Ahh, an update! XD Happy happy joy joy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED.

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The early dinner was wonderful. Kira had brought her to this small Steak House that overlooked Abashiri lake. She could not remember ever eating so much before. Patting her full to bursting tummy, she looked over to Kira who sat across from her. This was the first time she had ever gone out to dinner with him, and remarkably, she was having fun. Kira was actually a funny guy when he wasn't trying to be one big ball of angst.

Cagalli leaned forward and propped her chin on her hands. "You are paying for this, right?"

Kira chuckled. "Yes, I am." He pulled the candle in the middle of the table closer to him and started running his fingers over the flame like a little kid. "But we're waiting for your chocolate cake, remember?"

Cagalli groaned. She was so hungry earlier that she ordered so much food. She looked down at her plate and groaned even more. She had barely finished her meal, and she had almost forgotten that she still had a slice of chocolate cake on the way. "God, it completely slipped my mind…"

"Full?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna share?"

"Yeah."

Her brother nodded and concentrated on playing with the flame, occasionally trying to pinch it between his thumb and forefinger. She did not doubt she had his full attention. For the last hour of talking with him, it was then did she find out Kira was an excellent listener. But along with that, unfortunately, he was also a keen observer. And he never forgot about tiny details that normally other people would not have paid much attention to.

"Say," he started, his lavender eyes flickering to her face a moment before returning to the candle that had taken his fancy. "Do you remember how we first met?"

This made Cagalli blink, somewhat taken aback with the question. "Who could ever forget that day? It was in Heliopolis when you and I first met. You were with Milly and Kazui then, off to visit Sai. And I was there." She narrowed her eyes at him, "You thought I was a boy."

Kira laughed richly. "Yeah, I remember that." He shook his head. "I've always wondered, Cagalli. Why is it that you act like a boy, dress like a boy and pretty much hit like a boy, yet you get mad when people mistake you for one?"

"That's because I'm not a boy."

"I know that. But…" his voice trailed of and he shook his head. "I guess it's better that you are what you are. Headstrong and independent. You will find that advantageous when you finally start running things in Orb."

What Kira said made Cagalli pause a bit before continuing with the conversation. It hadn't really crossed her mind, actually. She was having such a great time in Japan that her responsibility for her nation appeared to be some distant future that might not come at all. She smiled sadly. Eventually, she will have to grow up. Everything here in Japan would have been just a memory.

"You okay?" Kira's voice brought her back to reality and she felt him tap her arm gently.

Cagalli blinked. "Yeah, sorry."

His eyes lingered on her face for a second too long before he resumed with playing with the candle. "You didn't forget about Orb, did you?"

"I didn't!" she started to protest loudly, then finally realized her temper was getting the best of her again. She could not be mad at Kira for stating the truth. She had forgotten about Orb. She was too busy taking care of her own life, being and acting her age. She needed to grow up faster. There was no one else to depend on except for her. "I'm sorry. It's not like I forgot, but right now it seemed to be the least of my priorities. Kisaka is taking care of everything, Murrue is helping out."

Her twin smiled at her. "You can't depend on them forever. Or can you?" he asked curiously.

Cagalli shook her head. Kisaka had explained everything to her before they had left Orb. "By the time I'm of legal age – two years from now – I would be the officially in the Council. Until then, I need to learn as much as I can for my position. I don't want to screw this up… For my father's sake."

And then they were silent. How long has it been since she last thought about her father? Too long. She hadn't really talked about him with anyone, but that was because there weren't any opportunities to do so.

"He was a kind man, Uzumi…" Kira said carefully, as if he knew this was a delicate topic.

Cagalli nodded her head and stared at Kira, who had stopped playing with the flame and was now watching her intently. "I loved him dearly, even though I never got the chance to show it. I've always been a spoiled child who never listened to reason. But he was patient with me."

"I know."

