Role of a Sibling
CE 68 Scandinavia
The days went by both quickly and slowly. Namarra hadn't gone to that strange room with the beds for months now and, instead, Juni was giving her a small vial of liquid that she had been forced to take every morning. It tasted sweet and had a fresh, honey taste, which had surprised Namarra at first, but she had come to accept it as part of her daily routine.
She had, indeed, turned 11 between the time when she had left the orphanage and Kai had returned to her. She often tried not to think back on those days, remembering vividly the utter loneliness she had felt and wanting nothing more than to keep that part of her buried and forgotten. She was determined, she knew, to never feel that way again.
According to her brother, the four older boys at the orphanage had enlisted as they had said they would. The names she recognized, but the faces were still a black mask over any memory she had. Orga, she remembered, was the first one to go and then Shani, Kai, and finally Clotho. The week after Namarra had been taken, Shani, Clotho, and Kai had signed up as early enlisters and as soon as their birthdays arrived, they were driven off with no resistance. Sister Cynthia had been the one to take their departures the hardest, Kai had explained, but other than that, nothing seemed to have been out of place at the orphanage. "Just a regular 'ole day," he had described it with a wistful look.
Ever since their fateful reunion, the siblings hadn't been separated. Namarra had doubted the military academy had had any change of heart, but she wasn't about to complain. In fact, she had begun joining him and the other recruits in their training exercises and despite her size and age disadvantage, she found the challenge invigorating. Even Kai was thriving, but he had the odd habit of getting injured. She had noticed the trend about a month ago and she was finding it hard to understand why the trainers were actually the ones picking on him. She did notice a pattern to the attacks as they often happened when the two of them were alone and if Namarra had ever stepped up to defend him, some of the people had started taking notes. The whole experience was odd, if she was honest, and it wasn't until she quit jumping in to help Kai that she realized the attacks had become fewer.
"I don't like how they look at you," Kai muttered in Swedish that particular morning, Namarra following behind him as they set their empty food trays near the kitchen window. Namarra had sprouted over the past few months and while she would probably never reach the same height as Kai, she was happy to say she was nearly to his shoulder. Kai had also grown older having traded his glasses for contacts and his baby face slowly chiseling away over the past few months. In fact, he was starting to look like their father, or at least what Namarra had vaguely remembered about him.
"What do you mean?" she asked, putting her tray next to his. The two of them had been nearly inseparable since he had arrived, but if it bothered him, he never showed it. Apparently, as of two weeks ago, he had been begun taking a similar liquid every morning, but he said his was bitter, so the difference was curious. Maybe they just had different taste preferences? She decided not to think too hard about it.
Since he had started his own regimen, however, Namarra was starting to notice his loyalty and protection of her was slowly beginning to get him in trouble. He had always been quick to anger, but there seemed to be a different edge to it now that she just couldn't put her finger on. It might have had to do with her growing older and noticing more, but either way, the two of them often stuck together, breaking away only at certain times during the day and in the evenings to sleep.
"I dunno, everyone with a lab coat in this place is always taking notes or something whenever you're around. It's unnerving."
She shrugged and the two of them walked out into the courtyard to join the others for morning workouts. "I haven't really noticed. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
They lined up with the other recruits, taking their typical spot on the edge so that Namarra could blend in and run off if her presence had started becoming a nuisance, although, no one seemed to complain, even the upper echelons, so she was often there throughout the whole workout.
And so, their "new normal" began.
Namarra was ushered out just before lunch and driven to the infirmary on the other side of the complex. This wasn't the first time she had gone to the building, but she could never stop the twist in her heart when she caught Kai's gaze before she was led out. The drive was short, passing a series of mobile armor hangars and resource facilities on the way to the steel building erected near the back corner of the complex with the recognizable red cross on a plaque hanging near the door. Sighing, she exited the vehicle and followed the others inside.
After speaking with the clerk, they were ushered through a main door and down a series of hallways. They passed an open-floor examination room, which seemed to be full that afternoon. New recruits? she thought and spared a glance inside. There seemed to be an influx in recruits over the past month or so, coming in at intervals with trainees being shipped from all parts of the world. It was odd though, she noted, because while she normally saw a large number of trainees brought in with trucks, there were often only a small number who actually joined their program. Based on the brief snippets she was seeing at that moment, the doctors were weeding the soldiers out, but what qualifications they were looking for, she didn't know. Her eye caught the profile of one such new recruit and she paused. He had a long, angular face and nose with short, green hair. The strong feeling of recognition bubbled through her chest and even rose to her face in what was probably supposed to be a grin, but her mind couldn't remember who that person was. She recalled staring at the darker shade of his skin and thinking he had tanned, but why she had thought that, she just couldn't place. Or maybe he just looked like someone? She didn't have long to think on it, however, pushed along by the officer behind her when he had seen her stop.
They made it to the examination room and she sat on the bed, holding out her arm as the nurse began taking some blood and checking her blood pressure, among other things. Two doctors were in the room that day and one of them she didn't recognize. According to the name on his jacket, he was Dr. Daichi Tsugu, and he looked to be in his mid-fifties with his once, vibrant hair beginning to wilt and grey with age. His skin looked young and healthy, however, almost betraying his aging body, but his eyes gave him away, sunken in with stress. He must just have a good skincare routine.
They were muttering something between them, but she could only hear bits whenever one of them got heated.
"It's been months and still nothing?" Dr. Tsugu hissed and the younger doctor shook his head, his mouth moving in a response that Namarra couldn't hear.
"I don't care. Based on her age she should be…" Dr. Tsugu ran out of steam and his voice quieted towards the end of the sentence and Namarra felt her lips dip into a frown as her gaze went to the nurse who was starting to check her reflexes. There was a moment when Namarra couldn't hear anything more from them, but the sudden hiss from Dr. Tsugu made her look at them once more.
"But we know it worked. She's still a—"
"Okay, all done," the nurse announced, standing and patting Namarra on the shoulder with a kind smile. "Is there anything else you need me to do?" she asked the two doctors who had stopped their conversation and shook their heads. The three of them left, leaving Namarra with the one officer that had accompanied them. He jerked his head towards the door once they had left and the Natural sighed, knowing she was to follow. Jumping down from the bed she followed the hallway back to the entrance, back to the car, and then, finally, to the cafeteria and food.
After grabbing her tray, she found Kai and walked towards him, noting that someone new was sitting next to him. She recognized the angular face and green hair from the infirmary and naturally slowed as she approached, her heart still forming connections her mind couldn't comprehend. Kai noticed her and stood, a bright smile on his face that she hadn't seen in a really long time. She couldn't help matching the smile then, happy to see him happy.
