AN: This chapter gave me greif like you would not believe, and so I don't have too much to say up here other than thank-god I got through it. I've written three versions of it, and this was my favorite (pieced from the other two). I took out a lot of random chunks. I hate the new break method, so I'm back to line breaks. A large thank-you is going out to those who reviewed (RT or otherwise), and especially to Anne Fatalism Dilettante, PaperxTrain, and StormyMonday, who have all been sticking this through and reviewing! I always look forward to your reviews, and it means the world to me that you all take the time to read :D.

Also, I know I write incessantly long AN's, and I'm sorry to all of you who read through them! It's generally babbling and thank-yous, so if they annoy you, please don't feel the need to continue reading them. I like talking to readers, as I know there are more readers than reviewers and I like to give everyone a bit of my perspective.

Let me know what you think!

Reasons

"A man has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason."

- J. P. Morgan

Setsuna had been unconscious for hours.

Numerous people had come by the room to see the Celestial Being pilot and Marina had chased them away as politely as possible. She didn't want him to be treated like a specimen, even if he wasn't awake to complain. After all he'd been through up until that point he didn't need to be gawked at like a strange creature, even though he was one.

Marina couldn't deny that she herself watched him as if he was something she'd never seen before. She always looked at him like that. He was made of bone and muscle and sinew, but there was more than that under his olive skin. Resilience, hope, determination. The most precious belief he held radiated from him though, peace. She never thought she'd believe that someone like him could be devoted to peace, but as she watched him sleep she felt it more and more. He was doing what he was doing for peace, even if she didn't understand his logic.

"I don't think anyone really understands it."

She turned her head quickly, jarred from her quiet watch-post. She hadn't heard Reverie approach the doorway, and she wondered how long the telepath had been standing there. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in." she said, relaxing a little.

"It's alright, I haven't been standing here long." The woman said, effectively answering Marina's question. She watched her enter the room and sit down next to some of the children's toys. Over the course of the past months Marina had wondered about her more than once. In fact, the idea of the woman's abilities had crossed her mind any time that she'd had a thought that could be considered remotely private. She'd never been quite so unnerved and intrigued by another person's presence at once. It made her feel guilty. Wasn't this woman just like her underneath her unique ability?

"It's alright, I'm used to it." Reverie said, smiling. She picked up a tarnished marble from the floor and rubbed it against the rough fabric of her too-large vest. "How is he?" she looked at Setsuna.

Marina looked at the woman for a moment before turning back to the sleeping Meister. "He's stable, the bullet tore clean through his shoulder, luckily we didn't have to dig it out. He's tough, though… I don't think healing will be hard for him."

The woman nodded. "It'll be tough to keep him from fighting, though." she said, rolling the marble in her palm.

Fighting. That's right. Setsuna would have to fight again. The thought made Marina angry and she instinctively let her hand rest on the edge of the bed. "I suppose it would be foolish for me to ask him to try."

Reverie smiled. "You care about him."

Marina could feel her cheeks flush at the idea. "Well I—"

"It's good." Reverie said. "He needs someone to care. I mean, we care about him…the other Meisters care about him like a brother, but it's good that someone like you cares."

"Someone like me?" The statement caught her off-guard. What kind of person was she?

"You said it yourself, he's tough. I don't think anyone's really heard him complain, not even me…" she tapped her forehead. "You see who he is aside from his piloting abilities and dedication." She smiled as she talked about the young man. "You're the kind of person who sees people for who they are under their exterior." She gave a knowing smile.

"What do you mean?" Marina asked. She'd never really thought that she was looking under Setsuna's surface…she'd always seen the young man who was confused by the warped world. Wasn't that what everyone saw?

"Well…" Reverie tipped her head back in thought, rolling the marble between her hands. "You try to put yourself in the other person's shoes right away. I don't often meet people like that."

"If everyone stood in each other's shoes, we wouldn't have war anymore." Marina said, almost sadly. "It makes me sad to hear that this is something you rarely see." What she would give to be able to see into others' heads.

Reverie laughed. "It's not all it's made out to be." she joked.

