AN: And now we have the chapter that basically everyone has been looking forward too. I'm not entirely satisfied with it...but then, I doubt I would have been in any case...a lot of build up and all. I hope that I did well enough!

Archangel

Back to Orb we go. I...don't know what I'm going to do. Cagalli...

Kira Yamato paced in front of the Freedom Gundam, still dressed in ZAFT red. He had never felt comfortable in the Earth Alliance white to be honest, and while ZAFT was little better so long as Zala Senior was in command...he still felt more at ease in the red Lacus had given him. At least until he could get an Orb uniform to replace it. But...thoughts of that brought up thoughts of what he was going to have to do when he reached Orb. His homeland...and the place where he dreaded returning too.

Cagalli and his parents had to think he was dead. It hadn't been overly difficult to convince the crew of the Archangel that he had just been lucky enough to survive his battle. Not one of them, even Mu and Daniel, had actually seen the end of his battle with Athrun. Seen the Strike nearly chopped in two. The same couldn't be said for Athrun...and if he had seen what he did, Cagalli would have found out. And from there his parents would have found out.

One could hardly blame Kira for not wanting to deal with those meetings.

"Kid! I've been meaning to ask you something!"

Luckily, Mu La Flaga was good for distractions.

"What did you need Commander?" Kira asked, turning away from the Freedom.

"First, stop calling me that," Mu smiled lightly, "We're not in the military anymore, in case you forgot. Kinda hard to forget, what with you walking around in ZAFT red."

Kira looked down at his uniform, "Point taken...Mu. So what did you need?"

The blonde waved a hand, before looking up at the Freedom, "I'm mostly curious how you got to the PLANTs and managed to snag a ZAFT G-Weapon. I know you don't want to tell us any details about the machine, but still."

Didn't expect that. No one asked about how I got to the PLANTs last time...Kira thought, before smiling slightly, Then again, I didn't know how I got there.

Of course, the smile slid off his face fairly quickly. He wasn't sure what he could tell Mu. He couldn't tell the truth...Kira may have acknowledged that he would need to tell Cagalli and Athrun, perhaps his parents, but he wasn't ready to tell everyone. That meant he would have to lie to his friend...again. Joy.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Kira shrugged.

"Eh?"

"I woke up in the PLANTs. Last thing I remember is the Aegis attacking me."

"Ahh," Mu nodded, "Must have been knocked out and taken there. Know who did that?"

The other pilot shrugged again, "A man named Malchio."

"Reverend Malchio," the former Commander 'explained', "Good man. Or so I've heard anyway...never had the good fortune to meet him myself. I do owe him a beer for saving your bacon though."

Only he didn't save me...

Kira just nodded and smiled slightly though, "I appreciate the sentiment Comm...Mu."

The blonde clapped Kira on the back, and went back to looking at the Freedom. Kira didn't need to be psychic to know what Mu was thinking either. While the man may not ask any questions about the Freedom, it didn't mean he wasn't fascinated by it. It was hard not to be after all...Freedom was unlike any other Mobile Suit in existence, even its Nuclear-Powered twins Justice and Providence. It was certainly nothing like the Strike, however much it resembled that destroyed machine.

The Ultimate Coordinator was well-used to seeing the Freedom though. To him, this was the second time he had flown it, after all. The Hawk of Endymion, by contrast, had never seen it before. Kira would be rather more interested if Mu wasn't looking at the Freedom with an envious eye. The man thrived in Mobile Armors, but anyone would want a Mobile Suit after seeing what ZGMF-X10A Freedom was capable of.

"Think I can take her for a spin?" Mu spoke after a few minutes.

"No," the younger pilot snorted, "sorry Mu, but I was entrusted with this machine and I can't let anyone else use it."

"Damn," the blonde looked putout, "Oh well, worth a shot."

Kira shrugged, "Don't worry, I'm sure Morgenroete will have something for you."

Mu's eyebrow went up, "What makes you say that?"

Damn...can't slip like that... Kira internally cursed, "Well, think about it. Orb has no reason to keep you in the Skygrasper when they have the Astrays. They can't say no to a pilot of your skill."

"Ego-boosting?"