"Look, Nam. Look who it is!" he pointed to the newcomer and she smiled, nodding her head in greeting.
Not sure which language to use, she went with English. "Nice to—"
"You're kidding, lil' Legund doesn't remember me? That hurts." His response in Swedish had startled her and it wasn't until Kai said his name that her mind reformed the connections and the memories. She felt the pain in her head again, but it hadn't been as intense, her mind just having to make the connection between the name and the face. Her grin was genuine that time, however, and she dropped her tray on the table, running around to give Orga a huge hug.
CE 72 May 17, Japan
Namarra and Athrun arrived at the airport in Japan tired and annoyed with living by that particular moment in the day. The plane ride itself was a rather uneventful and boring nine-hour flight, but their pre-boarding had caused the biggest headache. Despite going through all of the proper procedures, they had been held back at security and missed their initial flight because they couldn't confirm Namarra's—well, Coda's—clearance for the firearm she had packed. It all ended up being a bit of a shit-in-the fan moment when the only logical step once the clearance couldn't be given was for the Natural to leave her weapon behind. Athrun had expected her to make a bigger fuss about it, but she seemed more keen to get on the plane than to argue her point.
"I can be just as scary unarmed, if need be," she had said as they exited the terminal and were picking up their suitcases. Athrun didn't disagree.
The weather was wet when they stepped outside to stand in line for the taxis. Apparently, the rainy season had started early that year and based on how quickly the rain was coming down, it had begun with a vengeance. They had arrived at the Fukuoka airport around early evening, which put them precisely behind schedule. They had hoped to spend the remainder of the afternoon tracking down the Sora BIO headquarters, but it looked like they were stuck with spending the next few hours settling in and start first thing the next morning.
The car doors opened automatically as soon as the taxi drove up for them. Athrun, ever the gentleman, put the suitcases in the trunk as Namarra snuck into the backseat and proceeded to hand the hotel address to the driver. Neither of them was particularly good at Japanese, so the trip was probably going to be needlessly stressful, and that was even before they confirmed Lathan's location.
Athrun stared out the side window as they drove, unable to see much detail in the pissing rain, but he had been so exhausted by that point that he wasn't too bothered. He tried making as much of a mental map as he could, but it was getting hard by then, instead focusing on trying to find and recognize landmarks to help formulate a location. His mind kept drifting, however, slinking back to the last conversation he had had with Cagalli before they left.
Despite how he had made it sound to Lexi, Cagalli was not okay with him flying off so quickly. It was a combination of him missing her birthday, still being upset about the Phoebe ordeal—in fact, he had been surprised to wake up to her nightmare a couple nights earlier—and the fact that he had been leaving quite a bit. Also, because she wasn't aware of his Hermes project, she was starting to get suspicious.
And angry.
Even explaining Lathan's disappearance had been tough and her suspicion only grew the moment he had been insistent that they not get the press or much of the police involved. They didn't normally fight, so when they ended up shouting at each other the night before he was meant to leave for Japan, even sleeping in different rooms, he had to admit he was starting to wonder if it was worth it. Lathan had been gone for over a month, his relationship with Cagalli was tense, and after Phoebe had showed up, he had even started regretting bringing Namarra, Lexi, and their chaotic pasts into the project, which was completely ridiculous, he knew. Who else did he know with their skillset? And who else could he trust?
He sighed, planning on having a long conversation with Cagalli as soon as he could, seeing if yet another apology could help smooth things over. Maybe he should have ordered flowers for her office, but ended up shaking his head the moment the idea popped into his head. She was never one for pity gifts, but he knew he definitely owed her a long holiday or something for her birthday.
Namarra was just as quiet on the other side of the car and doing much the same as him, staring out the window. Despite their willingness to work together, Athrun—and probably her too—was very aware the last time they had teamed up together, they had been chasing after SIN-ED and a missing Lexi. Other than that, the two of them rarely paired up. Lexi had always been the buffer and even though he trusted Namarra to have his back, he wasn't entirely sure how their personalities would clash. They were both professional enough to know they could work together despite personal differences, but he did feel a bit odd in that moment, realizing he didn't know much about his partner in this newly formed duo.
To compound on that he could sense tension between them since the run-in with Phoebe. Looking back on it now, he had been a bit harsh on both her and Lexi, with Namarra taking the brunt of his anger. While not great by any standards, the fact that they all came out alive was lucky. If Phoebe had been a bit more vindictive than obsessive, he would have been managing a homicide scene—well, at least one with far more victims. Instead, the girls had managed to lead Phoebe away, make sure Lacus and Cagalli were stabilized, and they kept the kids safe. If it wasn't for the fact that they were the reason Phoebe was there in the first place, he might have been thanking them. He sighed. That wasn't fair at all.
Not all of their past was their fault.
"I'm not sure if I've officially said this yet, but I'm sorry about the way I acted before."
Namarra shrugged lightly, not turning towards him, but he did note the nervous bouncing of her leg had slowed. "We were all pretty on edge that night and, besides, it's not as if we don't bear some of the blame. You were just one of the few to call us out on it."
"I'm actually debating whether or not I should thank you. It could have been far worse."
She started shaking her head immediately and he shifted to get a better view of her. "You can apologize, that's fine, but—I'll even speak for Piper too on this—never thank us for anything that night. We were lucky. You know that, I know that, Piper knows that. We're both just marking it down as a lesson learned."
"And what did you learn then?"
She shrugged again and her leg started bouncing faster once more. She wasn't going to tell him and he sighed.
"Well, hopefully, you're both at least considering the idea that your rather perilous pasts might be better dealt with as a team." Her leg stopped that time and her head turned towards him, her face more solemn than he thought should be for someone he just offered his help to. "What?" he asked.
"Just be careful what you wish for."
He shrugged. "Your pasts aren't scary, Coda, just dangerous. We're a bit more robust than you make us out to be." She didn't look convinced and ended up shrugging, but at least her leg stopped bouncing.
The taxi stopped at the hotel front and the doors opened automatically, Namarra jumping out first this time as Athrun paid the fee. She began pulling out the suitcases and after a quick gesture of thanks, they hurried through the rain into the hotel lobby. They hadn't booked anything fancy, but at least it would be comfortable and once they had checked in, they grabbed the keycards to their respective room and took the elevator up to the third floor. Their rooms were connected by a locked door, which worked in their favor.
