Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating: T
Notes: My latest GSD fanfic - where I shall totally change parts whereby I actually disliked in its' main series. Therefore, a total Alternate Universe - this story will be.
Pairings: Auel/Lunamaria & Athrun/Meyrin
Chapter 25 - Inner Turmoil!
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Cosmic Era 73, October 19
GMT: 10 00 hours
Venue: Minerva
Athrun Zala was in his assigned room, packing up some of the necessity items that he would be requiring for the next two days that follow. He had just returned from the Captain's room, with the permission slip of getting two days off from his respective duties and responsibility. He would be taking off in the 'Savior' and later on, rent a car to roam about in town - hoping for a chance to see either member from the Archangel crew.
Just then, the door to his room opened up to admit the entry of the younger Hawke sister - Meyrin Hawke.
"Sorry, Meyrin ... I'm in a rush, I'll get back to you - later, if possible ..." Athrun said, without looking up at his visitor.
"... " Meyrin stared, before speaking up. "Athrun Zala, I didn't come in here to look for a chit-chatting session ... I was going to ask for your contact number - so it would be easier to contact you if something came up during the time of your absence! "
Athrun Zala looked up in surprise, before shoting the younger redhead an apologetic look. "Aa ... I apologized, the notion had totally slipped from my mind ... " With that, the blue-haired Coordinator took the younger redhead's cell-phone and punched in the number to his mobile.
"There! " Athrun Zala said, as he handed the cell-phone back to the younger redhead and continued on with his task of packing.
Meyrin looked at her cell-phone screen, and promptly saved the number in her phone book. After which, she nodded and bade the former farewell and good-luck in his search for the Archangel crew - for the redhead still had duties left un-completed back on the bridge of the Minerva.
On the other hand, unknown to Athrun Zala - the Captain had called in one of the lower ranking female officer into her room for an emergency briefing talk. The Captain was having trouble deciding between assigning Meyrin or Abby for the task of 'tailing' and 'spying' on Athrun Zala's actions during the period of the former absence when Rey had suggested to her, another potential crew member which the blond pilot had deemed to be a more suitable candidate.
Turns out, the female officer recommended by the blond pilot was an orphan adopted by the Chairman - himself to keep Rey company when the blond pilot was still young. Rina Slein - the female officer recommended by Rey was currently serving the Minerva as one of the lower-ranking security officer.
To be honest, if Rey had not recommended Rina to be the candidate for the mission of spying on Athrun Zala. The Captain would never have knew that someone like 'Rina' existed on board, let alone sending the former out for an individual mission.
Upon checking up on the background information for Rina Slein, the Captain was genuinely shock to find that not only was Rina trained in the fields of hand-to-hand combat, the said female officer was also well-trained in the fields of CIC control and was too, equipped with the basic skills of an elite pilot.
So why was Rina serving as a lower-ranking officer instead of an elite pilot? The Captain had wanted to ask, but that would be a question reserved for another time. For now, the mission briefing would be the utmost priority. Half an hour later, a helicopter was dispatched for Rina's usage to keep track of Athrun Zala's movements without being sensed by the blue-haired Coordinator.
---
GMT: 12 00 hours
Venue: Town of Diocula
Athrun Zala drove the car about the town randomly in search for any signs of the possible members of the Archangel, or at least someone whom knew how to contact the Archangel crew. Ever since his stepping into town an hour earlier, he had thought about contacting Kira Yamato using his cell-phone, only to realize that his best buddy had no mobile phone - yet.
Without any direct means of contacting his best buddy, all Athrun could do was to roam about town and see if he could locate any of the members of the Archangel crew. He was driving by a printing company when he noticed a familiar figure coming out from the said company and was now crossing over to the other side of the road. Steering the car into a stopping position, slightly ahead - Athrun called out to the former.
"Miriallia? " Athrun called out from his driver's seat of the rented car, and the brunette whom had now crossed over to the other side of the road turned back with a frown.
The frown was displaced by a look of surprise upon recognizing the owner of the voice as Athrun Zala.
"Athrun Zala? " Miriallia Haw wondered why the former was in town, when she had first witnessed the sight of the Archangel's appearance over at the strait of Dardanellus - she had assumed the former to be traveling with them. Now, it seems as though - she had thought wrong.
That was further proven by the statement that came out from the former's lips, claiming that the former had met up with a certain blond pilot by the name of Dearka Elthman - up on the PLANTs. Feeling irritated by the number of times, her name had been associated with a certain blond ZAFT pilot - Miriallia had glared at Athrun Zala with annoyance.
Sensing the brunette's unhappiness, Athrun Zala had wisely kept his mouth shut and refrain from mentioning the name of his ex-team mates. Just as he was wondering how he should go about asking his question, Miriallia had beaten him to the task.
"So ... what bring you into town? " Miriallia Haw asked, placing her hands on her lap as she awaited a response from the blue-haired Coordinator.
"Erm ... Well ... Actually, I was wondering if you had any idea how to establish contact with the Archangel crew ... " Athrun Zala finally responded, giving up the notion of being tactful and went directly into his reason for being in town - instead.