"If it works, it works."

The older man barked out a laugh, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Damn, I missed you kid. You've got the driest delivery in the world, I swear."

"It's a talent."

"See!"

Kira couldn't stop himself from smiling. He had missed this too. Lacus was nice, and so was Andy Waltfeld. But he had missed the Archangel's crew. Even Natarle, for all her stiffness was someone he could count on. Of course, she wasn't aboard though...while Flay had somehow managed to avoid getting reassigned- something he certainly had nothing to do with no matter the fact he wasn't complaining about it -Natarle wasn't so lucky. The Lieutenant had been sent somewhere...likely the Dominion.

For all that Kira knew that fact, there wasn't anything he could do about it. He surprised himself sometimes with all the good he had done, but he wasn't superhuman. Scratch that...he wasn't that superhuman. Future knowledge only got one so far after all.

"In any case Kira," Mu finally used his name, "It is good to have you back. We should probably get something to eat though. We'll be at Orb soon, and I get the feeling someone wants to see you."

"Cagalli," the teenager couldn't help but wince.

Mu just laughed as they walked to the mess hall.

PLANTs

White Symphony Theater

Athrun Zala was not a happy man. In point of fact, he was a thoroughly broken man. He had been pushing on after the Bloody Valentine and the loss of his mother well enough...he hadn't fallen into the same pit as so many other, and lost himself. There was only so much one man could take though...and ever since that damn raid on Heliopolis, Athrun's life had been one tragedy after another. Losing Rusty. Nicol being captured, and probably killed along with the Archangel and the Eurasians at Alaska. Killing Kira...something he knew he would regret for the rest of his life. His father sliding into madness...something that even he could no longer ignore.

And now? Now he had to find Lacus. The love of his life, who had quite probably betrayed everything he fought for. The footage didn't lie...she had quite clearly helped someone steal the Freedom. A machine Athrun hadn't even known existed...but his fiancé clearly did know about. He didn't know how that was the case, but it mattered little.

Because right now, he was standing outside the theater where Lacus had first performed, with a pistol in his hand. He wanted nothing more than to believe she was innocent...but his life surely wouldn't allow him one moment of peace, would it?

Lacus is definitely here...

Athrun could hear singing as he moved into the abandoned building. Hauntingly familiar singing. It didn't take long for him to track it to its source...Lacus Clyne, dressed in the same blue dress she had worn at the concert in this very building. The Haro in the blue-haired pilots hand leapt out, and towards its own. Lacus smiled at the sight, and even more so at Athrun.

"Athrun! Thank you for returning Mr. Pink to me!"

"Lacus," the pilot was really not in the mood for the naïve act. He jumped up to the stage, heedless of his broken arm as he aimed his pistol at his- former, a small part of his mind registered -fiancé.

The pop princess showed little reaction to that, "It is good to see you again Athrun."

"Lacus," Athrun repeated, "I need answers! Did you really help a spy take the Freedom? How could you?!"

"Athrun, I didn't help a spy," Lacus replied, a small smile on her face, "I just helped Kira get his new sword."

"I don't care who you help..." the teenager began to shout, before his brain caught up with his fiancé's words, "Kir...Kira's dead!"

Lacus looked quite sad, her blue eyes tearing into Athrun's soul, "He told me you'd believe that. I can assure you though, Kira is very much alive."

"That's impossible! I...I cut the Strike's cockpit! There isn't any way he could have survived that!"

It was impossible to believe. Athrun saw his beam saber cut into the Strike's cockpit. There just wasn't a way for Kira to survive that. Coordinators weren't supermen...they couldn't survive being cut in half by plasma. Lacus had to be lying to him...she had to be.

But then, why were her eyes so sincere?

"Oh Athrun," the pink princess got to her feet, heedless of her fiancé's pistol.

"Lacus...he...can't..."

Before Athrun knew what was happening, Lacus' arms were around him, pulling his head against her shoulder. The pilot stiffened...this was a traitor using his dead friend against him...before relaxing. Lacus...she had never lied to him. Not once. He doubted she even had it in her to do so.