After settling in, Athrun knocked on the door and Namarra opened it. "Fresh start tomorrow then?" he asked, and she nodded with a small shrug.
"No point in doing anything now." She turned to see the clock on the wall and nodded. "Early start?"
"Breakfast at 0630?"
"Sounds good." They muttered some good nights and the door was locked again.
Athrun just shrugged, walking back to his bed and pulling out his phone. Cagalli was asleep, he knew, based on what time it was in Orb and he frowned. He really wanted to talk to her, but he would be asleep by the time she woke up. Staring at the clock on his phone, he knew he could stay up until well after midnight to catch her when she woke up, but that would mean he wouldn't be terribly rested for tomorrow. He sighed as his arm and phone dropped to his side. He would do it, he realized.
She was worth a few less hours of sleep.
CE 72 May 18, Japan
If there was one thing Namarra liked when she worked with ex-military personnel is that they were always punctual. She couldn't recall a time that anyone in that line of work was late, and it was the same that morning. Athrun was dressed casually, jeans and a black T-shirt with a red jacket as an overlay. She was dressed similarly in jeans and a more form-fitting black top with a long, maroon sweater draped over her shoulders. Her hair was tired back in a ponytail and then braided down, accenting the long, braided necklace around her neck.
They met just outside their doors, having both left at the same time. Nodding to each other, they took the elevator to the bottom floor and proceeded to have a quick breakfast before attempting to navigate the public transportation system. Athrun had brought a backpack full of supplies, including a change of clothing that could pass for work attire, and Namarra had done similarly, except instead of something on her back, she had a larger handbag at her side. They already looked like tourists and the last thing she had wanted to do was to add to the motif.
They had discussed before they had left what their cover story would be and even though they were fairly flexible when it came to acting, they had still wanted something that wasn't too far outside their element. Neither could pass as a local, so that was out of the picture, but they could pass for family members meeting other family members in Japan. They decided to be siblings, which—when they were bound to argue—would probably pass as believable. Namarra had been in charge of the map and Athrun was left to be the stumbling tourist attempting to interact with the locals. He had a total of three languages to fall back on if he needed to: English, French, and some Russian. Namarra had English and Swedish and could try to converse in Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian if forced, but her ability in the language area was still being worked out. Lathan and had been the Japanese one of the team, so the sooner they found him, the sooner they could stop feeling like they were drowning in misunderstandings.
"Here," Namarra said, pointing to the map at the station and helping deduce the price. They bought the tickets, much to the surprise and distress of those waiting in line behind them, and went through the gates. They needed to get as close to the port as they could and the technical complex located out there. There were other companies besides Sora that were headquartered near the sea, but if they could get into the civilian areas around the offices, they might have a chance.
At least it was their best shot.
The ride took about an hour and a half, but the extra half had to do with the 15 minutes of them going in the wrong direction. Namarra swallowed her embarrassment as best she could at that, especially because Athrun had laughed. He had actually found her mistake cute which made her feel both more relaxed and pissed at the same time.
"There's something I need to make clear," Athrun said once they had gotten on the correct subway line in the right direction.
"Hm?"
"You need to keep me in the loop; I'm not a mind reader. Your dynamic with me is much different than with, say, Piper."
"I'm fairly certain you wouldn't like to read what's on my mind," Namarra said simply, her smirk making him roll his eyes. "But that's fair. I expect the same courtesy then."
"Deal," he replied and looked up at the map above their head. She watched his reflection for a moment, seeing him squint and try to read the map before finally sighing and shaking his head. Sadly, they could read the signage about as well as each other's minds.
Yes, Japan was going to be an interesting adventure.
"This is our stop," she said, roughly that hour later and waited for the doors to open before stepping onto the platform. They had left the hotel fairly early so they were caught between that semi-busy hour before the morning rush. They had planned it hoping they could catch any Sora uniforms and follow them to their building, but after taking a seat on the platform for the good part of an hour and watching the workers get on and off the subway in outfits ranging from suits and skirts to dockworker scrubs, they figured it was a waste of time. Leaving through the gate, they looked at the map provided and headed in the direction of the complex.
They had to stop once on their trek, venturing off the street and into a local store to buy two umbrellas when the rain had started falling again. The sooner they could find a vantage point to park for a couple hours, the better they would be for it. Namarra was getting grumpy and wet, not a good combination when she was supposed to be rather calm and cheerful to stay in persona.
The complex was only another 10 minutes from the station and they finally stood on the sidewalk near the guarded gate just before the clock ticked over to 0900. Most workers had already flashed badges and had made it inside by the time they had arrived, the remainder of the vehicles going through the gates looking to be either company vehicles or loading trucks.
They couldn't see the water from their location, but they could smell it and the saltwater mixed with the rain actually calmed Namarra down despite her wet feet.
"Let's pick a café nearby and hang out until the lunch rush begins," Athrun suggested. "Maybe we'll spot something."
"Sounds like a plan," Namarra muttered, following him around a corner and his course parallel to the complex. They found one café with an upstairs and walked inside, putting in their order and grabbing the table on the second floor near the window. It was the ideal spot, to say the least, and Namarra felt herself relax even more, slipping into recon mood swiftly. She brought out her small laptop from her bag and switched it on, waiting patiently for it to boot up. She caught Athrun looking at her again and frowned. "What?"
"You seem to almost like doing this, that's all." He shrugged and brought out his own machine.
She returned the shrug. "I suppose you can say this type of stuff is within my comfort zone."
They sat there for the next few hours, ordering drinks and other foods in an attempt to not get kicked out or look more suspicious than they already had. The staff didn't seem to mind them staying and Namarra casually cycled through a series of tasks. She wrote a little music—humming now and then in a loud and clear enough tone that even pulled Athrun away from his work long enough to comment—surfed the web a little, and stared out the window. She avoided doing anything controversial on a public connection, so she was left to being a good girl. Athrun had been looking and memorizing any and everything about Sora and passing off any information he thought she should need to know.
Overall, it was downright dull.
Despite her being in her comfort zone, the whole task was tedious and she found herself surprisingly elated the moment lunch time came around and people from the complex began leaving to grab something to eat.
"I'm gonna go down and feign a phone call," Athrun said. "Let me know if you see anything up here."