Marina was immediately apologetic. "I'm sorry, you must go through your own problems because of your abilities." She'd seen her go through them first-hand. "But if I could 'see through your eyes' or 'hear through your ears' for one day, I think I'd understand people better. Isn't that something to aspire to?"

Reverie didn't respond, but smiled. "You'd be good for Celestial Being." she said.

"Why?" Never in a million years had Marina thought she'd hear that.

"We have the Gundams, amazing pilots, world-class staff, and volunteers who are dedicated to eradicating war whole-heartedly… but if we could get everyone in the world to understand each other, I don't think we'd have need for it all."

"Then why do you fight?" The words spilled out of her mouth almost involuntarily.

Reverie smiled and examined the marble in her fingers again. "Because when you can hear the world, you realize that universal understanding is something for dreams." She stood and adjusted the Kevlar vest and made her way to the door. Marina didn't know what she'd said to anger the woman and she immediately felt guilty. How could she hope to understand what the woman had heard? Wouldn't she hear the bad as well as the good? Then again, shouldn't someone who could hear both realize that everyone was hurting and in need of help from those around them?"

"Perhaps…" she said. Reverie stopped in the doorway. "…a dream like that can be brought about by Celestial Being."

She didn't fully believe it, but if she could reach through to the small armed organization she could help them understand others. If such a powerful organization understood the world, couldn't they bring about permanent peace?

Reverie looked back at her and smiled. "It's that kind of thinking that proves that we need you, princess." She disappeared into the corridor.

She laughed under her breath after a minute. Her? With Celestial Being? It would go against everything that she'd ever stood for. Peace, understanding, negotiation. Celestial Being fought for their version of peace with force and threats; those things could never bring long-lasting peace. Setsuna stirred and she watched him, making sure that he didn't antagonize his bandages. Even as she sat underground in Katharon's base, she couldn't acknowledge their actions as right. I f they really wanted change, they should lobby the government, protest, make their voices heard in ways that didn't shed blood and destroy lives.

Still.

If she could have an impact on these organizations from the inside, could she make a difference? Could she change the views of those pulling the most powerful trigger?

She didn't know if she could, or if she would try, but for now it was something to mull over. As she watched Setsuna sleep, she felt like it might not be as terrible an idea as she should have initially thought. If she could reach him, maybe that could be enough. If there was one thing she'd learned about Setsuna, it was that he had the power to achieve whatever he wanted.

He wanted to change the world. Maybe she could help him change it through understanding.

"Didi?"

Karen's voice made Deiter cringe a little as it echoed through the hangar. As far as he knew she still hadn't figured out that their stepfather was the mole. He knew it was only a matter of time before she clued in, but that didn't make him any more willing to approach her about it. He'd decided to spend the majority of his time fiddling with his brand-new captured GN-X. Right now he was perched on its foot, reading through the amassed data on his new machine.

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized she was leaning on the leg beside him. "What?" he asked, hoping to stall. It was blatantly obvious that he'd been avoiding her. If he hadn't been keeping his secret for most of the week, he would have been practically attached to her. She had to know this.

"You aren't going to stall this conversation any longer. I know you're hiding something from me" she said. Her tone was even, she wasn't mad, but he could hear the big-sister warning underneath it. He wanted to tell her, he really did, but he didn't want her to be blinded with hate when she heard it. "When I hear what?" Apparently they were going to have the conversation through his thoughts. He didn't want her to find out that way. "Find out what, Deiter?"

"Bruns is the mole."

There. He'd said it, and before she could pick it out of his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the reprimand; a slap, a yelp, anything. He opened the eye closest to her.

Her face was in one of her hands and she was shaking her head. "Ugh." she muttered. She was beating herself up, telling herself that it should have been obvious from the first moment she'd touched down. Had the two of them really become that distant? Had they become so estranged that he'd put his faith in a man who probably couldn't be trusted to truthfully relay the weather?

"What is it?" he asked curiously. He'd never known his sister to be this calm with anything concerning their stepfather, or anyone that had wronged her so strongly, for that matter. She was a great sister, but she knew how to hold a grudge.