The brunette had initially frowned at him, before eyeing him strangely and said. "Explain yourself ... "
With a sigh inwardly, the blue-haired pilot proceeded on to relay all the events that had taken place over the past few weeks. Towards the end of his summary, the brunette finally responded. "I thought, that would be the case ... I'm assuming this unit is yours? "
Miriallia Haw said, as she handed over a picture of the 'Savior' during the last battle to the blue-haired Coordinator. "I was there at the site, and decided to snap a few pictures for a follow-up report on the war situation ... and since I saw the Archangel, I felt the urge to snap more pictures of the battle. " She explained, upon the look coming from the surprised Coordinator.
"I see ... " Athrun Zala mused, before agreeing with Miriallia Haw's suspicion that he was indeed the pilot for the 'Savior'. "So - do you know of any ways whereby I can contact the Archangel crew for a meeting? "
Miriallia Haw stared at him for a moment, before responding cautiously. "I do know of a way, but I won't tell you the method. Instead, I'll be the one whom would be contacting them on your behalf. At the same time, I'll probably warn them of your return to the ZAFT Forces - whether or not shall they meet up with you ... would be entirely their own choice. I hope you don't mind the way I'm handling things, but since you are now with the ZAFT Forces. Its' better to be safe, then be sorry - if you get my point. "
Athrun Zala nodded in response, given the current situation - and if he was Miriallia Haw, he would have did the same thing as the brunette had done.
"Sure, I'll be waiting for your contact - then ... " Athrun responded, agreeing to the terms and conditions that was being laid down by the brunette.
"Good, wait for my call - then ... I'll need to be off somewhere now. I'll get back to you once, the Archangel crew responded. " Miriallia Haw told him, as she made a move to leave the cafe where they had settled down for the conversation.
---
GMT: 16 00 hours
Venue: Archangel
"Kira! Kira-kun, come to the bridge immediately! There's something here, that we need your opinions on ... " The announcement from Captain Ramius sounded throughout the fleet, causing the brown-haired Coordinator to nearly choke on his afternoon tea. Gulping down the rest of the content in his tea cup, Kira Yamato hurried towards the direction of the bridge - almost, immediately.
Arriving on the bridge, the brown-haired Coordinator was immediately ushered in front of the screen to read the message. Once accomplished, he turned towards the remaining onlookers and asked.
"When did this message came in? "
"About an hour ago ... we were still debating on what to do, so we decided to ask for your opinion. So what do you think - Kira-kun? " Captain Ramius respond, Cagalli - meanwhile was gazing intently at Kira and awaiting for the former's response.
Kira sighed, before opening up his mouth and respond. "I'm guessing that the sender is Miri ... No one else could have sounded so eloquent when trying to write in morse code ... and the blue-haired knight was no doubt referring to Athrun ... "
"So ... your decision? " Cagalli pressed on anxiously, causing the brown-haired Coordinator to sigh and look at her with an expression of resignation.
"Fine, we shall go meet them ... However, it may or may not be a trap - therefore, I'm thinking of going alone ... but I guess, taking Cagalli with me on this particular trip won't kill ... " Kira added, upon the disappointing look upon the blonde Princess of ORB.
Almost immediately, Cagalli's expression brighten up. In the meantime, Kira looked at his girl-friend, Lacus Clyne apologetically. To which, Lacus merely smiled and shake her head in response - telling him that she does not mind his taking Cagalli with him, instead of her.
"Captain Ramius, send a response back to the sender that we'll be meeting them later at six - over at the island of Crete. " Kira turned towards the Captain and said.
The Captain nodded in response, and wasted no time in sending out the message response. In the meantime, Kira turned towards Cagalli and requested for a minute alone - with his sister. Excusing themselves from the bridge crew, Kira dragged the confused blonde all the way until they reached the Archangel lounge.
"Cagalli ... Anything may happened later on, whatever happened - I hoped that you would be able to remain calm. Judging from the way Miri had send the message, I'm guessing that she may knew something we had no idea of - for now ... "
The blonde looked up at Kira in confusion for a few minutes, before nodding obediently. Obviously, Kira knew something that she had no clues about - yet.
"Good! That's all I wanted to say to you - for now ... " Kira concluded his short conversation session, and headed for the door.
Cagalli stood rooted to the ground for a second, before following suit. Inwardly, Cagalli was wondering if Kira had knew of something that she had no idea about ... Although, the fellow Coordinator had said nothing, but the way Kira behaved around her seemed to be hinting at her that he knew something that she was oblivious about.
---
GMT: 18 00 hours
Venue: Island of Crete
Kira and Cagalli arrived at the island just slightly earlier before Athrun did, but Miriallia was already there awaiting for their arrival - for quite some time. Heading towards the two siblings, Miriallia hurried to inform the two siblings about Athrun Zala's re-enlistment into the ZAFT Forces.
Cagalli had been stunned by Miriallia's words, but Kira's facial expression betrayed nothing of his emotions. What was there to stun him? After all, he did already knew about Athrun Zala's possibility of re-enlisting with the ZAFT when the terminal last contacted him about Athrun's situation - prior to their leaving the Kingdom of ORB after capturing Cagalli from her own wedding altar.
