Man… I am on a roll here. The third chapter posted in less than a week! I don't know how long this will last, but I'm gonna ride it for as long as I can. Hoping to get a fourth one done before the end of Saturday.

Not much else to say. I loved the reactions I've gotten from the last chapter. It was certainly a favorite of mine.

Phase Nineteen: The Hidden Truth

ZAFT Diocuia Base

"So this is Diocuia. What a beautiful city," Arthur commented as he and Talia disembarked from the Minerva. "How long as it been since we've been to a place this nice? It seems like it's been forever."

Diocuia had been conquered by ZAFT during the last and then returned after the war, its base converted into a new, larger civilian port. But now, Diocuia, along with several other nearby towns, had broken away from the Earth Alliance, asking for ZAFT protection. Chairman Durandal had accepted their request and the former Diocuia Base was now once again functioning as it was originally built for.

"Yes, it has been awhile since we've seen anything but bases, oceans and mountains. But after what happened in Gulnahan, we could all use a break," Talia said.

It had been four days since the attack on the Lohengrin Gate, and morale had been at an all time low. Finding that they had helped a terrorist group had been a bit blow to all of them, especially the pilots. Of course, things in Gulnahan had gotten worse the day the attack, ending with the Eurasian Liberation Army setting off bombs in the energy plant. The damage was severe and it could no longer generate power, blacking out much of the surrounding region and plunging it into chaos. Hopefully, some R&R would help them out and improve morale among the crew.

"Hello… What do we have here?" Talia said, stopping on stairs, looking out at the gathering in the base yard.

It was a Lacus Clyne concert that was starting. There was a large crowd of ZAFT personnel that had gathered at the stage while a crowd of curious civilians had begun to gather outside the base. The band started to play, but there was no sign of Lacus herself.

"Hello everyone! It's me, Lacus!" Suddenly, a pink ZAKU appeared over the base, being held aloft by two other machines. While they were similar to ZAKUs, they were clearly different machines. And in the ZAKUs hands, was Lacus Clyne. The ZAFT crowd cheered as Lacus began to sing.

In this quiet night

I'm waiting for you

Forgetting the past

And dreaming of you

The two mobile suits gently placed the ZAKU onto the stage and then moved away as Lacus continued her performance on the ZAKU's hands, which began to move as she danced, showing incredible grace and balance.

Time passes by

And memories fade

But time can't erase

The love that we've made

Nearby, the two GOUFs landed with some of the other mobile suits and powered down, their pilots climbed out of their machines. "A waste of a perfectly good ZAKU and our time," Dante commented as he and Heine watched a bit of the concert. "Ah well, the Chairman's landing. We better go pay our respects."

Elsewhere, the most of the Minerva's crew, especially its younger crew members, had disembarked and were now mingling with the crowd.

"Damn… And to thing, that's wasted on Athrun," an envious Saul said.

"I thought you had a girlfriend," Nicol replied.

"So? I can still look and dream. That girl may be a fake, but damn…she's hot."

"Naomi's going to flay you alive if she finds out you said that."

"You won't tell her. I know you."

"True. But that doesn't mean that someone else won't."

Nearby, Athrun stood at the back of the crowd with Luna and her sister, Meyrin, watching the show. "Did you know she was going to be here?" Luna asked.

"Ah…Well, no," Athrun answered, trying to sound like he cared for her.

"Well it's not like you have the luxury to keep in touch 24/7," Luna replied. "You're both busy people."

"Yeah…Something like that."

At that moment, a person ran past them, bumping into Meyrin, knocking her into Athrun. On reaction, she grabbed onto Athrun. "I'm so sorry," she said, her cheeks reddening as she held onto him. "Someone just bumped into me."

Luna scowled at her sister for such a lame and obvious attempt to get close to Athrun. But if it was a genuine accident or not, didn't register to Athrun. "We're kind of in the way here. Let's move over here," he said, draping an arm around and guided her to a warehouse wall, obvious to Luna's annoyed expression.

Among the civilian crowds watching the concert was a young photojournalist. Miriallia Haw scanned the concert with her camera, taking pictures of 'Lacus', as well as Chairman Durandal, who was speaking with several ZAFT officers. Unfortunately, their backs were to her, preventing Miriallia from getting their faces. Nevertheless, she continued searching the ZAFT crowd, looking for anything of interest. That's when she saw him.