For her part, Lacus couldn't help but hug Athrun. He had seemed so...lost. Rings were very visible under red-rimmed emerald eyes. His shoulders were stiff, even more so than one would expect with his broken arm. His hand had shaken as he held the pistol on her. It didn't take a genius to see the pain the Coordinator was in. Just someone familiar with him.

"You...aren't lying, are you?" Athrun whispered.

"I could never lie to you Athrun," Lacus replied, squeezing slightly, "Kira is perfectly fine. He hated fighting you and making you think he was dead...but he's not hurt."

"Making me think he was..." even in his current condition, Athrun Zala was not a dumb man, "He...wasn't in the Strike, was he?"

Lacus shook her head softly, "No, from what Kira told me he was not."

"He faked...why? Why would he put me through that?"

The pop star couldn't blame Athrun for being angry...she wasn't sure that her fiancé knew what to think at this point. Probably warring emotions...happiness that Kira wasn't dead. Anger at him for faking his death and putting his friend through hell. Shock was probably in there too.

"He said that he wanted to leave the war," Lacus explained, her voice soft as ever, "That with the Archangel so close to Alaska he felt safe leaving it."

"Then why would he take the..."

Before Athrun could finish his question, he heard the sound of stomping feet. Breaking away from Lacus, Athrun brought his pistol up, scanning the area. Several Justice Department men, dressed in plain clothes had run into the theater. All of them had pistols drawn, suppressors fitted to their barrels. And all of them were aiming the weapons at Lacus. Regardless of how he had felt coming into here, Athrun did not appreciate guns being aimed at his fiancé.

The men didn't show any reaction to the pilot though. Their guns continued to aim at Lacus, the sunglasses they wore hiding their eyes. Frowns were on all the faces though, making it clear they hadn't banked on Athrun getting in front of the girl. If they had followed him here, like he suspected they did, that made sense. Didn't stop Athrun from glaring at them though.

"Move aside Athrun Zala," the evident leader said, "We thank you for leading us to Ms. Clyne, but we have orders to take her in...dead or alive."

"Wha...why?"

"She is a traitor. Now move aside before we have to take drastic acti..."

Before the man could finish, shots rang out. Two of the JD men fell to the ground, bloody holes in their heads. Athrun took advantage of the distraction, dropping his pistol and using his suddenly free hand to grab Lacus. He leapt behind some rubble, as bullets continued to spray back and forth. It was only when the gunfire stopped, that Athrun allowed himself to poke his head out.

The sight that greeted him was a group of greencoat soldiers. One in particular drew his attention...Martin DaCosta, Andy Waltfeld's protégé. The redhaired Coordinator stood over the body of the leader of the Justice Department men, looking at Athrun with a calculating look.

"Come on Miss Lacus, we have to go," DaCosta said.

"I understand," Lacus replied, "Thank you for protecting me Athrun!"

Athrun nodded dumbly, before his brain caught up with him, "Wait! Where...where's Kira?"

"Orb, I would expect," the popstar replied, "He told me he would be waiting for you there. I hope...I hope you can be friends again."

And with that, Lacus was gone. She left behind an Athrun Zala who finally had something to look forward to again. He was not going to waste this chance. He could not, waste it.

Orb Union

Onogoro Island

Athrun was far from the only one with things to think about, however. Cagalli Yula Athha stood on the hidden dock, watching the Archangel, battered and bruised, come to a halt. To a certain extent, Cagalli wondered what exactly she was doing here. Seeing the Archangel, especially in its damaged state, merely brought up bad memories. She had, somewhat, gotten past Kira's death. Or so she had thought...actually seeing the ship he had fought so hard to protect- lost his life protecting -just brought it home again, that he wasn't aboard.

If she had seen it before, the Archangel would have been a welcome sight. Kira would have greeted her at some point after it docked...if she hadn't tracked him down first. As it sat though...she knew he wasn't aboard. She had seen the ruined Strike herself. The only reason that Cagalli was here, in fact, was because she knew no reports of Kira's fate had reached the warship. Just as with Kira's parents, she considered it her duty to tell his friends that he was dead.

Maybe...maybe then she could put her grief behind her, and try to move forward.

I hate this...I hate feeling so weak...