She nodded and turned back to the window as he walked down the stairs. She hadn't seen where he had ended up, but she assumed he wasn't too far from the entrance. By that time, the rain had stopped, the pavement drying, and the clouds were starting to lighten, helping her with both recon and lifting her mood from boredom to something a little more alert. Dividing her time between her laptop and people watching, she kept a close eye on the crowd, trying to spot any nervous mannerisms or even some familiar faces from the Sora website that they had been browsing. It all felt like a lost cause when the lunch hour cleared the halfway mark and Namarra sighed, absently wondering if Athrun was going to be making a fake phone call for the whole hour. The people outside were starting to blend together and no matter how much she had tried to pick out specific and special features, they were all becoming a sea of bodies. She frowned and typed a text to Athrun.
Are you down at the entrance? Anything? – C
Yeah, near the door. Nothing on my end. You? – D
She was mid-reply when she caught a different color of hair among the sea of darkened locks. Her heart skipped a bit at the sight and her breath stopped immediately when she caught the face.
It was Lathan.
She would bet her life on it.
His hair was unkempt and fell a little long over the sides of his glasses, but otherwise he looked relatively healthy. Only "relatively" because he had stubble slowly growing on his chin and top lip, his face and neck looked shrunken in, and he was pale.
Terribly pale.
She called Athrun's phone immediately and barely registered his greeting. "Twelve o'clock heading to one, light hair. Walking away from the complex and down the street."
There was a pause on the other end. "You must have a better visual. I can't see anything."
Her breath quickened as she followed him across the walk. "He's got to be at your two o'clock by now." Is he too far away? she thought to herself. His course was veering him towards the café and Athrun standing below, but there must have still been too many bodies in between for Athrun to see.
"Coda, talk to me."
She cursed quietly, stood, and walked to the other end of the floor, looking out the window at the far end. He was surrounded closely by five other, older men in suits talking quietly to each other. He didn't seem to be in any danger based on his demeanor and theirs, but he was uncharacteristically quiet.
"Coda?"
Namarra acted on impulse then and banged her fist against the window. If the outside was quiet enough, and with his sharpened hearing, Lathan just might be able to… She gasped. He stopped and turned right in her direction.
And he looked at her.
She heard Athrun take a sharp intake of breath at the same moment, perhaps finally spotting Lathan on the street. One of the men to his left grabbed onto his elbow and pulled him along, breaking Namarra's eye contact with him, but not for long. His gaze returned to the same spot and she knew in that moment that she hadn't been wrong. Lathan winked.
"He saw me," she hissed into the phone.
"I'm following," Athrun said immediately and the phone call ended.
Namarra took an extra moment to shake off the surprise before she hurried back to their table and gathered their things, tossed out the trash, bowed an apology to the annoyed customers who had seen her antics, and rushed out in the same direction.
She caught up to Athrun quickly and handed him his backpack, looking around the area to try and find a place she could go for a different vantage point. "They only just got in there," Athrun said, wiping off the last remnants of rain as best he could from the bench across and just beyond the small restaurant. He sat. "I can't tell whether they're getting takeout or staying in."
Namarra nodded slowly and sighed, wiping off and taking the spot next to him. She figured that was as good of a location as any. The ground was still slightly damp from the rain, but she set her bag down anyway, avoiding any puddles and reached in to grab her book. Twisting, she hooked her feet over the armrest and fell backwards, resting her head on Athrun's lap.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to look natural. Go back on your phone or something. We might be here a while."
"This is a natural thing for a sister to do?"
She moved her book down and peered up at him, genuinely curious. "You're an only child, aren't you?"
He blushed a little, but didn't respond, that reaction alone making Namarra feel a bad for him. Despite all the pain she had gone through, she was glad to have known what it was like to have a sibling.
She didn't press the matter and he went back to his phone. To her surprise, however, he had called a number, vaguely recognizing Waltfeld's voice on the other end of the line.
"Dino, didn't expect a call so soon."
"Yeah, well, neither did we."
"You found him already? Damn, you two should team up more often."
They chatted for a bit, confirming that they would go back and offer to speak with the company and if Lathan still wasn't released, Lexi would bring in her gossip columnist. Before then, however, they needed to confirm Lathan was well. While there was no indication he was injured, he definitely didn't look well. He had eaten very little of his lunch and while their body language didn't say as much, those people who were around him were more like bodyguards than work colleagues. Lathan was dressed the same as them too, adorning a suit and a white shirt with the top button unhooked.
They finished their meal within the next 25 minutes and were all shuffling out the door to head back to work. They didn't seem to have noticed them and based on their trajectory, they never would.
At least until a book landed in a puddle just off to their right.
"Hey!" Namarra yelled, sitting up abruptly and punching Athrun on the shoulder. "I'm sorry I bothered you during your call, but you didn't have to do that!" She hit him again and glared. Athrun, to his credit, rolled his eyes and pushed her slightly to get off his lap, throwing his hands in the air and walking off to the side, still looking to be talking on the phone.
"For fuck's sake," Namarra muttered as she walked over towards them, aiming for the book. The group did actually stop, to her delight, and Lathan was the one to walk out and pick up the book, meeting Namarra's eyes as she came closer. She had been right then, she knew. Lathan could see her. His eyes still held their ghostly white, which made Namarra wonder if it was, in fact, his glasses that were helping him. She did remember his frames being a different color…
"You okay, miss?" he asked in English, his throat sounding coarse. He cleared it once, apparently realizing it too.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." She took the book with a warm smile, but her when her gaze shifted to the pages, she frowned. "Aw, man!" she shrieked. "It's ruined…"
"I'm sure you'll be able to find another copy." Lathan smiled and Namarra found herself mimicking the gesture, if only because she was so happy to see him. "You remind me a lot of my little sister, actually," he went on, his hand going up to the stubble on his chin as he stroked it thoughtfully. She began noticing his "guards" were starting to lean in their direction and she tensed.
"Oh? I don't normally remind anyone of anything, so that's a nice thing to say."
He gave a soft chuckle. "I haven't seen her in a while, mind you. Actually…" He tapped his chin again and one of the guards stopped just off his left shoulder. "I should call her and tell her my in-laws are taking good care of me, even though one of them seems strangely infatuated with her roommate."
Namarra held her expression as best she could, taking note of the phrase carefully. It wasn't a very clear English statement with seemingly too many pronouns so it wouldn't be hard to play innocent later on the meaning if he needed to. Namarra, however, thought she caught onto his meaning and filed it away to talk to Athrun later.
And resisted acting on the shiver that went down her spine.
Lathan continued his ruse, giving a firm nod as if the decision was final and smiled again, abruptly turning to the guard who had come near. "Oh, sorry, I got lost in thought again. 'Off to work we go,' then, eh?"
"Uh, thanks for your help!" Namarra shouted after him as they walked away, waving her arm and he winked before offering a wave of his own, an ID with the Sora BIO logo in his hand.