Cagalli shifted in her seat and bit her lip before finally speaking. "Before we left for space the day my father died, that was when he told me about you. He told me that I won't be alone because I would be with you." Kira looked up at her. She smiled. "It was then did I find out you were my brother. My twin. And it was then did I finally found out the strange reason why I was so drawn to you. You are family."

Her last comment made Kira suck in sharply.

Cagalli furrowed her brow. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I just suddenly remembered my parents…"

She leaned nearer to him. "The truth up in space, you didn't tell them, did you?"

A glazed expression passed his face. "No." He blinked and the expression was replaced by something unreadable. "Because I know it would not have mattered. I've always been given the story that I was a first generation Coordinator and I've always accepted that. Then up in space I found out I was something more than that…" He closed his eyes. "I don't feel any different than I used to. Nothing has changed in me. At first I thought I did, but come to think of it, nothing changed at all. I am still what I am. And so are you."

This made Cagalli smile, and she felt a tear well up in the corner of her eyes. The big crybaby had grown up to be the man sitting in front of her. His stay here on Earth had made him into what he was now. "You are right, Kira. When I first found out that you were my brother I started to ask myself what I was."

With this, Kira reached out and held her hand in his. "You will always be Cagalli Yula Attha. No matter what happens, you will always be you. And you will make your father proud of you when the time comes. Just remember, I will always be here for you."

"I know."

He nodded at her, then let go of her hand, once again starting to play with the candle with his finger. "In the meantime, while we are still here, let's enjoy everything. Don't worry about Orb, or anything that you don't need to think about. Right now, it's your life to live."

Cagalli almost cried as she watched her brother lovingly from across the table. She had always thought that he was weak, that he cried a lot, and that he always depended on other people for strength.

It was then did she realize that she was weak, just like him. And from him did she get her strength... Leaning over, she blew out the candle under his hand. "Come on, Kira. We don't need the cake. Let's go and walk along the lake and wait for the sun to set."

He looked at her, a bit surprised, but nodded and called for the check.

0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Dearka's little walk with Athrun eventually led them back to school and much to his disapproval, back to the gym. He was beginning to hate that place. It seemed like that place was cursed. Bad things always happened when they came close to it.

But Athrun insisted.

"We've made a breakthrough, Dearka. The MemS are machines that brought out regrets in your life, reacting with memories you wish to relive all over again because you feel like you can do better than how you've done it before. Right now, I just want to confirm everything."

The Buster Pilot frowned. "Why?"

"Because Yzak needs our help."

With this, Dearka fell silent. This fact was something he could not set aside. The light-haired Coordinator had been obsessed with these machines ever since he started going out with Kari. At the thought of the girl, Dearka frowned some more. Kari… she had always made him wonder who she really was. Yzak told him that He couldn't get to Kari's memories inside the MemS, and he knew that when Yzak wanted to get something, he was not going to stop until he did. He was crazy that way.

In fifteen minutes, both of them had taken their coats off and were now fiddling with the machine. Everything was going fine until the embodiment of evil came in blur of blond hair and green eyes.

He felt her before he saw her. She pounced on him while he was examining the memory chips on the first MemS unit and before he knew it, he was sprawled on the ground, face pressed against the cold pavement, with Fallon on his back.

"I found you!" she cried out triumphantly, waving her hands in the air.

"Get off me, you little witch!" Dearka screamed as knocked her off and scrambled to his feet.

Fallon did not seem to take offense on what he just said. Not wasting any time, she clung onto him like the little leech that he was. "You can't get away from me, and you know it."

Dearka opened his mouth to scream at her some more when Athrun's head popped out from under the first MemS unit. "What's going on?"

Dearka violently tried to shake Fallon off of his arm. "This is what's going on! She came out of nowhere and then suddenly harasses me! Get it off, Athrun!"

But Athrun was all business. Dearka had seen that look on Athrun's face before. He reserved that look for very serious occasions. "Grow up, both of you. I need your help here."