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Cagalli walked down the ramp into the Archangel. She almost got run over by medics wheeling a wounded soldier out of the ship...and ruthlessly suppressed the feelings that sight brought up. She didn't need that right now.

"Where is everyone?"

She had halfway expected to run into someone she recognized off the bat. The fact she hadn't was odd.

"Cagalli?"

And now I'm hearing things...damn it...

"Cagalli?"

Go away! I am not going crazy!

"Cagalli?"

"I said go away damn i...Ki...Kira?"

Standing in the hallway across from the blonde, was a ghost. Kira Yamato, in a red ZAFT elite uniform, scratching his head with a sheepish smile on his face. Cagalli blinked, reached up to rub her eyes, and blinked again. The ghost did not vanish. It did however blur, as she felt tears coming to her eyes. She cautiously took a step forward. The ghost didn't move, other than squaring his shoulder's slightly.

The next moments were a blur, as Cagalli sprinted across the deck and tackled the 'ghost' to the floor. Kira grunted, but didn't make any other moves. Cagalli was thankful for that...she needed to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Of course, this being Cagalli, she did so by punching Kira's chest. She felt his heartbeat under her hand as she did so...and could finally acknowledge that she wasn't imagining things.

"Kira? You're...you're really alive?" that didn't mean she could believe it...without hearing the words from his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm alive," the smile on his face made Cagalli want to hug...and punch...Kira at the same time.

"I can't believe it...how..."

"Long story?"

And now the temper was back, as Cagalli slammed her fist down again.

"You...you...jerk! I thought you were dead, and that's all you can say?!" she shouted, tears falling freely now.

"I'm sorry...I..."

"I thought you were dead Kira..." Cagalli's voice softened, even as her grip tightened, "You promised me you would come back...and then...when I found the Strike..."

Kira didn't say anything...he just repositioned his own arms to grip Cagalli slightly. He was out of his depth really...but he could tell she was in a lot of pain. He hadn't realized...realized just how close she was to him. How much faking his death would hurt her. Needless to say, Kira was cursing his shortsightedness in not letting her know of his plans. He certainly couldn't avoid telling her about the time travel now...he doubted he could ever lie to this girl again.

"It was ruined..." the girl continued, "Athrun...he even confirmed he...ki...killed you. I thought I would never see you again!"

"Well, I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere," Kira replied, tightening his own grip, "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Cagalli managed a shaky laugh, "You better not leave again. Or I will hunt you down. That's a promise."

"Even to Hell?"

"Especially there. Someone has to drag your sorry ass out."

Kira laughed at that...laughed long and hard. Cagalli joined in, the grief of the last few days fading away slowly, but surely. Kira was back...she had never even dreamed of that possibility. Now that it had come true though...she wasn't about to complain. Or let go for that matter...Yamato wasn't getting out of her sight until she was sure he wasn't going to vanish into thin air again. Besides, she wanted to know how he had survived now.

And...there were people he certainly had to meet.

"You, are coming with me."

"Cagal...where are you dragging me?!"

"Your parents. You are not getting out of telling them you're back mister."

The brunette gulped audibly. He had been hoping to...avoid...that issue a bit longer. It was one thing to tell Cagalli- regardless of how close they were now -it was entirely different to tell his parents.

But, then, they deserved to know he was back. He couldn't deny that.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And thus, Kira found himself standing outside the door to his home. He was still nervous...especially in his ZAFT uniform. Cagalli was rather less nervous...even if she refused to let go of his arm. Normally that might have been comforting. Right now it just felt constricting, since Kira was resisting every instinct he had that told him he should be running away from this door. He loved his parents...but he wasn't sure if he was ready to talk to them yet.

No choice in the matter though. Cagalli was sure as hell not giving him one, as she reached forward with her free hand to knock on the door. Kira gulped, as he heard footsteps. And heard his mother's voice, calling back to his father. He squared his shoulders...readying himself as much as he was able to.

"Cagalli? It's nice to see y..." Caridad's voice trailed off, as her green eyes went impossibly wide, "Kira? My...baby..."

"Hey Mom..." Kira said softly, before he felt his mother's arms around him, squeezing the life out of him while he felt her tears wetting his shoulder.