"I should have known." she said, looking at him. She shook her head and laughed, bending and resting her hands on her knees. How could he not know why she was in a state of disbelief? "I should have known once you started avoiding me. I mean, you made the call about the mole, you're the one who's closest to him…I guess I just didn't want to see it."

"See what?" he asked, not sure he was following her.

See her brother move on. See him care about someone else. See him try to replace their father. "The day that you chose him over our family." she said. Her tone cut like a finely-sharpened blade. She started to walk away. She needed to get away before she said anything else.

"You don't mean that, do you?"

She stopped. "Of course I do. You're more loyal to someone who pushed us apart than your own family, or your own organization, for that matter. Are you that desperate for a father-figure?" Her tone cut. He knew that she could be like this, but she'd never been like this with him. Ever.

"That was unfair."

"So is this." She said, glaring at him. He didn't know how they'd gotten on this topic so quickly, but he kicked himself for not expecting it. She was laid-back most of the time, but when their father was brought up she turned into a different person. Mean, defensive, cut-throat. "Did you ever care about our family, Deiter?" That's exactly who she was now, and he felt his blood boil. Could she really say things like that when she'd been the one to abandon them!?

"Yeah? And how many things did you choose over our family when Dad died, huh?" She stopped. It wasn't the first time he'd thought of this, and though he knew he shouldn't, he continued. "Secondary school in Marseilles, university at the academy on the other side of the country, you took any mission that the AEU gave as long as it took you away from home, from us. Then when you finally came home after the incident you disappeared again after a month! Our family has been second to everything else for years! Maybe I did choose him over you, but he's been there for me more than you ever have."

She rushed at him, she was shaking. He'd never seen her so angry in his life, but he didn't care. "He has NEVER been a father to either of us!" her voice sounded more like a roar than his sister. "How can you compare him to our father!?" she demanded, stretching to stare him in the eye.

"That's exactly it, Karen!" he yelled. He was just as angry as her now and they were yelling nose-to-nose. "You don't let anyone else mourn dad! It's like you have your own private license to mourn him and no one else can! You know what though? He's dead. He's never coming back. Why can't you see that!?"

He regretted it the second the words left his mouth. She stared at him for a few long moments before turning and taking long strides away. Her strides turned into a light jog, then a faster sprint as he realized what he'd done.

"Karen, wait!"

She was gone, the audible slam of the hangar door let him know it. He walked back to the GN-X and slid down its foot, tipping his head back and wondering how they'd managed to escalate so quickly. Where his sister could hold a grudge, he never could. He buried his face in his hands, wiping the sweat off his brow with the one remaining sleeve of his leather jacket. He had to take back his initial feeling. He didn't regret what he'd said, he regretted the way he'd said it.

He'd always pictured the conversation being quiet, maybe at home over lunch. He'd always known that she was headstrong, but he knew that she couldn't want to carry that grudge with her. He thought that she'd cry, explain her feelings to him, and that he'd help her really let their father go. He'd never pictured it being like this. He'd never wanted to hurt her like that… distant though they'd become, she was still his older sister.

"Reverie! Reverie!"

A robotic voice whirred. He looked up, trying to find where the noise was coming from before realizing that it was on the ground. It was the odd white ball-robot that followed Karen around all the time. He'd asked Klaus what it was out of curiosity, and apparently it was there as a contact to Celestial Being and was keeping an eye on her health. He picked the robot up.

"Reverie! Reverie!" it chimed again, swivelling in his hands.

"Whoa little buddy, you just missed her… but I'm sure we can catch up to her." he said, voice dropping.

"You're sad, you're sad!" it observed, swiveling back to face him. Its eyes flashed as it seemed to stare him down.

"Well, Ka- Reverie and I just got in a fight… I'm not sure I can give you back right away little man…but if you can open doors she went through the third one." he said, looking at the bot incredulously.

"No doors!"

