the battle. Kira had no idea how long they had been battling, but it must have been for quite some time as the power of 'Strike' was running low.
It was at that point of time that Aegis literally ran out of power, and Strike still holding the laser beam sword had the upper hand. Anyone who is totally unaware of Kira and Athrun's relationship would have thought that 'Strike' was about to slay the 'Aegis'.
That was exactly what Nicol had in mind when he had seen the sight. Taking off in a run towards the site, he made his Mobile Suit -- invisible. Upon reaching them, he yelled out to Athrun and charged towards the Strike.
Under such circumstances, it was either be killed or to react in self-defense. That was exactly, what Kira had did. He thrusted the laser beam sword towards the direction of 'Blitz' just as Athrun yelled out the name of 'Nicol' aloud.
At that point of time, everything stilled as 'Blitz' exploded and shattered to pieces. Yzak took charged and dragged the immobile 'Aegis' out of the way, heading back to their battleship while Dearka fired a canon at 'Strike' to distract them.
'Strike' was then called to retreat back to Archangel; while 'Aegis' was brought back to safety by 'Buster' and 'Duel'. They were all wrapped in their own thoughts, and anguish of losing Nicol in the battle.
However, at that point of time -- neither of them knew about Nicol having tried to escape from the explosion had ejected himself from the cockpit in the nick of time. Yet, that still did not changed the fact that he was badly injured from the impact of the explosion and was literally on the verge of dying.
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Melody sighed as she put away her binoculars. She had been half-expecting something like /that/ to happen -- that was exactly why she had literally begged her father to allow her to take up the role of leading the patrol team; allowing her to constantly take note of the battle progress.
Since the battle started just outside of the ORB Territory, it was her duty to make it a point to constantly reminded both parties not to overstep the boundaries. However, now as she watched the battle which had just ended -- Melody could not help but sighed.
Just then, James Mckenzie -- one of the crew members came to her and reported his findings of a young ZAFT elite pilot being injured badly on-shore. Melody did not need to think before spunning into action -- she knew it could only be Nicol.
Since, there was only a total of four pilots involved in this mission of hunting down the 'Archangel' -- having been on board with the respectives ZAFT elites; before heading back to ORB and re-joined her family members.
Apparently, only Nicol's Mobile Suit exploded -- a while ago. Thus, the badly injured ZAFT elite soldier could only be Nicol Amalfi -- the pilot for 'Blitz'. After all, Athrun Zala had been taken back on board by the 'Duel' and the 'Buster' pilot had also escaped without much problems encountered -- along the way.
"Lead the way..." Melody told James Mckenzie, one of her distantly related cousins. The Mckenzies' clan was too big -- thus, Melody never bothered to remember what kind of relationship was shared between them. Either way, they were either her cousins or the late Rusty's cousin. Honestly, she cannot be bothered with them -- to her, they were merely superiors and subodinates, at this point of time.
Arriving at the site where the badly injured ZAFT solider was found, Melody let out a sigh of relief. Her suspicion was right, the pilot was indeed Nicol Amalfi. Turning to the fellow medics on stand-by, she gave her orders to bring the injured parties back to the ORB Union for treatment. While, it was a written rule that ZAFT soldiers were not allowed in their country -- but there was also a rule which states, that ORB Union will never deny a Coordinator in need -- a place for them to strive.
In which case, if they simply left Nicol where he was -- the said pilot would surely not lived to see the next day. Therefore, the wiser move will be to bring the pilot back to the ORB Union for treatment. Transferring the pilot in its current state to destinations such as Gibraltar or Carpentaria would be far too risky. Moreover, Athrun and the others might have already thought Nicol to be 'dead'.
Several hours later, Nicol Amalfi was admitted smoothly into the ORB's Memorial Hospital for treatment. Melody was helping out with the admission process for Nicol -- since she was the only one present whom knew certain information with regards to the said pilot. Standing off by the side was her father, she knew some explanation was in order -- and she would provide just sufficient information for her father's knowledge.
Once Melody had signed on the form, the admission process was completed. Turning back to her father, Melody resigned herself to the confrontation that would soon take place between her and her father.
"Dad, I know you would like an explanation. However, since Lord Uzumi had already approved of the decision to let the pilot received medical attention in the country. We could leave that particular issue aside -- for the moment.
As for my knowledge of the pilot's identity; it could be easily explained as the pilot being one of Miguel's ex-team mates. Since, Miguel had perished in that battle within the colony of Heliopolis. Next, the pilot lived next door to the Aymans' on the PLANTs -- thus, it's only Natural for me to know about his family information."
Melody summarized, leaving out issues concerning with Nicol and her so-called 'attraction' between themselves. That would be addressed later, if it was brought up to knowledge. For now, she wanted to keep things easy.
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Two days later, on the 17 of April -- Cosmic Era 71. The ZAFT Forces led by Athrun Zala finally caught up with the Archangel near the Marshall Island. That was when a second attack had been launched on the Archangel and the 'Strike'. Athrun, depressed by the fact that Nicol was now 'dead' -- being oblivious to the fact that the green-haired pilot had been safety retreived by the ORB Union and was now recovering in the ORB Memorial Hospital; made it a point to get 'even' with Kira Yamato.
It started out with the ZAFT pilots swearing and cursing, Athrun trying to kill Kira, while Kira trying to fend himself off without killing anyone else. However, that had soon changed when Tolle Koenig tried to play 'hero' and intervened in the battle of Athrun and Kira. This time around, Tolle was killed by Athrun's attack and that pushes all logical sense of thoughts from Kira's mind as the 'Strike' starting attacking the 'Aegis' viciously.