"Sure, Athrun, once I get rid of – "

"No, we need her. Let her stay."

Dearka's jaw almost hit the ground. "What? We need her? Why? How?"

"Because we are going to perform a trial and error on why Kari can't use these machines. I'm guessing it has something to do with her being what she is. Genetically, I mean. So far, the only ones we've had try it out are Coordinators, with the exception of Miriallia, of course."

Dearka's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name. It was then did he realize he hadn't spent that much time with her lately.

Fallon, however, was not helping. "I saw her with that cute guy with nice teeth earlier. They were together."

Something weird writhed inside Dearka's gut at the mention of this. "Yalin was with Miriallia earlier?"

Fallon nodded. "Yeah. They were really close, you know."

Dearka snarled at her. The last thing he needed as having Fallon put strange thoughts in his head. "Shut up! Now let go of me!" He was about to grab Fallon by the scruff of the neck when Athrun butted in.

"All right, you two. Stop it. Can you please stop and help me for a bit here?"

Fallon stuck out her tongue at Dearka.

It took him all his self control not to claw her eyes out.

Athrun worked on the next machine. "Kari is altered, according to Yzak."

Dearka scratched his head. "Okay, can you explain to me what the difference that has with us Coordinators?"

Athrun stared at him blandly. "Unlike us, she said she's had her physical features tweaked. She's simply that; altered. We on the other hand are enhanced." He picked up the bulky head gear and fiddled with a few switches on it. "But I don't see the logic on why Kari can't use these and we can. Yzak said the MemS boots him out of the system when he's about to breach Kari's memories… "

Fallon frowned, but nonetheless clung onto Dearka like a jellyfish. "Why do you need me?"

Athrun stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. "You're a half-breed. Right now I'm just ready to try out some variety. Are you up to it? I want to try something."

He looked so determined that Dearka started to become interested. "What are you going to try?"

Athrun leaned over and detached something from the main unit, then showed the device to them both. "I'm removing the memory chip. Try getting to Fallon's memory without having to deal with the memories recorded in the memory chip. Can you do it?"

Dearka stared the device uncertainly, then at Fallon. For the first time, the girl looked scared.

She doesn't want me in her head…

Fallon swallowed hard. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Athrun nodded. "It has to be. Yzak's notes told me something about having to fight common experiences of those who have previously used the machine. When Kira and I used the machine before, I had to fight through Yzak's memories before I got through to Kira's. I'm assuming Kira went through the same thing then. But without this," he flipped the memory chip in his hand, "I think it will be all right."

Dearka felt strangely uneasy, and in a way he was happy Fallon was as uncertain about this as he was. But Yzak needed this… He nodded. "All right. I'll do it."

Athrun turned to Fallon. "How about you?"

She bit her lip slightly, but nodded anyway. "All right."

0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Miriallia gasped when she felt someone blow into her ear. Jumping back, she discovered it was just Lacus emerging from the frozen food section carrying a bag of French fries.

"You scared me!" she said.

Lacus giggled. "You look preoccupied, that's all. What are you thinking?" she asked as she deposited the bag into their shopping cart.

Now in reality, Miriallia did not want to talk about it, when she knew Lacus was finally happy. But it looked like the songstress wasn't going to let her off that easily. She smiled. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about Dearka. He received an email from his father about something he won't tell me."

Lacus tilted her head to the right and asked, "Is it bad news?"

"It looked like it. He was all nervous. He was telling me it was nothing and that it's better I don't know about it, but I can't get it out of my head."

Lacus nodded in understanding. "I guess you will always worry, so long as you are in love." They wheeled the cart off in search for toothpaste as she continued. "You worry about Dearka going back up to PLANT, aren't you?"

Milly opened her mouth to deny it, not wanting to appear too clingy, but she ended up nodding. "I don't want him to leave… "

Lacus smiled at her sadly. "I know you don't want him to leave. And chances are, he doesn't want to leave you, either. But you do know that he has to."