He sighed. "Well then, I guess you're stuck with me". He set the white ball-bot on the tool-table next to the foot of the GN-X. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to learn to use the machine, and he had a fair amount of pent-up tension to work out now. He knew that he and Karen would talk it over. Right now it was best to let her cool off. She was still here for another two days. That was enough time for an apology.

Lyle watched Anew work with a portion of the NILE system. Her background in Mechanical Engineering and Medicine had made her a valuable asset to Ptolemy's staff, and as she twisted and connected wires he understood why. She worked with almost machine-like grace; he didn't think she'd made a mistake in the past twenty minutes… not that he would know if she had. With Reverie gone the two of them had continued to spend quite a bit of time together, and he couldn't say he was particularly bothered.

"Celestial Being must have struck gold when they found you." he said, watching her deftly snip and attach another wire. "How did you manage to master so many things?"

She laughed in her melodic pitch. "I don't know really… I've just always found these types of things easy. Is it strange to be proficient in more than one area?" she asked, tilting her head. In many ways she reminded him of a child, and yet in others she was much wiser than she appeared. Simply put, she was strange.

"Well, no." he replied. "It's just…unusual for someone to be gifted in so many difficult areas. Regenerative Medicine, Mobile Suit engineering, Astrophysics, Mechanical Engineering…If I didn't know you were standing in front of me I wouldn't believe it." he observed jokingly.

She stopped twisting the wires she was working with and blushed. "Well… they're all similar fields really. If you understand physics you can understand the rest. Medicine is math, engineering is physics, and the mechanical skills are easy to learn if someone has the time." she smiled. "One could say the same about you, Lyle." she pointed out.

That made him laugh. "Why? I'm just a run-of-the-mill anti-federationist… like any sane person."

"An anti-federationist that can pilot advanced mobile suits, fire with remarkable accuracy, and remain fairly laid-back while doing so." she quipped with a playful smile. Her smile faded and she seemed lost in thought. "Why did you join Celestial Being?"

He leaned on his elbows against a console. "The usual: angst, boredom, something to do." he smirked.

"I find that hard to believe." she said as she clipped another set of wires.

"Is that so?" he questioned.

She nodded. "Your file says your family was killed in a terrorist bombing, and that your brother was killed in action with Celestial Being."

He flinched. "You read my file?" he asked. Everyone on Ptolemy knew his story… he wasn't sure why he was so upset. Then again, he'd always been a private person to a large extent. He'd joke and be friendly, but he drew a distinct line at people invading his privacy. His past was his.

She nodded. "I had to read the Meister's files to gain an understanding of your medical histories. I'm still working my way through the crew's."

"Oh." He felt silly. Of course she'd have to read the file. Why did it bother him so much? "What about you, what possessed you to join Celestial Being?" he calmed down, letting go of his misplaced irritation.

She froze and didn't respond. He watched her curiously as the wire stripper in her hand clattered to the table.

"Anew?"

No response. Was she zoned out? Daydreaming?

"Anew?"

"Huh?" she asked, turning to him. As she turned he thought he saw the faintest glimmer of something strange in her eyes. He blinked and it was gone. "I'm sorry, I zoned out." It must have been the lighting. "What did you ask me?"

"I was wondering why you joined Celestial Being."

She blinked a few times, then responded. "I was working at the University of Cambridge and Wang Liu-Mei noticed my potential. She introduced me to the cause, and I've been with Celestial Being ever since."

"That's it?" he asked, watching her resume her work, fitting all of the wires neatly back into their panel. "No terrifying story of angst and woe?"

She laughed again and shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

She was strange, but in an eerie way that he couldn't quite isolate. She was warm and friendly and carefree, yet she'd joined a private armed organization in the hopes of ending war. Could someone without a personal knowledge of conflict do something like that? He wasn't convinced. Everyone on-board had a story, Reverie had said so. Even without Reverie's clues to each person's previous life it was obvious that they each had a dark past. Sumeragi drowned herself in alcohol. Setsuna and Tieria's emotional unbalance was obvious. Allelujah and Marie had split personalities. Feldt and Mileina had spent their entire lives with the organization. Reverie had been so tormented by her abilities that she'd resorted to overdosing on pills.