The book was, indeed, ruined. Either that or she had to sit in the hotel and personally blow dry it for the next hour or so. Sighing, she offered an apology to Orga and made her way back to Athrun.
"Clever."
"Came at a high cost." She frowned again and shook out the book as best she could.
"Well, how is he?"
She shrugged. "Said he was okay and his ID is from Sora BIO. Those five were definitely guards though," she continued, feeling her frustration over the book slip into anxious worry about Lathan. "And he's awfully pale."
Athrun nodded, pocketing his phone and turning to gather up his backpack. "I thought the same."
"And, Dino," she continued, putting her hand on his forearm and squeezing. "He could see."
CE 72 May 20, Orb (Afternoon)
Namarra and Athrun had been trying for nearly two days to get in contact with Sora BIO, but despite many attempts, they had been left out in the rain. Often quite literally. While common curtesy probably warranted a wait time of at least a week, they all had agreed it was risky to wait any longer. If they moved Lathan, they didn't know when they would find him again. After running into him the first time during his lunch hour, Namarra and Athrun had been staking out at the same hour for the consecutive days, both confirming he was still in the same location and trying to catch his eye to let him know they were still there. So far, so good.
Now it was up to Lexi to fan the flames a little.
Lexi was still in the hospital and despite what was looking like a quick road to recovery, her luck had been completely depleted on her fight with Phoebe, it seemed. It was a combination of old battle heart problems—a rather unfortunate gift from the dearly departed SIN-ED leader—and a new assassination threat, which had taken everyone by surprise. Her heart had decided it wanted to have a palpitation episode while on the monitor and, given her now sympathetic celebrity status, that lead her to more tests and a few more days in the hospital to ease both the doctors' and the public's mind. She already knew her diagnosis about the palpitations, so any information given her wasn't new, still, that combined with the new threat on her life had kept her in the hospital far longer than she would have liked.
The threat was nothing more than someone jumping on the bandwagon of Phoebe's press, Lexi figured and Yzak was of a similar mindset. Phoebe's name had never been released to the public, but despite the grisly end, the case was still open primarily because they were trying to track down any of her accomplices still in Orb. Based on the fact that Lexi and Namarra had received such false information regarding her time in Orb, there was a pretty good chance Phoebe wasn't working alone, but the prospect of her partner being someone other than a person who was good on the technical end of the spectrum was low. Still, when a letter had arrived at the main estate on the 16th threatening both Lexi and Cagalli, the local police had to take it seriously. What that meant in the interim was a slew of guards around Lexi's hospital room and even more following Cagalli around.
It was a huge mess and downright exhausting.
Unfortunately, all of that meant Yzak was getting swept into the chaos and his once, nice idea of coming to Orb for a holiday had turned into nearly a week of visiting his girlfriend daily in the hospital and now, to just add fuel to the dumpster fire, his name was quickly making its way into Orb gossip. It was a shitstorm.
She owed him big for putting up with it.
And, all of that was even before they were dropping the bomb about Lathan's disappearance. Thankfully, the local authorities knew enough about the case to not be swayed by the public outcry and go overboard on the investigation, but the news headlines were going to be fierce. An assassination attempt on Lexi Rymyr and Lathan Rymyr was missing? Both children of politicians killed in a terrorist attack during the Bloody Valentine War? The conspiracy theorists were going to go nuts and everyone was praying the media wave would pass over quickly.
So, after that hellish of a week, there Lexi was, attempting to be intimidating while sitting in a hospital waiting room chair with an IV in her arm and a machine monitoring her heart.
Oh well, she would have to rely on her current partner for that particular display of intimidation.
Lexi thought of initiating some form of communication with Kisaka, but based on many factors, including her treason against Orb, untimely exile, and now blatantly having put Cagalli in danger because of her ugly past, she just couldn't find the words. They had regained a bit of trust throughout the final battle of the Bloody Valentine War and within the previous few months of peace, but until Lexi took some proper time to mend the relationship, she knew the closeness she had felt towards him when she was younger may never return. Lord Uzumi had explained once that a parent's love never ends even if the child does some pretty brash and stupid things, and Lexi assumed that also pertained to the adults in her life that had been playing the parental figures for their band of misfits. Kisaka was among them and despite the grumpy look under his tired eyes, there was an amount of concern beneath that dark skin that she assumed might even last beyond her stupid antics.
He had put on his uniform for the encounter, wanting to display a bit of strength to the reporter so this ego wouldn't get out of control. Even Lexi had begged to be put in something other than a hospital gown for much the same reason. So, there she was, dressed in the best hospital clothing she could muster: a set of light blue scrubs. They were sitting in one of the rooms off to the side from the waiting area, an IV stuck in her arm, gauze on the side of her neck, her right arm in a cast, and a heart monitor beeping next to the chair, tubes running down the neckline of the shirt and stickers stuck on her bare breasts. Thankfully, there was a good chance she was being released from the hospital the next day since both her current assassin had been arrested and her heart hadn't had an episode yet that day. This particular meeting, however, couldn't wait.
"You're sure about this?" Kisaka asked, his soft voice uncommonly stern as he glanced over at her.
"Yes," she responded with a sigh. "We need to administer a little heat and this seems far less invasive than an armed infiltration."
Kisaka's eyes returned to the closed door, seeming content with her answer. His legs were crossed and his head rested on an upraised palm, looking almost calm. However, Lexi noted how his bottom lip moved slightly, knowing he was chewing on it nervously. She had to let him know what dirt Quiller had on them and Cagalli in particular. A lot was riding on whether or not he would take this story as collateral for keeping his mouth shut and Lexi didn't want to do the meeting alone. In fact, there was really no one else she had thought of asking to join her.
After taking another deep breath, she looked at him. "Hey… I wanted to thank you." He turned and they made eye contact. "And, I wanted to apologize."
"For what?"
She found herself shrugging and smiled shyly. "If I say, 'for everything,' would that be too vague?"
He shrugged himself, turning his attention back to the door. "No, that about sums it up. You were a pain when you were little, and I suppose hoping you'd grow out of it was too far of a stretch." He looked at her again, a smirk on his lips. "Though, if you're going to go through a rebellious stage, I would have been fine with anything shy of exile." He chuckled then—actually laughed about it and she smiled. Maybe they could mend their relationship after all.
"Yeah, I suppose I've always been an overachiever."
"On the contrary, you used to be an underachiever, just very clever."
"Oh?" She thought on it for a moment. "I remember the past very differently."