Dearka.

While their break up had been civil, it still hurt. Dearka wanted to stay in the PLANTs while she wanted to stay in Orb. Neither of them had been willing to back down and long-distance relationships just didn't work. Things fell apart and they went their separate ways. But part of her…

Follow the stars

That lead into the quiet night…

The crowd was cheering as Lacus finished her first song. Someone threw her a bouquet of flowers. "Oh thank you everyone! It just fills me with happiness to see all of you today! To all of you courageous ZAFT soldiers, you've worked for peace and I want to thank you for that, and thank you to the people of Diocuia! I pray that this war ends soon! So let's all stay united and work together until that day comes!"

Suddenly, Meer felt something strike her stomach. Someone screamed, but it wasn't a scream of a fan cheering her on, it was a scream of terror. More cries and screams filled the air. Meer looked down. Red liquid was staining her dress. 'What…Have I been shot? It doesn't really hurt…'

But before she could do anything, she was hit twice more. This time, blue and green was added to the red on her dress.

"Yeah! Take that ZAFT whore!" someone shouted from the civilian crowd.

"That's for all those lost at Gulnahan and the Indian Ocean!" another civilian yelled.

"Down with Durandal and his butchers! Down with the White Devil and down with the Pink Whore!"

"How dare you!" another one shouted. "Lacus Clyne is not a whore!"

"Yeah! If you hate ZAFT, go crawling back to the Alliance!"

Suddenly, someone threw a rock at one of the anti-ZAFT people. "You bastard!" a man roared, diving at the rockthrower and hitting him.

Then all hell broke out among the civilians.

Treize grinned as he lowered his modified rifle, looking down at the fighting from his rooftop vantage point. It annoyed him that he was using only paintball rounds rather than real ammo. But the Captain had told him not to kill Durandal's pink little whore, something about it being better to humiliate her and Durandal that killing them, at the moment anyway. Though, it was amusing to see those stupid Patchworkers running around like a freshly decapitated chicken as those traitors fought amongst themselves.

He quickly disassembled his rifle, putting it back into a suitcase, and heading towards the stairs. While his face was expressionless, internally, he was excited. The Minerva was docked in the city. That white machine was so very close…

Soon, he would battle with that 'White Devil' again before he destroyed it once and for all.

A block away from the base, a group of teens gathered a pair of convertibles. Extended pilots of Phantom Pain, minus their leader and his little 'sister'. "Heh… Look at them," Sting said. "It didn't take much to get them fighting."

"Yeah," Auel said, nodding his head. "A few shoots from Treize, some choice words for that pink bimbo and they're ready to kill each other."

"Well, what do you expect from those idiots. They abandoned the Alliance and crawled over to the Patchworkers," Reccoa added, her voice filled with contempt, wearing tan pants and a blue sleeveless shirt.

Gyunei grunted. He wore blue jeans, a red t-shirt and a black, sleeveless vest. "Why do you care about these people? They're worms crawling around vermin. Why are we even bothering with this? We just burn this place to the ground."

"It's what the higher ups want," Sting replied. "So we do what they want. Besides, we can't really complain after the losses we've had."

"Hey! We didn't lose to them!" Auel shot back.

"But we didn't win either and for us that's the same as losing. We're Phantom Pain, losing is unacceptable."

"Anyone know where Maia went?" Rezin asked, looking for their youngest member. She also wore blue jeans and a dark green hoodie. "Neo will get angry if we leave her behind."

"She's over there," Auel replied, flicking a finger over his shoulder.

There she was, wearing a simple light blue dress and white sandals, playing a purple ball. Rezin shook her head. "That figures," she muttered. "Whenever she isn't piloting or fighting, she's playing like a child."

"What do you expect? She's crazy!" Gyunei said.

"Perhaps, but she's still strong as hell." Rezin turned to the girl and call out, "Hey Maia! We're going!"

"Kay!" she called back, running towards the group, showing them what the ball was…

"Hey! Haro!" the robot chirped.

"Hey? What is that and where'd you get that?" Sting asked.

"Some ZAFT guys handing them out to people."

"A ZAFT guy?!" Rezin exclaimed. "That's a Coordinator toy! Why did you take it?!"

"Because I like it," Maia answered, not really paying attention to them. "Isn't he cute?"

"Haro!"