Everyone had a reason. What was Anew's?

"All hands to level-one battle stations! Enemies approaching!" The ship's comms rang.

Apparently he wouldn't have time to ask. They both looked at each other. "Here we go again." he said with a wink. She smiled.

They parted ways and dashed to their respective locations, each silently hoping that the external camouflage would cover the ship.

"Are you sure you should be leaving, Setsuna?" Marina Ismail asked, following him as he walked to Double-Oh.

He turned and nodded. "I need to return to Ptolemy." He stated simply. "Reverie Traum gave me their coordinates, and they likely need Double-Oh."

"Oh." she said, gaze downcast. "Are you sure you're alright, though? You can spend more time here to heal your shoulder if you'd like." She sounded hopeful, and he couldn't ignore the tiny twinge in the back of his mind that didn't want to disappoint her.

He shook his head lightly. "No. You've done enough for me. It's time that I return."

She nodded slowly and watched him with concerned eyes. "I understand."

He hoped she did. The only way that he could ever let himself stay and heal was if he knew that his objectives had been accomplished. The fact that he was standing in a Katharon base proved that this wasn't the case.

"Princess Marina!" one of the children ran up to her, skidded to a halt, and peered at him uncertainly from behind her. "Is he leaving?" the child asked. More children gathered around as the child stared up at her.

She nodded and ruffled the child's hair. "Yes."

"Where are you going?" the child asked, looking directly at him this time.

He was leaving to try and make sure that the child-like tone, which he'd lost far before he was supposed to, stayed in the child's voice. "I'm going back to Celestial Being." he said. The children knew about Celestial Being, and he thought it best to leave it at that. He turned to leave and was stopped by a small voice.

"Mister Seiei, wait!"

He looked down as a little girl ran up to him. She shied away a little when he looked, as children tended to do around him, then steadied herself and thrust a piece of paper into the air. "This is for you. I made it."

He looked at her curiously and gently took the paper from her. He unfolded it. It was colourful and childishly drawn, and from what he could see it was all of the children holding hands with a lady in the center. Above them, in the sky littered with crayon stars, was what looked like a blue and white flying man. The little girl pulled on his hand so she could see the picture.

"That's all of us, and that's princess Marina, and that's the field that we sing about" she pointed to the ground. "And that's the Gundam." she said, pointing to the blue flying man. "Princess Marina says you sit in the Gundam and keep us safe. See? There's you." She pointed to a stick figure inside the drawing.

"And that's all our names on the other side!" another child chirped up, pointing at the paper. Setsuna turned it over and was surprised by the array of colors and languages that the names were drawn in. He could tell that Marina had written some of the names, and she'd signed it herself. We believe in you. He knew how much it must have taken for her to write that.

"That one's mine!" the little girl said, pointing to one.

Setsuna didn't know what to say, and there was a strange feeling in his chest, like he'd felt when Lockon had died… yet it was the same feeling as when the world had united. He was overjoyed and sad at once. Was that even possible? How could something as simple as this picture make him feel this way? "I…thank-you." He said. He wasn't used to using the words, but they felt… right.

"It's alright Mister Seiei." The little girl said.

He stood and looked at Marina. She was smiling like he'd never seen before, as though she'd seen something beautiful. He didn't understand it. "Alright children, we have to let Mr. Seiei go. Run back to the room." she said happily. The children complied, a few lingering for a moment to watch him before disappearing.

"Take care of yourself, Setsuna." she said. Her eyes were warm.

"I will." He turned to leave, then paused. "That song the children sing… I'd like to hear it again the next time we meet."

She nodded. "All right."

With that, he left. As he ascended to the cockpit he couldn't take his eyes off the piece of paper in his hand. Those children, they were being given a life that he never could have hoped for, all because of Katharon's intervention.

If there was twistedness in the world, maybe this was its opposite.

Before starting launch procedures, he took the time to carefully place the picture on one of the consoles. Somehow he realized that it was already one of his most cherished gifts.