Phase 25: The Clyne Estate

An announcement pierced the still air in the Archangel.

"Attention all crew! We will be leaving Onogoro for some other place of repair. It seems that our stay here in ORB has expired. We do thank you for your patience." came Murrue's voice over the intercom. Shani was still lying around in his room, lost in thoughts that just weren't meant to be. The door slid open as all of the pilots walked in.

"Shani, you know you can't just shut yourself in like this..." Crot reasoned.

"You haven't come out of this room since. You can't keep on doing this to yourself..." Athrun added.

"No...I won't." Shani weakly muttered, still keeping his face hidden from the other pilots.

"At least come and get something to eat, you'll just end up killing yourself at this rate!" Yzak remarked.

"And who says that's not a good thing?" Shani questioned.

"Stop saying shit like that! Come on! It's been who knows how long!" Orga commented.

"Leave now...how many times must I tell you?" Shani grumbled, burying his head into his pillow and grabbing his handgun out and blindly aimed it.

"Whoa...alright, alright! We're leaving." Dearka yelped, edging out the door along with the other pilots.

"We have to help him...he can't keep this up anymore...he's gonna make himself sick..." Kira murmured.

"I know, but what can we do?" Nicol asked, walking down the hall with the other pilots.

"Maybe when we get to this new place...well, let's just say that the new change in scenery may help." Dearka added. They walked the rest of the way down the hall in complete silence.

Ai smiled happily at the Haros as they showered her with their happy chants. 'They remind me of the others...' she thought as she took the time to remember all of their smiling faces. She let out a slight laugh as she continued to smile.

"Haro, Haro! Company!" they shouted as they made their way from the bed and followed in Lacus' wake. Ai got herself out of the bed and edged her way after them. She was still covered in bandages but the fact that she could still walk was all she needed. Something caught her attention as she heard the sound of an object approaching the quieted area. 'That sound...' she thought, turning her gaze. 'Could it possibly be..?' Her eyes widened in hope as she dashed toward the area in which the noise was coming from, though there was a limp in her stride, she continued onward in hope.

"We have now arrived in the Clyne Estate. They have kindly offered to repair everything in need of repairs onboard the Archangel." Murrue stated over the intercom. "While we are here, you may wander around for a bit and stretch your legs."

"Finally, let's go." Yzak muttered, strolling off the ship. All of the other pilots followed in suit.

"Orga, what about Shani?" Crot whispered.

"We just have to give him some time..." Orga replied, a worried expression crossing his face at the thought of the other pilot, but he quickly shook it off, knowing that he'd probably try something reckless if they were to attempt anything again. Lacus came to greet the captain and her crew as soon as they set foot onto the estate.

"Welcome, please, make yourselves at home here." she stated, still holding Pink-chan in her arms.

"Hello Lacus, it's been awhile hasn't it?" Athrun questioned, coming forward from the crowd of soldiers.

"Oh my, Athrun! It's been so long, I thought something might've happened to you!" she exclaimed, overjoyed to see that he was alright. Everyone began to move around the estate, weather it be wandering or just taking in the breathtaking view that the estate offered.

Meanwhile, Shani was still lying around on the bed. 'Now that everyone's left, I can be alone...' Shani thought, closing his eyes, not wanting to think about anything at the moment, until the flap of wings could be heard.

"Birdy!" came the voice of the small mechanical pet.

"Ugh...not you again..." Shani growled, disgust lining his voice. "This isn't the time, now get out!"

But the small bird remained persistent and kept flying around the room making little noises.

"Argh...That's it! Dammit! I said that this isn't the time!" Shani hollered, pulling out his handgun, he began to fire at the machine. Birdy narrowly dodged each shot and flew out of the room. "Oh no you don't, not this fucking time!" Shani sneered, grabbing his uniform and pulling it over his shirt before running out the door following the small thing he labeled a 'pest'. Birdy led him off of the Archangel and into a garden, where it had gotten him lost in the array of flowers. "Damned hunk of scrap metal..." Shani muttered, trying to get free of the bushels and bushels of flowers. He heard a rustling noise coming from the side and stumbled towards it, aiming his gun at whatever the source of the noise was. "It's time to die you pathetic lit-.." he grumbled until he fell out into a clearing where he saw the source of the noise. It turned out that it wasn't Birdy at all...

"Oh my god...A-Ai...is it really you?" he sputtered, dropping his handgun and running over to the small child before him. Birdy was happily flapping above them and dropped the charm it was holding in between them. Ai ignored the pendant as she froze in place at the sound of the voice. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked up at him. Tears began to flow from her tired eyes as she took a few steps closer to him.

"Sh... Shani..." she whispered softly as she stopped dead in her tracks. Shivers were running through the child as the feeling was beginning to overwhelm her. She had still not fully recovered and shouldn't have even been out of bed let alone wandering around but she ignored the feeling. All that mattered to her now, all that she ever wished for that moment she let her ideal take over, was that he was here, safe and sound. "Shani!" she shouted in joy as she ran into his arms and held onto him tightly. Her tears began to consume her once more as her breathing became unsteady. "It's you... it's really you...!" she muttered as she laid her head against his chest. "I-... I'm so sorry... Sorry that I made you sad..." Burying herself in his uniform she continued to cry as her whole body was shaken. She could still barely stand but continued to use all of her remaining strength to show him how much she cared. How much she missed him...

Birdy took flight once more and wandered to the others as it went to get their attention. Flapping it's mechanical wings loudly it fluttered over them.

"Birdy, Birdy!" shouted the machine as it made it's way onto Kira's shoulder. It continued to make a fuss as it awaited an answer from the others.

"This is General Ayusagi reporting, what is it Ensign?"

"Sir, it's the legged ship we've been hearing so much about. I think I've located it!"

"Did you say the legged ship? Hm..."

"General?"

"Right then, we will arrive shortly for back up. Ensign, I'm counting on you to retrieve the units."

"Yes sir!"

"Oh, and make sure to be more careful this time. We don't need to have any more 'incidents' now do we?"

"Heh, don't worry! I never miss my mark!"

"Good luck then, Ensign Heiwa."

Author's Notes: The reunion most of you probably already saw coming! Oh well, it was worth it all to get this far. (Don't think this means that it's over either!) I'm sure most of you have questions about that last part; questions of which will be cleared up later on. Trust me, they will be!