Sting rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You know Treize will probably smash that thing when he sees it, right?"

"Haro! Uh oh! Haro!"

"Hell, I may end up smashing that annoying thing be he finds out," he added.

Maia pulled the Haro close, shielding it from them. "He just needs a few tweaks, and then he'll be perfect."

"If you say so."

Later That Day

The concert had been a mess, but thankfully, number of ZAFT soldiers stepped in, attempting to hold back the potential riot until the local police arrived and managed to stop it without any loss of life. But still it had been a mess.

"Well, this has certainly been one hell of a way to kick off some R&R," Saul commented to his fellow pilots.

All of the Minerva's pilots, save for Rey, were in the back of limo, heading for the largest hotel in Diocuia to meet with Chairman Durandal.

"Well, at least we're getting R&R this time around," Dearka replied. "The closest thing I got to a day off in the last war was the time I spent in the Archangel's brig."

"Not Nicol, Athrun and me. After you, Scarface and that prick got stuck on Earth, we got some time off."

"That prick?" Luna asked.

"This total nutjob that was assigned to our team. He was…well…crazy. Fortunately, he didn't appear to survive Jachin Due," Saul answered. "One small plus to the outcome of that bloody battle."

"Hey, come on. It's not nice to speak ill of the dead," Nicol said.

Saul shrugged. "I'm not shedding any tears over him, are you?"

"No."

"Cause he doesn't deserve it. He was a psycho, just like that other psycho-"

"Enough," Yzak said, growing annoyed. "We're here."

The limo pulled up to the front entrance of the hotel and they all climbed out of the vehicle. A member of the hotel staff was there waiting for them. Around the hotel, were a number of ZAFT mobile suits, some standing guard over the building the ZAFT Chairman was in, others parked, their pilots staying inside the hotel. Among two of the parked ones, were those two new models they had seen briefly at the concert. But now they could study them in greater detail. The first one was painted dark orange and black on the chest and shield while its limbs and head were painted a lighter shade of orange. The other machine…

"Wow… Now doesn't that remind you of someone," Saul commented as they walked to the main entrance. "Maybe that prick did survive after all."

The second machine's body and shield was black and dark blood red, its head, arms and legs were, like the other one, painted in a lighter red. However, on the shield and on the two front plates of its skirt armor, were black birds, ravens.

"I don't think it's him," Dearka replied. "A ZAKU Phantom, painted in those colors, saved my hide during the opening battle of the war. I doubt he would have done that."

Saul shrugged. "Yeah. You're right. That psycho won't have saved you. Hell, he probably would have attack and the Alliance guy that was attacking you."

"Hello," the hotel staff member said, giving them a bow. "Chairman Durandal is waiting for you. If you'd all follow me, it's right this way."

The man led them into the hotel and to an elevator. After getting off on the fifth floor, he led out to a patio on part of the hotel's roof. There, sitting at a large table, was Chairman Durandal, Captain Gladys and Rey. The arriving pilot snapped to attention as the Chairman rose from his seat to greet them.

"Ah, Athrun!" Durandal greeted as he approached the group. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well Chairman."

Durandal then turned to Suiren. "And Suiren, it's been far too long."

Suiren nodded her head. "Sir.

"And Tristan Palleon. How are you parents?"

"They're fine sir. Still angry that I joined the military, but otherwise fine."

Durandal then turned to Tristan's fellow Green Coat. "Gekido. I'm happy that you've found yourself a name and a path."

Gekido bowed his head, ignoring the questioning looks the Captain and all the other pilots were giving him. "Chairman."

Then the Chairman turned his attention to Yzak, Nicol, Dearka and Saul. "Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, Saul Kessel, and Nicol Amalfi. It is a pleasure to finally meet you all. We all owe you debt of gratitude for what you all did in the last war."

"Thanks sir," Nicol replied. "But we didn't really do anything that special."

"Nonsense. You helped end the last war and defended the PLANTs from the Alliance's nuclear missiles." Finally, Durandal turned to the two remaining pilot. "And last but certainly not least, Shinn Asuka and Lunamaria Hawke." Durandal stepped back from the group. "I've heard great things about all of you. You should be proud of yourself. Please sit down."