The truth was too painful to accept. But it was still the truth. "Yes." She grabbed a tube of toothpaste and threw it in the cart. "Every day I would keep on asking myself when he will go, and what will happen to us if – when – he finally leaves. He never tells me anything concerning his life up there, so I'm a bit unsure how we will ever be able to communicate with each other with the distance…"

With this, Lacus stopped pushing the cart right next to the condiment aisle. She placed a hand on Milly's shoulder and squeezed affectionately. "Milly, you are doubting him. You are starting to question if everything will be all right because of the distance. Trust in yourself, trust him and trust on your relationship. This is a small world. And with the improving relations between PLANT and Orb, I don't see anything that can prevent you from seeing each other once in a while."

Milly scratched her forehead irritably. She knew that what Lacus was saying was true, but she could not help but worry. "What if he meets someone up there? Or what if he forgets about me?"

Lacus shook her head. "You know deep down in your heart that Dearka couldn't do anything to screw up. He loves you. Everyone can see that except for you. Trust me, he won't mess around."

Miriallia looked at her doubtfully. "How would you know?"

With that, Lacus' expression wilted. "When you have lived all your life settling for anything that life gives you, and then suddenly have the greatest thing to ever happen to you happen, you won't want to let it go, Milly. I have not known Dearka that long, but having a father in the Council has taught me enough. I don't know if you've realized it, but Dearka never talks about his family."

That got Milly interested. "I've noticed that. I've always thought he just doesn't want to introduce me to his parents."

Lacus shook her head. "You are wrong. Dearka doesn't talk about his family, not because he doesn't want to, but because there really isn't much to tell." She reached out and grabbed a small bag of salt. "You've introduced him to your family before, right?"

The day when she had finally gotten to introduce Dearka to her parents flashed before her mind's eye, and that made her smile. "Yes. He loved them as they loved him."

Lacus nodded. "Not everyone had that privilege up in the PLANTs before. Majority of the youth who joined ZAFT have lost their families when Junius Seven fell. Adults had too many things to attend to then, and having been short in numbers, we weren't given that luxury to spend time with family. Except for the Coordinators who had settled in neutral colonies – Kira is a good example – people up in the PLANTs were too busy to stop and talk a while about what matters most, since what matters most to them have been destroyed along with Junius Seven. Athrun is a good example of that."

Miriallia bowed her head, somewhat ashamed. "I didn't know that."

"Of course you wouldn't know that. You were on a Neutral colony then. You were in Heliopolis." She pushed the cart along and continued with her small talk. "Now, I'm not making excuses for us being that way. There are also some people up in the PLANTs whose family ties mattered even more than position."

"Really?"

The songstress nodded. "Yes. Yzak and his mother are a good example of this." After she said this, her face scrunched up in thought. "It's weird having to know Yzak being so stubborn and self-centered then, yet having the best mother-son relationship I know… " She sighed. "Dearka's never had that kind of relationship with his dad, I suppose. I should know. My father and I hardly ever saw each other then…" She brushed the thought away as if it were an annoying fly. "But I guess what I am trying to say is that Dearka doesn't have a relationship with his father like you do with yours. The only way he could communicate with his father is by being his subordinate. So please understand."

And at that moment, at that specific time, Milly honestly felt incredibly selfish… She was worrying about the smallest of things, always thinking about herself, what would happen to her when Dearka leaves. Would he still remember her? She will be lonely. When all Dearka ever needed was a father…

"I understand. Thanks, Lacus." And she really did.

0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

There wasn't anything he could do for her. She was not crying as much as she was when he first found her, but it still made him feel utterly helpless. He did not like the feeling. He was Yzak Jule! He always knew what to do!

Except for today.

He had rummaged through the piles and piles of papers that were cluttered around Kari then, and in all honesty, it had given his head a quick roller coaster ride. Tons upon tons of documents named after her at a date she should not have been alive yet littered the whole room, along with some research papers that were also under her name. Kari couldn't move then, repeating "who am I?" over and over again as her eyes scanned the place as if hoping to find an answer.

