Phase 37: A New Companion
Ai looked up at him as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She tried her best to smile or even seem a bit happy but in the end it was a vein attempt.
"M-... My name is Aiorem Heiwa..." she said softly to him, though her head turned away from his gaze. "Or just Ai..." She felt a desperate need to run from him but in truth it was not Shinn she wished to run away from but this entire war. How she wished everything could have been the same. That she had never existed in this never-ending war... 'Why can't I-...' she thought as a pained look took her face.
"Why can't I help them..?" she muttered under her breath as her tears continued to flow. Shinn took notice of the feined attempt of happiness.
"Don't hide your feelings..." he murmured. "You should let it out rather than keeping it all bottled up on the inside." Shinn had heard Ai's little mutter quite clearly due to the silence of the room.
"Help who Ai?" he questioned. "It won't hurt to talk now would it? Anyways, it might make you feel better." He sat down on the bed and motioned for Ai to join him. "We've got a long ways to go before we reach ORB and I've never been one for too much quiet..." Shinn remarked. He couldn't stand to see the poor child cry anymore, it just seemed to bring back all the hurt from when his sister was taken from him.
"Ai...let me help you." Shinn whispered. "I know I haven't known you for that long, but let me try to help."
Athrun had made his way back to the group and immediately confronted Miguel.
"I thought you said she was in sick bay!" he growled, feeling a bit angry at his old mentor.
"She was!" Miguel argued, feeling a bit childish to be arguing with his old student.
"Well Creuset said that she was sent to the Minerva!" Athrun stated, looking at Miguel with a cold glare.
"They must've transferred her sometime during or after the battle! I swear, I didn't know a thing!" Miguel commented, trying to defend himself in the current argument.
The other ZAFT pilots had begun to whisper amongst themselves, leaving Rusty slightly confused as he shot Miguel a couple shrugs.
"Listen Athrun, I'm sure we can work this out, after all, the Minerva is going to ORB right? I'm sure we can do something about it there." Miguel reasoned, trying to keep Athrun from biting his head off. Athrun calmed down a bit after hearing the last piece of Miguel's speech.
"Fine, but she'd better be alright..." Athrun grumbled leaving the hall in a huff. The rest of the ZAFT pilots began giving Miguel weird stares including one from a very confused Rusty.
"Uh...what? I didn't do anything!" Miguel remarked, not wanting to deal with the other pilots at the moment. The small group of pilots began to disperse as everyone went off on their own, waiting until they finally reached ORB.
Ai hushed her breathing as she tried to calm herself down enough to hear Shinn's words. Nodding her head slightly she slowly made her way over to his side. There, on the bed she looked up at him, her tears still flowing freely, and broke down in her sorrow.
"I-I don't know what to do anymore!" she cried out, trying to hide herself from Shinn. "They-... They're my friends! They're all my... my friends... but now-.." he words were becoming choked as she struggle to give him the message. She didn't know what else to do so she kept crying and continued to hide her face from him. Everything she had been thinking, everything she was fighting for, it had all become so clouded in her mind now.
Shinn's mind reflected back to the battle they had witnessed before. 'She knew them!' Shinn questioned to himself. 'Just who is she?'
"Why didn't you tell me that you knew them...maybe I could've done something with Impulse..." he stated, feeling overwhelmed by all this information all at once. He gave another tired sigh, trying to rid his mind of the thoughts of when his sister had perished because he couldn't do anything that could've prevented it from happening in the first place. "I really didn't know...please don't cry...it'll be okay." Shinn reassured, trying to get Ai to calm down a bit, but what he had done was to no avail. He didn't know what to do, it seemed that Ai would never be happy again by the way she was crying at the moment. Shinn was starting to panic thinking that he had done something wrong to upset the poor thing.
"Please don't worry! I can't stand to see you like this, I can't stand to see anyone like this!" Shinn suddenly remarked, grabbing Ai and holding her close. 'What have I just done?' Shinn thought, waiting for any kind of reaction from Ai.
"We are now in the earth's atmosphere and will be reaching ORB shortly, everyone is required to stay onboard the ship until we get further instructions." explained the operator as he broadcasted the announcement through the intercom. Shani and Orga were busy with their daily activities, not bothering to even listen to the intercom. Crot was still in his secluded room, he had managed to somehow shut everything out as he seemed to be staring into nothing but a blank void. He had remained motionless for quite sometime now and he wasn't about to anytime soon.