They need not wait long, for no sooner was Miriallia done with her explanation of how she had met up with the fellow blue-haired Coordinator. They noticed a red Mobile Suit heading towards their location, the unit landed itself somewhere behind them - and then the cockpit opened up to reveal the figure of Athrun Zala.
The group of trio stared on, while they waited for the fellow Coordinator to reach him. Upon reaching them, Athrun greeted Miriallia Haw with a nod of acknowledgement before turning to greet Kira and Cagalli. Cagalli merely stared back at Athrun, still stunned by the news of the former returning to the ZAFT Forces. Kira, on the other hand, return Athrun's greeting with ease.
"Athrun ... " Kira started, pausing for a moment to gaze at the red immobile unit stationed a few steps away from them. Turning back to the blue-haired Coordinator, Kira continued his previous statement. "So ... You are now back on the ZAFT Forces? "
Athrun's eyes flickered between his best friend, Kira Yamato and his newly accquired unit - before nodding dumbly.
"I see ... " Kira paused, as he tried to re-organize his thoughts into an orderly manner. However, before he could say anything else - Cagalli had interrupted anxiously pressing the blue-haired pilot for an explanation to the former re-enlistment into the ZAFT Forces.
"Athrun! Why? Why did you go back to the ZAFT Forces? I thought you said you only wanted to talk to the Chairman ... then Why are you back on the ZAFT?! Are you going to fight us, fight Kira - again?! I thought - you said you are tired of the war already, back when your father died ... Then why on earth did you re-join them?! " Cagalli started, agitatedly.
Somehow, the blonde's reactions and questioning caused Athrun Zala to react in agitation as well. For the blue-haired Coordinator had retaliate immediately - by asking them of the Archangel's reason for getting themselves involved in a battle that took place between the Earth Alliance Forces and the ZAFT Forces.
Cagalli's reaction was rather expected by Athrun, since the blonde's only reason for getting involved was due to the ORB Forces being in the battle as part of the Alliance Party. That, and the fact that the Archangel and herself had wanted to prevent anything of that sort to happen - and therefore had decided to intervene.
"... " Athrun stared at the blonde incredulously, before turning to the solemn Kira standing by the side of Cagalli. "Was that your reasoning? Honestly? If that's your only reason, I'll say its' downright dumb and silly! Do you honestly believed by popping out of nowhere speaking as though you are the peacemaker for the day was going to work?!
Cagalli! We are fighting a war here - words were bound to be falling on deaf ears! Moreover, if you honestly wanted to prevent ORB from getting involved - the first and foremost thing to do now was to get yourself back to the Kingdom of ORB and dissolved that treaty agreement with the Alliance Party - immediately! That would do much better than popping out randomly in the middle of a battlefield and try to soothe things over with mere words! "
The blonde was utterly silent by the end of the blue-haired Coordinator's words, Kira Yamato, on the other hand - then asked back in return. "Athrun - we are just trying to stop the war from happening, not just to prevent ORB from getting involved! "
"Yes, I understand but ... the appearance of the Archangel on the battlefield's not doing much but bringing in more confusion to the situation. Moreover, its' also because of the Archangel that Heine died ... If you really wanted to make a difference in the war, why don't you guys join up with the ZAFT? I'm sure, the Chairman would have agreed easily. " Athrun Zala tried to sound convincing but was failing utterly, upon the sight of Kira's unwavering expression.
"Athrun ... Do you honestly think so? Do you really believed what the Chairman had told you? If there was nothing worth to be suspicion about - then maybe you are able to explain to me about that other "Lacus Clyne" on the PLANTs and the role she was supposed to be playing? Also, perhaps - you might be able to provide me with a valid reason as to why the real Lacus Clyne whom was with me - this whole time, had been targeted by assassins from the PLANTs!? "
Upon Kira's response, Athrun Zala fell silent almost immediately. A frown marred his features as he digested the news that Kira had just drop upon him - moments earlier. Nonetheless, he tried to persuade Kira from interfering in the battle - again. However, he knew his efforts would be in futile as Kira would never back down once the former had his mind set upon something. Still, Athrun was hoping for a miracle that Kira would perhaps listened to him - just this once.
In the end, Athrun responded. "About the issue of Lacus being assassinated, I'll get the issue cleared up - I'm not going to point fingers at the Chairman ... until further evidence were brought up. For all we know, it might also be the work of the terrorists that attempted to drop the debris of Junius 7 onto the Earth. "
Behind them, the sun was setting and the atmosphere was gloomy and heavy. Cagalli simply could not take a hint and chose that moment to interrupt - again. This time, she was asking Athrun - just why he was not leaving with them.
"Cagalli ... sometimes, even while I can understand your opinions and reasonings - I can't obey them and accept them, that easily. Besides, I'm now part of the Minerva's crew ... and a fellow ZAFT soldier. I have my role and my part to play ... " Athrun finally responded, as he headed towards his unit - and departed without a backward glance.
~to be continued~
Date started: 10/03/08
Date completed: 16/03/08
Date edited: 16/03/08