Yzak had opted on taking her out of that wretched house and to his dorm. That seemed to have done the trick, although he had practically carried her all the way there. She could not seem to stand straight, and would once in a while shiver as if cold that he had to wrap an arm around her to keep her from breaking down.

Right now he was sitting on the couch with Kari lying down next to him in a tight ball, her knees to her chest, her head resting on his lap. He had stoked her hair on occasion and tried to talk to her, until she finally fell asleep.

For once he was not at all worried for Athrun or Dearka to walk in on him. Right now, he desperately needed someone to talk to… He didn't know how to absorb all the things he had seen in the Takano residence. Who is Kari anyway? Who is she?

Looking down at the girl lying down on his lap, he sighed in frustration. Why is it that when he had finally started caring for someone, that someone happened to have a lot of complications? He brushed back Kari's hair, and looked down at her closed eyes. She looked so beautiful to him that at this very moment, he knew that he didn't care no matter what her complication was. It didn't matter to him at all. Not when it came to Kari

Not really knowing what to do, now that she was asleep, his eyes wandered to the package he had received from PLANT he had abandoned on the center table in front of him. Casting his sleeping girlfriend a look, he gently eased off the couch and placed a throw pillow under her head, then settled on the floor instead. He fingered the thin package and after a moment ripped open the shock proof wrapper finally. Much to his surprise, it was a laptop from his mother…

Yzak looked over to the sleeping Kari and frowned. He wanted to talk to her about everything that she had uncovered in that room… everything. The mystery was starting to annoy him. All he ever wanted was to get to know his girlfriend! Was that too much to ask?

He gave Kari's hair one final stroke before standing up and hurrying to his room to retrieve something that Kari had given to him not too long ago.

It was the disc of the war game she had helped develop.

Returning to the living room and opening his new laptop, it only took a minute to configure everything and it was finally ready for use. Not wasting any time, he settled once again on the floor, touched Kari's forehead for a brief moment, and then inserted the disc in the drive.

The game's graphics never seemed to cease to amaze him. The detail was impressive and even though he had played the game for over a hundred times before, it was only then did he notice that he still hadn't gotten tired of it. But maybe that was because he still hasn't friggin' won it yet.

He had tried everything, but the game was just too realistic to be won.

He decided to play it while waiting for Kari to wake up so that they could talk. Unfortunately, an hour and three losses after, Kari was still sound asleep. Restarting the stupid yet strangely addictive game, he watched as the beautiful graphics unfolded in front of him, making him grind his teeth in frustration. He had done everything… everything! But it still wasn't working.

Leaning back on the sofa as he waited for the FMV to play out, he felt a cool touch on the back of his neck and he looked over his shoulder to see Kari's drowsy green eyes looking at him. He whirled around where he was sitting on the floor and placed a hand on the side of her head.

"Hello there," was what she said.

Yzak tried to bite back a snap, but was not able to succeed. "Took you long enough. I've been waiting for hours."

She smiled, even though Yzak knew she barely felt like smiling. "I'm sorry… Thank you for coming for me…"

"I was worried," he grumbled under his breath, blushing slightly. "You didn't show up last night… I thought… " He paused in the middle of his sentence, then continued in a snarl. "You stood me up!"

Kari furrowed her brow and pushed herself into a sitting position. "I'm truly sorry, Yzak. Please don't be mad at me…"

Feeling strangely guilty, Yzak bit his lip and mumbled something about not being mad at all.

Kari touched her hand to her forehead. "I was looking for documents from my mother's compilations for my thesis back-up yesterday… And I went into that room… and I found… so many things…"

The Duel pilot frowned. "I saw those many documents. Were they yours?"