"I will handle all negotiations on ORB, just give me about half an hour and we'll have this legged ship repaired in no time." Azrael stated, making sure that everyone the bridge heard him. "After all, they'll have no choice in the matter..." Azrael muttered, walking off to inform Stella, Sting and Auel of the coming mission they had...
Ai froze as she was taken into Shinn's warm embrace. Her eyes widened as she glanced to see the pain in his eyes from her dismay. She let go of her feelings as she fell into his embrace trying to forget about it. 'This feeling...' she thought to herself. 'I want it all to go away...'
"Why..?" she questioned softly to him. "Why can't it all just go away..? I don't want to hurt anymore..." she continued as she sunk deeper into his embrace. "I don't want to fight... Please don't let 'him' take me..." With those words Ai had worried and cried herself into a light slumber within his arms as her breathing began to even out.
Shinn looked at the sleeping girl in his arms and gave an inward sigh. 'Just who is she in all this?' Shinn wondered, trying to figure out the answer. 'If she knows pilots, then she surely must not be a normal kid that the Versalius just happened to pick up.' He gently laid Ai onto the bed, covering her with a blanket and tucking her in. He took one last glance to make sure she was alright and sat beside her on the bed, waiting for the Minerva to reach their current destination.
"Stella, Sting, Auel come here, I want to ask a mission of you." Azrael stated, walking into their quarters.
"Yes? What is it?" Stella questioned, confused as to why they had to do a mission even though there was no apparent reason for it.
"I want the three of you to go down to ORB and block off all of the civilian and military exits using the Strike Daggers. Each of you will be in charge of one exit and make sure that no one gets in or out." Azrael explained.
"Yes sir!" came the unanimous reply from the trio of pilots.
"Good, now go get suited." Azrael stated, leaving the room and heading back towards the bridge. Shani and Orga, who were in the adjacent room had overheard Azrael's plot, but decided that now was not the best time to act. Stella, Sting and Auel strode down the halls, Sting and Auel had smug expressions on their faces while Stella had a cold look as they were going to get suited and prepped for launch...
As the ship was finally making it's way to it's destination Ai lay there in her slumber. It was not a sound sleep, nor were any of the ones she had recently anything near pleasant. 'Have I forgotten everything..?' she thought to herself as she tried to delve into a deeper sleep. Opening her eyes she found that her exhaustion wasn't one of physical turmoil but that within herself. 'Have I even forgotten...' she thought as she turned her glance over to Shinn. 'Forgotten what it's like to dream..?' Her face was flushed as she was beginning to run another fever due to her fixation with inner turmoil but it wasn't as severe as the others. Nevertheless, if she didn't get the help she so desperately wished for her state would be without a doubt compromised.
"Shinn..."she questioned weakly. "Please say we're here..."
Azrael strode out of the Dominion and came face to face with Uzumi Nara Athha.
"Muruta Azrael, why is it that you are here?" Uzumi questioned, Cagalli by his side giving Azrael cold looks. "You know very well that ORB is a neutral nation and we choose to not get ourselves involved in this." Azrael wasn't about to take no for an answer.
"Yes, well, we just need repairs, nothing more nothing less, if you would just please offer your assistance..." Azrael requested, still trying to get his way.
"I'm afraid I must refuse you on this Muruta, I cannot allow you to make ORB part of this senseless war!" interjected Uzumi.
"You refuse us!" Azrael growled, his whole demeanor had suddenly changed to reveal his true intentions. "I don't think that's such a wise choice...refuse and ORB will be destroyed, civilians and all. We have all exits blocked, so don't even try me and if you'd like to start a battle then go right ahead, at the expense of the civilians in the area of course..." Azrael explained.
"You snake..." growled Uzumi, who was beyond enraged at the moment.
"We will not harm anyone as long as things go our way, let us repair the Dominion and give my men free range in this nation until the repairs are complete. Once you do that, it'll be like none of this ever happened..." Azrael remarked.
"Father..." Cagalli remarked, trying to get her father to change his mind.
"I'm sorry Cagalli, but I can't afford to risk any civilians in this issue that we are currently facing." Cagalli slowly nodded and left her father.
"I'm glad you saw this my way..." Azrael remarked before heading back into the ship.