"Kira...Kira...my baby..."

As Kira did his best to comfort his mother, Cagalli moved to the side. She wasn't going to interrupt this reunion. It wasn't her place to.

"Caridad? Honey, is something wro..." Haruma's voice called, as the man walked into view, "Oh my God...Kira? Is that really you?"

Kira looked up from his mother, "Yeah, it's me."

Haruma stepped back slightly, shock clearly lining his face, "I...can't believe it. Come in, please. We..."

"I know Dad, I know."

The older man nodded weakly, as Kira walked inside with Cagalli and his distraught mother. The three sat down in the living room again, just like the last time Kira had been here. That hadn't been a fun visit. This...well, it was on a different level.

"Kira...I am so happy you're okay!" Caridad began, wiping at her eyes.

"As am I," Haruma agreed, "We...thought you were gone. Cagalli..."

And now the guilt trip was hitting the pilot even harder. How could he have done this to his parents? Was he really so focused on the Freedom that he hadn't thought of how it would hurt people to think he was dead? Had he really gotten so focused on his plans that he did that? If he had any doubts about spilling the beans...they just flew out the proverbial window.

They deserved to know the truth. It was the least he could do, after putting his parents and friend through this much pain.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," he began, wincing slightly even as he spoke, "I...can't imagine what that was like."

"It was horrible," his mother said, "I thought I would never see you again. Kira...there is so much I..."

"We," his father interrupted, "So much we have never said. How much we love you...how important you are to us. We haven't always got along, and we shouldn't have kept your heritage a secret. We didn't realize that until we thought we had lost you."

Cagalli nodded, "I felt the same way. How could you put us through that Kira?"

Well...there it is. The question I've been dreading...for so long...

"That's a very long story."

Caridad smiled weakly, "Kira, we have all the time in the world. Please...tell us..."

"Yes, please," Haruma agreed, "I want to know. I think we all do son."

"Damn straight," Cagalli finished.

Kira sighed, and looked at his family. His mother was smiling weakly, clearly overwhelmed in happiness that he was back. His father was much the same...though he seemed to have a curious look on his face now. Cagalli was like an open book. Happiness and lingering anger in her expression. Kira knew this was coming, and he could only hope they believed what he was about to tell them. He may not have believed it himself sometimes. That was true.

Nonetheless...he didn't know what would happen if his family and friend didn't believe his story. It might just break him, every bit as much as his 'death' had broken them. He needed support...not to be called crazy.

"It all began...several months from now...at Jachin Due..."

AN: Angst galore...and a cliffy. Which wasn't meant to be a typical 'hey, it's to keep interest' one. It's just I think that discussion deserves a chapter to itself. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter anyway!

Just a Crazy-Man: Glad you liked it!

Dragoon Swordsman: It wouldn't be Kira if he didn't have a spectacular entrance. I hope the renuion was up to snuff...not an easy thing to write by any means. Fun, yes. Easy, no.

Plutone-pilot: Yeah...that's going to be an interesting thing to write.

synbad2, EternalKing, Blackravens5, edboy4926, NinjaFang1331, davycrockett100, thunder18, hitomi65, Sor-Rin: Thanks for the reviews!

Wing Zero 032: I have plans for the Eurasians, don't worry.

Kurama's Foxy Rose: Strike's nickname. Kira isn't well known as its pilot.

Lord Edric: I have plans on how Rau will adjust his...plans.

northernlion196: Such a note may have worked...but it may have backfired. That, and Kira's tunnel vision on the Freedom was a pain.

Guest 1 and 2: No lemons. Story's staying firmly T rated...I don't have much desire to try writing one.

StrawHatLuffy94: It may 'seem' like Kira is saving everyone...but...

Directly Saved: Montgomery crew. Nicol. Aisha.

Indirectly Saved: Halberton, a few Desert Dawn guys, the Shuttle.

That's really about it. The Eurasians are people Kira had nothing to do with. Halberton (and by extension Zelman) were also something that Kira didn't have anything to do with. He's only directly saved the Montgomery crew (plus Allster senior), Nicol and Aisha.

AN: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Next one should be in two weeks as per-usual.