They all sat down at the table. Rey, Luna Shinn, Athrun, Tristan and Gekido on one side, Nicol, Talia, Durandal, Yzak, Dearka and Saul on the other. "What you accomplished at the Lohengrin Gate was impressive," Durandal continued. "But I am sorry that we were all deceived by those…terrorists. Rest assured that I have assigned several teams to conduct peacekeeping operations in the Gulnahan area for the time being. Hopefully we'll be able to drive the ELA out and repair the Gulnahan energy plant."

"Thank you Chairman," Athrun said on behalf of everyone.

"And to think, for some of you, your first engagement was at Armory One," the Chairman added. "I like to think that you older pilots helped inspire and encouraged the younger pilots."

"I don't know about that," Yzak replied. "They were already pretty good. They just needed some experience, and discipline for some."

"Regardless, this great city was liberated in no small part because you managed to take out that enemy emplacement. I'm proud of each and every one of you."

"Thank you Chairman," Luna said, in awe being praised by the leader of the PLANTs.

"In any case, the whole world is in a state of turmoil right now," Durandal said, changing the subject onto more serious matters.

"Have there been any new developments in space?" Talia asked, interested how the war was going as a whole. "What about the Earth Forces on the Moon?"

"Nothing was changed. There have been minor skirmishes, but nothing serious. And has far as the Earth is concerned, I'm in the dark here as well. So many variables." Durandal commented. "Like here, there are other areas that want to fight the Alliance and have asked for our help, while others that had supported us during the last war, have joined the Alliance and wish to defeat us now. Of course, you saw what happened today, it's like that all over the planet. People are becoming more and more divided on the war."

Talia nodded. Things were becoming messy on Earth. "Has there been any progress towards a ceasefire or ending the war?"

"Unfortunately, no. The Alliance is unwilling to compromise on anything."

"Well, maybe you should step down and let Defense Committee Chairman Kessel take over," Yzak commented. Everyone turned to him, staring at him in surprise while Yzak calmly sipped his tea. "The Alliance has been claiming that you were a part of Break the World from the beginning and they haven't stopped. If you stepped down and ZAFT offers works with the Earth Alliance completely to track down who was involved in Break the World, and the Alliance didn't go back to the negotiating table, the people of Earth would start to wonder why the hell they're still fighting when ZAFT is offering to work with them to root out those bastards."

"If I was a hundred percent sure that it would ended the fighting, I would step down. But after the destruction of Solomon with nuclear missiles, I fear that the Alliance is just waiting for us to lower our guard." A weary Durandal answered. "Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this to a group of fine, upstanding soldiers like yourselves, but ending a war, choosing a path that doesn't involve fighting, is much harder than deciding to go to war."

"Yes, but-" Shinn started, but paused, unsure he should say it to the Chairman. "Sorry."

"No. Go right ahead. If you have something on your mind, please, don't hesitate to share it with me. I want to hear what those who are fighting on the frontline have to say."

"I definitely think it's important to avoid fighting whenever we can, but if the enemy is threatening us, than we have no other choice but to defend ourselves. If we don't fight when there's an obvious need, then we won't be able to protect anything. Not even ourselves," he said, expressing his beliefs. "Innocent people, who want to have normal, peaceful lives, should be protected."

"But there's a problem with that," Athrun replied. "Someone once asked me, if someone is killed for vengeance, and then killed for being a killer, how will that we ever find peace? When I was first asked that question, I was unable to come up with an answer, and I'm still at a loss. That's one of the reasons I'm back here, back on the battlefield."

Durandal stared at Athrun for a moment before standing up and walking over to the balcony. "Yes… That is the essential problem. Why do we keep fighting if there is no end in sight? Why don't wars ever go away? Throughout history, people have cried out how much they hate war and the pain it brings." He turned from the balcony to Shinn. "What are your thoughts on this Shinn?"

Shinn was momentarily caught off-guard, but he quickly replied. "I think that it's because throughout history, there have always been stupid, selfish people. Like Blus Cosmos and the Atlantic Federation." Again he paused, unsure of his answer. "Am I wrong?"