"They can't possibly me mine… They were dated about eight years before I was born." She closed her eyes shut before opening them again, as if trying to rid herself of some unpleasant thought. "I read through them. I don't remember ever writing anything I found there… But they have my name on them all… "

"If you don't know those documents, then why are they there?" Yzak asked.

Kari looked at him straight in the eye. "My mother keeps them…"

Of course in normal circumstances, Yzak would not have cared. He didn't have the patience these kinds of things, and his heart was telling him that this meant a lot to Kari… He sat down next to her. "Have you asked your mother about this?"

Kari shook her head. "She won't tell me anything… She never does… But I know she must know something… " She turned to him again. "Yzak…? Who am I? What am I?"

The Duel pilot ran a hand through his hair. Everything was not making any sense to him. "Dammit! If only we could use the MemS… " He turned to her. "Are you feeling all right?"

Kari's eyes slowly met his, as if searching his face intently for the answer. After a while, she nodded. "I am now." She leaned over and settled to lying back down on his lap.

Yzak looked down at her, slightly embarrassed. He thumbed at her hair gently. "How's your head?" he asked gruffly, listening to her sigh in contentment as his fingers massaged her scalp.

"The ringing won't go away… But I'm getting used to it."

"You're not supposed to get used to it. I don't want you getting used to it."

Kari looked up at him serenely. "I can't help it, Yzak… Ever since we got back from Orb, the headaches haven't gone away."

And Yzak felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. So this was how it felt to be helpless, to not be able to do anything when you were so used to always having your way. He closed his eyes in frustration.

I want to make them go away…

He felt a hand touch the side of his face and his eyes fluttered open. Kari was smiling up at him, white teeth peeking out of pink lips. "I know you want them to go away…"

It hadn't been for a long time since she had impressed upon him how well she could read people. He had forgotten how it used to annoy him to death every time she did it to him. But for some weird reason, he found himself smiling right now. The smile felt stiff on his face. He could not remember ever smiling at her. He was always so bland, if not scowling at her. It made him wonder what she ever saw in him.

Her smile widened. "I don't need to see your smile to know you're happy." She closed her eyes cheerfully. "You look handsome when you smile, though."

Yzak scowled immediately, embarrassed. "Shut up."

She laughed gaily, but her laugh died immediately when she gazed up at him again. "Do I make you happy?"

Yzak snarled at her. "What kind of freaking question is that?"

"It's just a question. I wanted to know."

Yzak blushed even more. He turned away from her. "You know me more that I do myself. Why do you have to ask me when you already know the answer to it?"

Her hand touching his cheek guided his face back to look at her. Serious green eyes met his blue ones. "Because I want to know without having to read you. I want to know straight from you, if I make you happy."

And they were silent, staring at each other for minutes before Yzak leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling, taking her hand in his before finally speaking. "Now you listen and you'd better listen good, because I'm never saying this ever again."

He took a deep breath and braced himself for the speech that had been lingering in his mind for so long now, but was not able to find the perfect opportunity to say it. "When I met you, I hated you with all my heart. You were always there, everywhere I go. You try so hard to hack into my life and you drag me to places I don't even want to be in. You read me like an open book when I tell you straight out you should stop doing it…"

He felt her hand twitch in his as if to pull away, but he held on. "But even when I felt like I didn't want you around, some force just wouldn't let me stay away. When I was about to leave for the PLANTs, I had called you the last minute to see how you were, even when I didn't know what to say and I'd probably just yell at you like I always do. And then you were suddenly there… You were sitting on the floor of the airport. And even when I tried so hard not to admit it, I felt happy."

"I didn't want you to leave…" she murmured softly

Yzak raised his head and looked down at her. She had her eyes closed, but he knew she was listening. "I didn't want to leave."

She nodded weakly. "I knew."

"You always do." He traced one of her brows with his forefinger. "You make me happy. I didn't know I would be able to find someone who I would care for, more than I do myself."

Kari squeezed his hand gently, then pressed his palm to her lips. "I'm glad… you are… happy…" and with that, she fell asleep again.