"Doesn't surprise me. Lathan was the overachiever, you just always dragged Cagalli into trouble."
"Now I do remember things differently." Lexi held up a finger and shaking it side to side. "Cagalli was the instigator. You just always believed her and not me."
He chuckled. "Fine, I'll back down and say it was 50–50."
"Not great, but I'll take it." They shared another knowing laugh and a nurse came in to check on Lexi. She made a note about the report on the heart monitor and said a few more things before leaving the room and closing the door.
"He's late," Kisaka muttered.
"Probably trying to make a grand entrance," Lexi mused, but after a moment she remembered. "Oh, I owe you a report."
He nodded. "You do, but no need to rush. I've already received the statements from Namarra, Cagalli, and Lacus. There's nothing more to worry about."
"What do you mean?"
"Just as I said, nothing to worry about." She blinked and opened her mouth to argue again when he held out his hand to stop her. "This is the last time though, Lexi. Do you understand that?"
Looking down at her hands, she felt a surge of gratitude and, surprisingly, a rush of emotion. She swallowed it back and mustered the only words she could, "Yes, sir." He seemed happy with that.
Before they could breech another topic, the door opened to the wonderfully lively Trystan Quiller dressed in a rather dapper pinstriped suit. He wasn't alone, escorted into the room by one of Kisaka's men. The soldier left as soon as he had sat the older man in the other seat.
"How kind of him to show me the way," Quiller remarked, chewing loudly on his gum and leaning forward. He stretched out a hand to Kisaka who didn't take it and then turned to offer the same gesture to Lexi. She looked at it, but didn't take it either.
"Thank you for coming."
"And I'm glad to see you in good health, Miss Rymyr. Am I here to scribe your personal take on your assassination attempt?"
"Nope," Lexi replied simply. "No personal scoops from me. The information you got, is everything I'm willing to share."
"Are you sure? I have a feeling there is more to the story, and a personal account from you, Miss Rymyr, will really keep public sympathy in your court."
"Don't worry, you'll be the first one I call." Lexi leaned back in her chair and mimicked Kisaka's stance, crossing her legs under the blanket on her lap. "Now, either we move onto the scoop we have for you, or you continue your interrogation and we give you nothing."
Quiller held his hands up, defeated, and dug into his bag to pull out a pad of paper and a pen. "I take it that no recording is allowed?"
"No," Kisaka replied and Quiller shrugged.
"Okay, why am I here? What is there that I should care about?"
"Lathan has been kidnapped," Lexi began and the man's eyes grew wide.
"Excuse me?"
"That's the short answer and I am prepared to give you a longer answer if you think this is good enough to uphold our bargain."
"Do you mean the one concerning our fair Princess and Athrun Zala, or the rumors about a particular ZAFT commander spending a lot of time near your hospital bed?"
Lexi's eyes narrowed dangerously and even Quiller visibly backed off at that.
"Okay, okay, we can discuss the specifics in a bit," he continued, shaking his head as his gum popped between his teeth. He seemed to think about what she had said, but Lexi knew it was all for show. His need for a story, anything more than local gossip to boost his career, was strong. She was confident he would take the bait and he did. "Fine. Seems tempting enough of a trade."
She nodded and Kisaka cut in, leaning forward to grab Quiller's attention. "Before we continue, I need to stress that we have a lot of proof to our claims, but we are in no position to act on them, which is why we need your help."
Quiller cocked his eyebrow in interest. "Are you saying this as a representative of the Orb government?" Kisaka leaned back in his chair and said nothing more, motioning for Lexi to continue.
"Lathan was kidnapped on April 1st on Aprilius 4 and has not been seen in person or heard from in over a month." Quiller whistled lightly, jotting down the information.
"We have good information to place him at Sora BIO Co., Ltd. which is headquartered in Japan, on Kyushu island," Kisaka continued.
"And why would they want him?"
"We believe he might have been taken for his skills in bioengineering and there are rumors that they are working on a project for a client which involves in the reconstruction of another human being," Lexi answered. "But other than that, we don't know why a foreign company would kidnap an Orb citizen."
"Who's the client? And who's the human?"
Lexi shrugged, saying nothing more and Quiller frowned. He turned to Kisaka who made the same gesture and the journalist popped his gum. "You're not giving me the full story."
"I suppose you could say, I understand the way you are using me, Mr. Quiller, and I'm returning the treatment in kind. Or would you rather we give this story to someone else?" Lexi tapped her fingers restlessly on the armrest. While she knew him to be ambitious, she couldn't tell if he was ambitious enough to chase after the rest of the story. While letting him know about Korea and Sora's possible connection to Blue Cosmos would probably make his career, it would most likely get Lathan killed.
"No, no, I'll take the story," he said after another moment, releasing a sigh. "But I will counter you and insist that I be the main media contact on this story. That includes new developments and whenever you want to share the rest of the story you're hiding." He pointed his pen at each in turn and despite the fact that he was probably trying to be intimidating, the other two in the room were unamused.
"Then I will counter your counter and—"
Kisaka sighed loudly, holding out a hand to stop Lexi before she could continue further. He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. "Look, Mr. Quiller, how about we just talk as businesspeople. There is a layer to this story that I need for you to understand and, frankly, a sense of delicacy around the entire matter."
Quiller backed off then, touching the pen to his lips as he nodded. "Very well; please explain then, Colonel."
"Because our speculation for his capture is just that, speculation, we do not know whether or not his life is threatened. One of the reasons we are talking to you in particular is because we need you to spin his location in a way that it is gossip and not necessarily fact. The readers need to look at the evidence we give you—that you present—and come to the conclusion that we have already confirmed: Lathan is with Sora BIO."
"You want to make them sweat."
"Yes. If we state it as fact, his captors might get spooked and we don't know what they will do."
"So, I am to remain nothing more than a gossip columnist."
"All in good time," Lexi replied. "Depending on how this turns out, I can see this developing into quite the business partnership."
The comment made him frown and he made no attempt at hiding his displeasure. Leaning back, he popped his gum a few more times. "This is honky-dory and all, but if you want me to sell this, I'm gonna need some heavier sources."
"You can state you heard from the government of Lathan's disappearance," Kisaka confirmed with a nod. "We'll do a formal press conference as soon as the story breaks to add weight to your article and hopefully grab the attention of worldwide news."
"I have other ways of boosting the article abroad," Quiller remarked. "I just need to entice the reader with firmer evidence."
"I can give you any evidence we have surrounding his abduction and the people from Sora BIO who were at the scene at the time. Of course," she continued, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "any other connections you'll have to skillfully make on your own, but we need them to sweat, not dismiss it because it's too detached from reality. I'm sure you're up for the task?"