Most of the soldiers had rushed out once they had heard the news. Shani and Orga stayed back a bit and walked back to Crot's room only to find the door unlocked.
"What the hell?" Orga remarked as the door slid open. Shani and Orga peered inside only to discover one thing...Crot wasn't there.
"Now where the hell did he go?" Shani grumbled, trying to think of where he could've gone.
"He must've snuck out, let's go find that stubborn dumbass..." Orga muttered, walking towards the ship's exit.
"The Versalius is attempting reentry along with the Minerva, we should be reaching the island of ORB soon enough." stated the operator through the intercom. Athrun had been staring outside of his window in his quarters all this time. 'Ai, don't worry, I'll be there soon...' Athrun thought in his mind.
The others were also busy worrying about Ai and wondering about why they had to go to ORB for some abrupt and apparent reason as the Versalius and Minerva slow descended into the earth's atmosphere.
"Commander?" questioned Lyai as the ship had come to a sudden halt near ORB. "Is there something the matter?" Ayusagi turned to face her, a grim expression on his face as he nodded in response.
"It seems there are others who seek to return as well." he said as he motioned for Lyai to take a closer look. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the Dominion ease into the facilities.
"Why are they here!" she demanded to no one in particular. Ayusagi shook his head as he walked over to Lyai's side and put his hand on her shoulder.
"I do not quite understand the full reasons as to why all of this is happening but it seems whomever is trying to pull the strings behind this war wants us gone..." he replied a bit coldly. Lyai looked to him to see the anger in his eyes as she walked away from him.
"Please excuse me sir. I think there are other matters that must be attended to at the current moment." she said as she left the room.
"Yes... I have some matters of my own..."
Ai looked over to Shinn as she sat up in the bed trying to calm herself down. 'Athrun, Nicol, Yzak and Dearka... I hope I get to see them all soon...' she thought as their images flashed in her mind. A comment Shinn had made earlier had her questioning some things as she finally decided to come out and say it.
"Shinn..." she began as she looked over to him once more. "What's the Impulse?"
Crot was dashing through the facility not caring what kind of stares he got from the faculty. He just wanted to get away from anything that moved. He had snuck out during Azrael's discussion with Uzumi and was now trying to get as far away from the Dominion as possible and his Gundam. He had made it quite a ways through the complex and was out of breath. The state he was in wasn't maing it any better either.
"I...have to get away." Crot murmured. "I have to get away from the accursed Gundam!" The sudden sound of footsteps nearly caused him to jump as he resumed his running, not caring where he was going just as long as it was away...
The Versalius had reached ORB and had docked in the back facilities as to not be seen by others as the Minerva shortly followed. Everyone in the Versalius had already gathered around the Minerva, waiting for the other soldiers to disembark. Athrun, Nicol, Yzak and Dearka had made sure that they were in the front, each anxious to see if Ai really was on the Minerva while Miguel and Rusty stood in the back still trying to figure out what was going on.
Meanwhile, inside the Minerva, Shinn was trying to explain about Impulse.
"The Impulse is my Gundam, it was based off the Strike." Shinn explained. Thudding could be heard as all of the soldiers rushed out of the Minerva and onto the docking bay. "Come on, I think it's time we get out of this ship." Shinn commented, extending his hand to make sure that Ai didn't get separated in the stampeding herd of soldiers.
Shani and Orga were wandering around from one part of the facility to another trying to find a certain pilot.
"Where the hell is he?" Orga grumbled.
"I dunno, but keep looking, he's bound to be in here somewhere and who knows what the hell that dumbass would do in his condition." Shani replied.
"It's not like him to just run off..." Orga muttered, still trying to look for the other pilot.
"If you haven't noticed, he hasn't been himself ever since the battle..." Shani reminded, "Anyways, I highly doubt he'll be his 'normal' self if we find him anyways..."
Author's Notes: I feel so utterly horrible when I think about how much we completely neglected the crew of the Minerva. But when I think on the subject a second time I remember just exactly how long it would take us to cycle through the entire cast of BOTH series... Too long, basically... So it seems we focus in on the main pilots from Seed and well... not too many from Destiny to put it lightly! It seems they're all off to ORB again as well. ORB is a very easy enviornment for me to cope with; basically due to the fact that whenever we bring our characters there they can actually REST!