Yzak watched her irritably. He had practically poured his heart out to her, and she sleeps on him! Sniffing in annoyance, he looked around the room for something to do while waiting for Kari to wake up. His eyes fell upon his new laptop which sat forgotten on the center table. The game had loaded already, and much to irritation, the game's main menu was flashing at him with the same question it always asked him when he started playing.

The enemy hovers close by while waiting for your move. What would you like to do? DEPLOY MOBILE SUITS. FIRE MISSILES. CALL OF REINFORCEMENTS… The list just went on and on

Biting his tongue to keep him from cursing, he reached for his laptop, careful not to wake Kari up, and sat the device on the armrest of the couch to his right. Guiding the cursor lazily around the screen, he pressed on FIRE MISSILES. The next question popped out for him to answer again.

How many missiles would you like to deploy? Enter number:

Yzak blinked a bit, studied the blinking cursor where he was supposed to enter the number of missiles he would like to launch.

The tough part about this game, you see, is that every time he would fire at the enemy, they would retaliate tenfold. And since he was always the one who was required to strike first, it was hard not to get the most of their attacks.

Yzak frowned as he thought about a new strategy once more. Tapping the finger of his free hand on his lips while his other hand continued to stroke Kari's hair, he looked at the monitor of his laptop, watching the cursor blink rapidly, waiting for him to put a number in for his initial attack. He did not even know how long he'd spent staring at it, not even minding most of his ranks running around and requesting for a discharge.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, a thought hit him.

Looking down at Kari peacefully sleeping on his lap, he touched her forehead with his thumb, and then turned to the monitor again, his fingers hovering over the keyboard slowly, until he finally found the right key. He reread the question again.

How many missiles would you like to deploy? Enter number:

Yzak bit his lip and pressed the zero button on the keyboard.

And his eyes widened as he watched the screen go blank, until finally, small, plain block letters appeared in the middle of the screen.

Congratulations. You have won.

0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

It was the weirdest feeling ever. It felt like he was floating, and at the same time looking though someone else's eyes. It made him feel utterly dizzy, and everything was so vivid as if he had seen this happen before, but in a different perspective…

The last thing he could remember seeing was an explosion that shook the whole of Heliopolis, making the civilians scramble in panicked disarray. It didn't take very long for the alarms to ring out and the orders to hurry to the shelters nearest you to sound off, and his subconscious floated lazily right next to a blond girl with sharp green eyes.

Fallon…

The half-Coordinator's head shot up when someone grabbed her roughly by the arm. It was a girl with reddish-blond hair and bright blue eyes. She had a look of terror in her pretty face as she hugged Fallon to her. "Don't you scare us like that! Mom is having a fit with you running off like that!"

"I'm sorry, Tanya… " Fallon murmured as she pulled away from the girl. "Where is mom?"

"The shelters at this sector are full… She's pleading that they let you in at least."

Fallon's face scrunched up in agony. "I don't want to leave without you and mom!"

Tanya gave her a stern look, and was about to say something when another explosion rocked the colony once more. Fallon screamed and hugged the older girl tightly.

"Don't be stubborn. Mom and I will go to the next sector's shelter and we will meet with you in Orb, all right? Don't give me that look! This is no time to be stupid, Fallon!"

"But… but…"

Out of nowhere, a beautiful lady flew down from the building and gathered the two girls in a tight embrace.

And with this Dearka gasped, the eyes of his subconscious floating over the three who were locked in a tight embrace. He could not believe what he was seeing…!

The woman had strawberry-blond hair reaching down to the back of her knees, and an oval angelic face that he could never forget..

She was older, and taller, and her eyes were a dazzling blue… but Dearka could never make a mistake about something like this… If he didn't know any better, he'd say the woman looked like Kari…!

He watched as the woman dragged a screaming Fallon to the nearest shelter and she had to force her into the hatch kicking and screaming.