Quiller paused again and looked down at his notes, tapping his pen absently against his chin. Lexi debated looking over at Kisaka, but she didn't want to lose the upper hand and look nervous. In fact, she was about to threaten to take the story away again, when he finally spoke and shut his notebook loudly. "Fine. I'll bury the Athrun and Cagalli rumors as much as I can, but you're still fair game, future Mrs. ZAFT Commander. I'm sure the ALexi fans are going to be quite disappointed."
Lexi rolled her eyes at the comment, annoyed he was referencing the not-so-witty nickname for her apparent relationship with Alex Dino. The gossip world was a big mess, she knew, and really wished she had been able to keep out of it. Sadly, she knew she had to be happy with stopping whatever rumors she could concerning Athrun and Cagalli, so she reached out her left hand and forced a grin on her lips. "Nice doing business with you."
He took the hand hesitantly, probably not 100 percent happy with the outcome, but he couldn't deny he was getting a decent deal. Kisaka offered the same gesture.
"When do you think the article will come out?" Kisaka asked as they shook.
"It all depends on when Miss Rymyr can get me any evidence she promised."
Nodding, Lexi held up a hand and put it to her ear. "Coffee Addict, you get all that?"
"Affirmative," the metallic alto responded. "How much did you want to send?"
"Just what we have from the hotel."
"Roger that." The CA paused and Lexi looked down at Mr. Quiller's bag, hearing it vibrate. "Sent," Addict confirmed. Lexi pointed down to his bag and the journalist, rather interested in the exchange she had been having with what looked like herself.
He fished out his phone and his eyebrow rose. "With this, I could probably get the story out within the next day or so."
"Good. Let us know and we will schedule the press conference for after it goes live and add more weight to your claims." Kisaka leaned back and took a deep breath.
Quiller matched his breath and popped his gum one last time.
CE 68 Scandinavia
Namarra's legs kicked absently as she sat on the doctor's table, her eyes passing from the blood pressure machine over to the abandoned doctor's jacket draped on the chair and still further to the guard at the open door. The two of them made eye contact and she winked, smiling when the older man rolled his eyes. Despite the strangeness of her circumstances, she had a hard time feeling down. Orga had arrived about a month earlier and it didn't take long for Shani and Clotho to follow suit in what can only be described as a gathering of fate. Kai was beginning to go back to his old self, though his temper was still a problem, and their daily routine was slipping into just that, routine. Namarra's presence was no longer a hindrance, in fact she was often welcomed into the classes with the others, even allowed sparring partners and instruction when needed. It was strangely welcoming. The only odd thing of her days involved her trips to the infirmary, which was now a daily occurrence around lunch time.
On that particular day, she had been asked to wait in the room longer than normal, much to the dislike of her current guardian who had just sighed heavily for the fourth time within a minute. She wasn't entirely sure the reason for the hold up, but found herself curious when two unfamiliar voices conversed briefly outside her door before opening. The first one to come in was a younger man with blond hair framing his face in what the 11-year-old could only describe as a bowl cut. She didn't particularly find it flattering, but who was she to judge? He wore a white doctor's coat over button-up shirt and slacks, with the name "Azrael" printed in CAPs above his breast. If Namarra had known better she might have wondered why there was no "doctor" listed in front of the name, but she had found herself moving away from being disgusted by his choice in haircut and feeling disgusted by the way he looked at her. Was it even legal for someone his age to look at her that way?
Another man walked in behind him, taller than Azrael but his eyes held similar intensity. He was dressed in a sleek, black business suit, but no name stitched over his breast pocket. His lavender hair was longer and in a horsetail at his back. He looked quite important and Namarra straightened as they came in, noticing that Dr. Tsugu had also joined them that day too.
"This is her?" Azrael asked, leaning and moving forward as he looked into Namarra's eyes. She blinked and couldn't figure out whether to blush or shy away. "I didn't realize they looked so normal."
"Honestly, Murata," the suited man said with a sigh, shaking his head and walking closer to Namarra as well. He reached out and she tensed, his fingers cupping her chin. He pulled her full attention to him, looking into her eyes much like Azrael had done, except his method made her feel far more like a dog being offered up for show instead of—well—whatever Azrael was expecting.
"You still have no record of a change since her brother was first brought here? Have you tried recreating the event?"
"That is correct, Mr. Djibril," Dr. Tsugu responded, Namarra seeing his form shift nervously in the corner of the room. "We haven't been able to reenact the moment, but we had tried to see if it was tied to some defensive mechanism or some drive to protect him." He paused and shook his head, sighing heavily. "Dead end, unfortunately, but we have been able to make good progress on the other medications thanks to her."
"Oh?" Azrael said behind Djibril, now hidden from Namarra's view. Though, she could barely see anything other than the face of the man holding her chin. He was looking for something, but she didn't have the faintest idea what. The only thing she knew was that she was quickly getting pissed.
Her eyes started to narrow. "Can I help you gentlemen?" she said, but barely got the ending word out, Djibril clamping down on her cheeks and chin.
"Silence."
"What had you been doing with her so far?" Azrael asked, as if the exchange had never happened.
"She's been joining the trainees for some exercises, apparently, but I haven't been too keen on encouraging it," Dr. Tsugu explained.
"Why not?"
"I don't want her to get damaged."
Damaged? Namarra thought, knowing enough about English now to know the subtlety in that remark. He didn't say he didn't want to see her hurt. No, he said "damaged," which made her frown.
Djibril turned her face to one side, still looking at her eyes, and jerked her face the other way before straightening her out again. "I've heard they're hard to damage," Djibril said and Namarra outright growled.
Twack.
She blinked, stunned for a moment as her brain processed what had just happened. Djibril had just whacked her across the face with the back of his free hand, the sting fresh on her cheek while the other one still held her chin steady. It was a brief moment of recognition before her anger returned in a rush and she began another snarl.
Twack.
The ritual continued for a few moments until she felt her rage boil over. Her arms reached up to grab his hand, but he let her go and stepped back before she could, sidestepping the guard as he came over to pin her arms behind her.
"Don't touch me," she spat, but the older man just nodded, and she didn't even have a word for the emotion that was on Azrael's face.
"Ah, there we go. Anger then, not protection." Djibril nodded and turned to Dr. Tsugu. "Stop being nice, Doctor, you can't damage something like her. Get her into training and see what you can document from that."