Eventually, the 'Aegis' had the 'Strike' trapped motionless -- and since Athrun did not have the heart to kill Kira simply, he had opted for 'Self-Destruction'; hoping that the impact would kill the both of them. Meanwhile, the 'Buster' had its communications system rendered useless and the 'Duel' had been back on board for power replenishing.
Realizing the fact that the Archangel had its target aimed at the 'Buster' -- Dearka Elthman, the blond pilot decided to surrender himself to the Earth Alliance Forces. After all, he had no desires to die simply because his Mobile Suit's power ran out on him. Since, it's communication system and the radar detector was totally out of order -- there was no way he could have send any 'SOS' message to his fellow allies.
Yzak, whom had been on the bridge was stunned utterly by the knowledge of the 'Buster' and 'Aegis' signals being cut off. In less than 72 hours, two battles had taken place with the involvement of the 'Strike' and the 'Archangel' -- and three of his teammates' status had been rendered as 'M-I-A' (Missing in Action). That came as a shock to him, as his mind went paralysed for a moment before -- he went off to brood over the recent happenings; all the while -- yearning for Michelle's advices.
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Meanwhile, Melody had been at the hospital tending to Nicol -- when his cell phone blared to life. It was a call from James Mckenzie, telling her that the Archangel had send out a special request to the ORB Union seeking a rescue team to recover the 'Strike' and its' pilot. It was further revealed that Cagalli -- their ORB Princess; had already taken actions and took Kisaka along for the trip. Melody told James to update her on the information, since the fellow sergent was involved in the trip as well.
Since the Marshall Island was somewhat quite a distance away from the ORB Union, Melody knew the information would only reached her by tomorrow morning. Therefore, she willed herself not to dwell too much on the matter and concentrated on her current duties on hand. Although, she had long heard about Tolle's demise -- it was reported in James' earlier account of the 'Archangel' current strength.
Although, Melody felt bad for her elder sister -- Mirialla. There was nothing that she could do, except to hope for the best. In the meantime, Melody decided to wait until the official report account was out before contacting her other sister -- Michelle. Although, no direct contact could be established -- she could still send Michelle a coded email message or text messages through the use of the cell phones or the Intra-networking devices.
On board the Archangel, the atmosphere was even more stifling. Having to deal with Mirialla's devastation of losing Tolle was hard enough on Sai Argyles. Moreover, he had to deal with Fllay's constant bugging on Kira's status and Kuzzey's un-helpful remarks on the progression of the current war situation. That and the fact that the 'Prisoner-of-War' captured sprouting smart-alec comments constantly -- that put Mirialla into a deeper depression mode does not help.
Topping it off, Lineutant Natarle had already instructed him to pack away the personal belongings of Kira and Tolle -- as they headed down to Alaska, for further instructions. While, being unhappy -- there was nothing else he could do to help with the situation. The sight of Kira's electronic bird, 'Torii' flying around in the ship -- did nothing to help but only intensify the gloomy atmosphere.
However, Sai did not have the heart to turn the power of 'Torii' off -- for that would really appeared that Kira was no longer coming back.
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The following morning at dusk, the ORB Union Rescue Team arrived at the site of the battle. However, they were unable to recover Kira Yamato -- as they had only found the remains of the 'Strike' and the 'Self-Destructed Aegis'. Some distances away, near the shore-line -- they had managed to recover Athrun Zala.
Since, Athrun's injury was nothing that was life-threatening -- having been ejected from the cockpit in time. Cagalli informed the ZAFT Parties to retrieve its' fallen comrades; however -- Cagalli had some things to ask Athrun before sending the pilot back to where he belongs.
Apparently, Athrun was in anguish from the battle as well. He looked so lifeless and 'dead' to Cagalli -- he was trying to revenge Kira for killing Nicol. However, he did not want to kill Kira as well -- but he would have to; because they were now opponents and enemies. Tears started flowing down his cheeks as he revealed to Cagalli of his actions. In the meantime, Kira had been blasted off to some distances away and was recovered by Reverend Malchio.
Since, Kira's injury was not as life-threatening as it should be -- although, he had not been able to escape in time while the 'Aegis' exploded. Reverend Malchio did some emergency treatment and left him alone, but the former decided to bring the pilot along with him to the PLANTs -- as he was scheduled to depart for the Clyne Residence in another few days' time.
Thus, on the 21 of April -- Kira Yamato awakes from his four days deep slumber in the Clyne Residence. The first sight which greeted him was Lacus Clyne with her pink 'Haro' -- beaming down at him, cheerfully. Behind her, Kira could see lights streaming into the pavilion where the bed -- he was resting in -- was situated.
He allowed himself to be help into a sitting position on the bed by the pink-haired Coordinator. Behind him, Reverend Malchio admitted that he had tried to talk Lacus out of the thought of placing the bed in the middle of the garden -- but Lacus had refused to listen to his logic. At his statement, the pink-haired Coordinator pouted slightly before insisting that the scenery over here at the Pavilion was way 'better' than the scenary -- up in the normal bedroom.
Glancing at Lacus again, Kira was suddenly overwhelm with anguish thoughts as he came outright with the confession that he had fought Athrun -- again. This time, with intention to kill. As Kira relayed the battle scenes to Lacus -- tears could be seen flowing openly down his cheeks. Sorrow was imprinted in his violet eyes; while Lacus simply watched on and allow Kira to cry free-ly -- in front of her, all the while whispering soothing words to the former.
Telling Kira not to think of anything else but to rest and recover his strength from the earlier battle, Lacus left Kira alone to sort things out -- while she headed off to prepare some food for Kira's consumption. ---
to be continued
Date started: 15/12/06
Date completed: 16/12/06