"No! No! I don't want you to leave! Don't leave me here!" Fallon cried as the woman who looked like Kari tried to push her inside.

"Fallon, sweetheart. This is no time to disobey your mother. Go in and I and your sister will be on the next sector's shelter. Do you understand?"

Fallon shook her head and threw her arms around the woman's neck. "I'm scared! Don't leave me alone!"

"You're not alone, Fallon. There will be other people who will take good care of you until we finally meet back in Orb. All right?"

Fallon shook her head. "It's not all right!"

Her voice was drowned by another explosion, this time closer to them than before. The woman kissed Fallon on the cheek. "We'll meet you back on Earth. Behave yourself or daddy will be mad at you."

At the mention of her daddy, Fallon's face lit up. "Will daddy be meeting us on Earth?"

The woman looked at her hesitantly, then nodded. "Yes, sweetie. He will. Now get in the shelter."

Dearka's subconscious followed Fallon inside the shelter and watched as she waved at her family as the hatch closed. He watched her cry as a man led her to a seat and strapped her in.

And then he felt his body floating upward, floating until Fallon became smaller and smaller to him. He felt his mind go blank and all the colors swirled in a blur of grays and greens and blues and suddenly everything went black…

…and Dearka slowly opened his eyes and gingerly took off the headgear of the MemS before sitting up. It did not take him too long to realize that everything about him was heavy. He blinked a couple of times to get everything into focus and saw Athrun looking down at him.

"You've been in there for a long time. What happened?" the Justice pilot asked.

Dearka opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted when he heard a sharp gasp coming from somewhere to his right. Looking up, he saw Fallon's tear-stained face, those eyes looking at him reproachfully, a hurt expression marring her features. Her shoulders were shaking as she started to back away from him. He did not know why, but he suddenly felt her pain. He ripped the straps on his arms and stood up, taking a step towards Fallon. The girl backed away another step.

"You…" she whispered. "You were there… I saw you! I saw through your eyes! You were responsible why Heliopolis got destroyed! I saw you through your own eyes!" she screamed at him accusingly.

Dearka did not know what to say. He reached out to her and she recoiled from his hand. "Fallon, wait… "

She shook her head. "You were one of them! You and your kind were responsible for everything! I lost everything because of you! My sister and my mother! I lost them because of you! I hate you! I hate you all!" And with that, she turned around and ran, nearly stumbling but not really caring. Within seconds she was out of the gym and nowhere in sight.

For a few moments, Dearka and Athrun were silent, until Dearka finally spoke. "Athrun, Does Kari have an older sister by any chance?"

Athrun looked at him, confused. "I don't know… Why?"

Dearka remembered Fallon's mother and instantly shuddered. Where Fallon and Kari related?

"It's nothing…"

0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Oh! An update from Yuugiri and it hasn't even been a month yet! XD

This chapter somewhat advances the plot and I know you are finally hinting on what's happening. This it too serious for my taste. I'll have to make the next chapter a breather for everyone. I LOVE HAPPY CHAPTERS!

Also, I would like to advertise here that I have succeeded in relocating my website to Geocities and is now looking quite all right now. If you are interested, you may visit me there by going to my profile and clicking on my homepage. I put up some fanart of TIH and a cute baby Athrun and Cagalli piccie.

Anyway, Yuugiri is feeling a lot better now! And admittedly, it's all because of you! When I was feeling down, and most of you tried to cheer me up with your reviews, I couldn't help but smile. Now normally, I answer my reviews in general, but because I felt all better because of you, I felt like I owed you each a personal appreciation. So I started a journal that answers to all your reviews for my previous chapter. You may view it by going to my profile and clicking on the link I posted there (posted there twice for some reason…0.o) or you can access it from my website and clicking on "Yuugiri reaches out" on the navi.

Wow, this author's note is getting too long, so I guess I'll cut it here before you finally realize I am distracting you from killing me because I left another cliffie!

Cliffies rock! XD