"Yes, sir," was the reply and Namarra's attention shifted around to the adults in the room. Her anger was dissipating with time, but she felt nothing but hatred for these individuals. The guard had her arms behind her back, but if he hadn't been there a little voice in her mind was convincing her she could definitely do a lot of "damage" to those three.
Yes, a lot of damage indeed.
Her eyes shifted to the objects in the room as her mind concocted a few winning scenarios. The fantasies were cut short, however, the guard tucking her right arm painfully up towards her upper back.
"Good, then keep up the good work, Doctor. I think that's all for now. You should see the funding in the account come morning." The doctor smiled and nodded again, thanking Djibril and held out a clipboard for him. Azrael had made a move to her then, walking closer and leaning forward, his hands on his knees. His face was inches from hers, eyes peering into her own. She could bite him, she figured, and was debating it when his slippery voice spoke.
"I wonder how it works."
"That's what we're hoping to find out," Djibril replied with a sigh, signing the form Dr. Tsugu had offered him.
"I mean, is it up here?" His finger reached towards her face and she visibly cringed, the fingertip touching her forehead just between her eyebrows. "Or is it in the blood?"
"Only time will tell," Djibril responded again, his voice sounding bored as he signed one more document before clicking his pen and putting it back in his breast pocket. "Let's go. Nothing more we can do right now."
"What do you think?"
It took a moment before Namarra realized Azrael was talking to her. He was so close she could feel his breath and it was making her so damned uncomfortable she couldn't think of a single answer. In fact, she said nothing and clenched her jaw, probably looking like nothing more than a stubborn child who was refusing to snitch on a friend.
"Fine then," he said after another moment, leaning back and putting his hands on his hips. "Keep your secrets for now, Miss Legund."
"Let's go, Murata," Djibril repeated and the younger man nodded that time, stepping back towards the other two in the room.
"Oh, did you hear the rumors?" Dr. Tsugu began as he opened the door and held it open for them.
"Which rumors?" Azrael asked, letting Djibril leave first.
"Rumors of another one in Orb. Someone older."
"Lies," Djibril said without hesitation. "It's probably just those attention hogs in their research department." The door shut and the guard let her go.
Frowning, she shook out her arms and jumped onto the floor as the guard retook his post in front of the closed door. She stepped forward to leave, but stopped when the guard held up his hand. They didn't want her following too closely after them, it seemed.
She definitely felt like nothing more than a dog in that moment.
A/N: Hello, everyone, thanks for stopping by! Another chapter ready for you and, yes, I'm putting this one up a bit quickly because I wanted to make sure it was in your hands before I buggered off for a holiday. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
Another slower chapter this time, but we see Lathan again. Woohoo! Something to be happy about. We also see the rather strange duo of Athrun and Nam, which has turned out to be an interesting exercise, I cannot lie. I had them team up one other time in Waltz, but there wasn't a lot of time there to flesh out the arrangement. Arguably, gathering intelligence in a foreign country for an unknown period of time is almost a cruel way to throw them together, but it'll work out. ;) ...I think. Also the first time from Athrun's POV, I think. At least this extensively. He's a bit high strung, that one, and needs to work on his trust issues... XD
Shout-out time, which is going to include my official Beta, Death-Scimitar, who always seems to give some good advice even if she's not intentionally doing so. I'll also semi shout-out to my writer support system which includes Quiet0ne, Maderfole, and Asmus. I feel like I'm wrapped warmly in a blanket of creativity and it's definitely not something I will complain about.
Right, not sure what else to blabber about, actually, so I think I'll wrap this up. Still writing on my end, so there's plenty of story to come.
Corrections to the Narrative:
I've been making little changes to the canon here and there. I'm fairly certain there will be someone out there telling me about Japan in SEED, time differences between Orb and Japan, etc. but I've taken a little creative liberty on this to make it work for my purposes. I'd love to hear people's ideas on what these places probably should be like, but—at the moment—I have been going with my gut and my experiences. More than happy to attend to something in the "Questions/Gripes" section if something should arise. ;)
Questions/Gripes:
Quiet0ne: Thanks for your reviews and I've replied personally to some of them, but I'll mention some in particular so that others can be brought into the loop. The Decay needed to go, unfortunately. Sad day, indeed, but there are shiny new toys on the horizon, so don't be too sad, for too long. ;) And yes, the idea of Athrun getting teased about his seduction methods has been in the back of my mind. I wasn't sure how to approach it at the time, but I think the ambiguity might turn into a rather hilarious segment... ;)
Shameless Recommendations:
Still shamelessly recommending some other reads. If you have an extra moment or two, be sure to check them out:
1. Anything by Death-Scimitar – Yes, a Beta of mine, but if you're lucky enough to have a Beta who is also a kick-ass writer, I'd say you struck gold. Nothing in SEED, per se, but she does have a crossover in the works that involves 5 famous pilots from Gundam Wing and some lucky (or unfortunate?) individuals who run a host club. Check it out if you're interested and know that you will not be disappointed.
2. Anything by Maderfole – He's the writer of the epic Golden Age Trilogy which is, arguably, one of the best Gundam fics on this site (and, yes, I'm probably a bit bias). The series is currently on book 3 and while it hasn't been updated in a bit, you still have at least 3.5 million words to get through and I'd like to think he'll pick it up again soon. Sounds long, yes, but well worth the effort and you won't be disappointed.
3. Anything by Asmus – Another one for the SEED stories who is definitely one of the better writers on this site (again, I might be bias) and I highly recommend anything he's done. He just started a new story, actually, that takes place in Maderfole's universe. You don't have to be terribly acquainted with the Golden Age Trilogy to read it, so I recommend you check it out. I have a feeling things will heat up soon.
4. Anything by asuxcaga – I stumbled upon this writer on AO3 and was delighted to see the same stories here on FF. Another good writer who has written some AthrunxCags one shots and also has an ongoing story at the moment called The Undoing. I haven't had enough time in the day to read it as much as I would like, but I hope to catch up soon. For those of you who know anything about me, you'd know I'm a shameless Athrun and Cagalli fan, so an immersion in someone else's version of their cuteness is often warranted after writing their drama day after day.
5. Anything by Quiet0ne – New SEED author on FF with her story, Scattered Seeds. This is another story that plays around with the idea of the SEED Factor and genetics in the SEED universe and while only just starting, I can see we're all in for quite the roller-coaster ride. Tantalizing plot movement so far and some priceless interactions between our favorite characters. Loving every moment of it and I hope you do too.
Thanks for taking a moment out of your rather busy lives to read this. I'll see you again in the next chapter!
Strata