"No. It's quite true. I assure you, there are many people like that," Durandal replied. "They want what others have. They hate and fear and despise those who are different. People continue to fight each other for reasons like these. However, war has another side. A more hopeless and unforgivable side to it. More merciless." Everyone stared at the Chairman, unsure of what he was talking about. Durandal turned away from them, facing the two new mobile suits parked nearby. "For example, take those two machines over there. The ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited. These particular machines were rolled out of a military factory a few days ago. Since we're in the middle of a war, new models like these are manufactured one after another. On a battlefield, missiles are fired, mobile suits blow up and countless things are destroyed. In the meantime, factories are continuous producing new machines and missiles. The battlefield is flooded from both sides. Demand is so high that the production lines actually have difficulty keeping up. Now think of what it costs to produce one single machine. If you think of it as a business, no other venture provides that much turn over while simultaneously pulling in enormous profits."

Talia didn't like where this was going. Her instincts told her that there was something wrong. But what that something was, she couldn't say. "Chairman, should we be discussing this?"

Others were more obvious with their feelings. "Sir, this is disturbing," Shinn said, his voice laced with discomfort.

Yzak studied the Chairman for a moment. "You're referring to the Military-Industrial Complex, aren't you?" he asked.

Durandal glanced at Shinn, then at Yzak. "You're quite right, both of you. It is the Military-Industrial Complex, and it can be quite disturbing. But it's a necessary part of conducting a war. I cannot be helped," he explained. "However, it warps people. They learn to think differently if it involves a profit. This also cannot be helped."

"They think differently?" a confused Shinn asked. But for others, they already knew the answer.

"When a war ends, there's no longer a need for weapons. Profits dry up. But what if there was another war? Then profits would be guaranteed. Therefore, there are some people who desire war. They want it more than anything else."

"That's sick!" Shinn exclaimed.

"They're enemies. They're dangerous," Durandal continued. "Fight them. They attacked us. Never forgive. Fight them. Throughout human history, there have always been those who urge people to war, thinking of it as a business and a chance to manufacture more weapons. And all for their own profit. If we look in the shadows of this war, than I have no doubt that we'll find LOGOS is behind it. Since it was they who created Blue Cosmos."

Everyone had questioning looks for the leader of ZAFT. None of them had ever heard of LOGOS, much less knew it was connected to the infamous Blue Cosmos.

"LOGOS? What's LOGOS?" Nicol asked, wondering what everyone else was. "And I thought Blue Cosmos started out as an environmental activist group before becoming the anti-Coordinator group they are today."

"What I meant was, they were the ones that turned Blue Cosmos into the group we know today," Durandal explained. "As to what LOGOS is, they are the source of all our difficulties. As long as we're all dancing to their tune, the PLANTs and the Earth will never see an end to the fighting. If at all possible, I'm going to change all that." He turned to the city of Diocuia, watching the setting sun. "But this task before us is truly the most difficult one imaginable."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, contemplating what Durandal had said. Was there truly an organization that existed in the shadows, stoking the fires of war, turning people against each other for their own profit? And if LOGOS existed, how would one defeat such an organization.

"Excuse me Chairman, while at Mahamul, I heard of a FAITH member named Dante, but Commandant Ruddle couldn't remember his first name. I was wondering if…"

Athrun had tried to dig up some information on this Commander Dante, but the files on FAITH members were restricted outside of the PLANTs. Even to other FAITH members. When he learned that the Chairman had requested a meeting with the pilots of the Minerva, Athrun saw it as his chance to ask the one would know without a doubt who Dante was.

"I would tell you his name? Certainly. In fact, the man in question is here, in Diocuia. The red GOUF behind me is his machine. His name is Christopher Dante."

Athrun, Dearka, Saul and Nicol all stared at the Chairman, eyes wide in shock. "What?! Where is he?" Athrun nearly shouted at the Chairman.

Durandal shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure. He's somewhere around city. I suspect that you'll run into him before you leave."

"Could he really have survived?" Nicol asked.

Dearka shook his head. "It can't be him."

"Yeah. If he survived, would have gotten in touch with everyone some time after the battle," Saul added.

"Ah, excuse me, who is this Christopher Dante?" Shinn asked.

The four veterans frowned for a moment. "Do you remember the seven mobile suits built at Heliopolis?" Nicol asked.

"Yeah. They were the Duel, the Buster, the Surge, the Blitz, and the Aegis, which the five of you piloted," Luna said, counting off on her fingers. "Then there was the two that remained with the Archangel, the Strike and the Raven."

"Well, the pilot of the Raven was a civilian of Heliopolis, Chris Dante. But he was shot down at Jachin Due, shielding the Freedom," Nicol explained. "We always thought he died there. But maybe…"

"Chairman, what can you tell us about his past?" Athrun asked, hoping that somehow it was the same person.

"I'm sorry. But he asked for privacy regarding his past. I cannot tell you."

Suddenly, Dante loudly sneezed. "Someone must be talking about you," Heine commented as Dante wiped his nose.

"I don't believe in that superstition," he retorted.

After that, Durandal ended the meeting. He had other matters that he needed to attend to. Fortunately, he offered a night in the hotel for the pilots, most of whom were eager to spend the night in accommodations better than what they had on the Minerva. Though both Rey and Suiren had declined the offer, choosing instead to stay aboard the ship.

"Oh man… I think I'm gonna spend an hour just soaking in the tub. Then I'm gonna get me some room service," Saul said, already of tonight. "I wonder if they have a masseuse on hand."

"We're guesses of the Chairman. Don't ruin things by running up a huge bill for him," Yzak said, shaking his head.

"Oh come on. Loosen up a little, Scarface. We got some R&R, so let's enjoy it."

"Athrun!" a voice called out, stopping the group.

It was Lacus Clyne, wearing the same revealing dress as before, though it was obviously a spare as the one from the concert was stained and ruined. Before anyone could say anything, she was on Athrun, hugging him tightly while everyone else watched, with Luna glaring at the pink haired singer. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

"Ah…Lacus…I…"

"Guess what! The Chairman just told me that he's buying dinner for us at the best restaurant in Diocuia!" Lacus excitedly and cheerfully said. "But he wants to speak with you in private first."

"I…Er…" Athrun looked back at Yzak and his old friends, almost pleading for some excuse to get out of this dinner.

"Well, you heard her Athrun," Yzak smugly said, pushing Athrun forward. "You better hurry and see what the Chairman wants, so you and your wife to be can get to your evening together."

With that, Lacus grabbed Athrun's arm, half guiding, half dragging Athrun to here Durandal was.

"Damn… Athrun's so lucky. I'd do her," Saul said as soon as the pair were out of earshot.

The remaining pilots looked at him in bewilderment, and for some, embarrassment. "Oh don't give me that look. Deep down, you guys are thinking the same thing," he replied. "I'm just not afraid or embarrassed to say it."

Meer had taken Athrun to an empty courtyard in the hotel where the Chairman was waiting. Undoubtedly, the Chairman wanted to take about the Archangel. Though Athrun wondered why he didn't ask for Nicol and the others as well. They still had some loose ties to the ship. Of course, if he didn't know anything, it was doubtful that they did.

Meer sat down on a bench, her red Haro bouncing around next to her. "It's about the Archangel," the Chairman of ZAFT said, confirming what Athrun suspected. "I'm sure you've heard the news."

Athrun nodded. "Yes sir."

"I've been wondering where that ship went to after it left Orb. Would you by any chance, have information on its whereabouts?" he asked.

"No sir," Athrun answered. "It's been on my mind ever since I heard about it, but I don't know anything about where they went either. To tell the truth, I was thinking of asking you if you had any new about the ship."

"I see…" Durandal said, a brief look of disappointment on his face. "I asked because if the Archangel and the Freedom left Orb, than possibly the real Lacus Clyne is with them."

Unseen by both of them, Meer frowned at Durandal's words, knowing that if Lacus came back, she would have to stop being her. "Yes sir. I don't think there's any doubt about that," Athrun replied. "Kira wouldn't…ah…the ship wouldn't leave her. Lacus is definitely on board the Archangel."

"Given the crisis, I had hoped that she would have returned to her home in the PLANTs. That's why I've been searching for her. Do you suppose that she's gotten tired of us, the way we keep doing things over and over again?"

Durandal's words caught Athrun off-guard. Lacus wouldn't do that. She cared about everyone, from those in the PLANTs to those on Earth. She would never abandon them. "Well, sorry to bother you," the Chairman continued. "But if you do learn anything about where the Archangel is, please, I'd like you to tell me."

"Of course."

Durandal bowed his head. "Thank you Athrun. Until we meet again. Good bye." He turned to Meer. "And good bye to you too, Lacus."

"Good bye Chairman Durandal," Meer called back to the Chairman as he started to walk away.

"Ah Chairman!" Athrun said, stopping Durandal.

"Yes?"

"If you hear anything about the Archangel, would you please tell me?"

"Yes, of course."

The Following Morning

Athrun yawned as he slowly sat up from his bed. His arm brushed up against something on the bed next to him. There was a large lumped underneath the blankets next to him. Athrun pulled the blankets off the lump, revealing Meer, sleeping and wearing a pink see-through nighty over her underwear. Athrun yelped in surprise as he tried to move away from the girl but fell off the bed, hitting the ground with a loud thud. This woke up Meer. Unfortunately, fate seemed to hate Athrun as at that very moment, Lunamaria knocked at his door. "Athrun. Are you up? I was going to head down to the dining hall and was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Ah… Just a minute!" he called back, frantically looking for his pants.

Meer, annoyed at Luna for disturbing them, and potentially trying to get close to her Athrun, (okay, technically he was Lacus's, but until the real Lacus returned, she was Lacus) climbed out of bed and opened the door, revealing to Luna her scantily self and Athrun, who had at that moment, gotten his pants only halfway up. Luna was utterly speechless as her cheeks began to redden. "Oh thank you, but please, feel free to go on ahead without us. Athrun and I will be heading down to the dining hall shortly," Meer said to the girl in fake cheerfulness.

Before Luna could say anything, Meer slammed the door in her face and walked back into the rest of the room.

Needless to say, this whole situation had given Athrun a big headache. "What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded.

"Well I was just talking to that girl," Meer innocently replied.

"Forget that girl! I'm talking about this!" Athrun paused, mentally berating himself for yelling as hotel rooms had notoriously thin walls. "Why are you in my room?"

"I told the front desk that I was supposed to visit you but when I arrived, you had already fallen asleep," Meer explained.

"I don't really care about the how, I want to know why."

"Why? Isn't it normal for a couple that's engaged and hasn't seen each other for a long time to do this?"

"But Lacus… Lacus would never do this!"

"She wouldn't? Why not?" she asked, clearly confused.

Athrun couldn't believe this girl. For someone who claimed to be Lacus's biggest fan, she knew nothing about Lacus herself. She was just a naïve airhead. It was a mean, but it was true. This girl had no real inkling of the real Lacus Clyne and what she was like. It was like a fangirl playing dress up. Athrun just sighed and shook his head. Part of him really wished that his father had publicly cancelled their engagement after Lacus helped Kira steal the Freedom. It would have made things so much easier for him.

But there wasn't much he could do accept bare it and pray that she would leave soon for some concert or public appearance.

A short while later, after they were both fully dressed, the two headed down to the dining hall. Meer had insisted that they travel hand in hand, as they were 'engaged' and was regaling Athrun with stories from her time traveling across the PLANTs and performing for the people. Athrun was barely listening, he was just nodding his head periodically and saying things like 'Yes' and 'I imagine' to give the appearance that he was listening to her completely.

"Oh… There's Mister Westenfluss and Commander Dante," Meer said, pointing at one table. "They both…"

The rest of her words were lost entirely on Athrun as he turned to table she pointed at. There were two men sitting there. An orange hair young man wearing a Red Coat uniform with a FAITH badge while who had his back to Athrun was dark haired and had a White Coat uniform. Athrun pull away from Meer, approaching the two. "Excuse me," he said, interrupting the Red Coat. "I was…"

He froze, seeing the White Coat's face. "Hello Athrun. It's quite awhile," he said.

"You… I…I-I… But…but how… How are you still alive?"

He didn't answer. Athrun grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the table, startling everyone. "Answer me dammit!! How the hell are you still alive, Zane Scirocco?!"

Now, I have to ask, how many were hoping or wanted it to be, not knew or suspected that, it was Chris? I'm just curious. While I said he was dead, I might bring him back if there's a big enough response from you, my fans. I have thought up more than a few ways to bring him back, if the demand was high enough. And any of them can currently be used. For the time being. So if you want Chris to return, speak up.

Now as for Yzak's lack of reaction to the talk of Chris being alive, that's because they never really met face to face, unlike the other members of the Le Creuset Team. So there was no bond of friendship between the two of them.

Also, if any of you are wondering, Maia's Haro will indeed be like the bad Haro of 00. That was only Haro, in all the Gundam series, that I actually liked. So I made a spur of the moment decision to throw it into Destiny.

You all know this by know, but I'm saying it anyway. Review!