"So," Rau Le said, smirking in his malicious manner. "He would rather be able to protect that pathetic girl that protect that ship. Hmmm." Some of the members on board the ZAFT ship were intrigued with the idea. Others were somewhat terrified of what Rau Le was planning. They did not like the look on his face or the sparkle in his eye. He was not thinking something magical and filled with happy/eto shoujo-bubbleness. His thoughts were much darker.

"Commander Asath," Rau Le said ((A/N: THIS IS NOT A REAL CHARACTER IN GS!)), gesturing one of the men aboard the ZAFT ship and on the bridge. The man immediately called himself to attention and approached Rau Le.

"Yes, sir?" He asked.

"Go to the hostage's room. Take her into the 'secured location'." He had a secret room aboard the ZAFT ship that everyone knew about but few were allowed admittance. This Commander Asath was one of the few. He knew instantly what Rau Le was saying. Commander Asath nodded his head to show Rau Le that he understood his order perfectly. "Good." Was all Rau Le stated. Bowing, Asath then left the bridge and headed to Hikaru's room. Rau Le sat back in his seat, smug. The number of cautious ZAFT officers grew at that moment. They had heard rumors about Rau Le's "secret room". They were scared of what would come by his new orderto bring Hikaru there.

--Back with Aegis and Gundam...--

Athrun and Kira were no longer fighting. They stood in space in their mobile suits, defensive, but it had been several minutes since either of them had struck or been struck. Athrun was taken aback and speechless at the look of intensity in Kira's eyes and how much they flared with determination and hatred. He literally was going to let nothing stand in the way of protecting Hikaru. And Athrun knew, at that moment, that Kira would not even hesitate to kill him in an instant if need be. If it would save Hikaru, he would allow the destruction of the entire Earth. That's how much he was in love with her.

"You... bastard..." Kira said, his teeth clenched. Athrun was taken aback. "Why have you gotten involved in this? I did not like fighting you, Athrun, but now you bring Hikaru into this!? You are a right bastard."

"You don't understand!" Athrun shouted back. He felt the only way he could get to Kira was screaming at him. "I had no choice!"

"What are they doing to her, Athrun?" Kira demanded. "Are they holding Hikaru hostage?!" Athrun sat in silence for a moment until a loud "Well?!" from Kira provoked him.

"Yes!" Athrun yelled. "Yes, they're holding Hikaru hostage!"

"Why?" Kira demanded.

"Because they know you love her!" Athrun shouted. The pressure had caused him to scream out what he had not intentionally meant to say; just like when he revealed Hikaru's prescence in the whole mess. Kira and Athrun sat in silence for several minutes. Kira was in shock.

When that cleared, Kira was able to mumble, "The-- they know I love her?"

"Yes." Athrun gasped out, looking sadly at his friends' mobile suit. "They know."

"How?"

"Because..." Athrun seemed reluctant to continue with the next part. He knew Kira already knew the truth, but admitting it would be the true crime. "Because I told them. I told them you were in love with her." When there was no response from Kira, he continued. "But I had no idea they were planning to use her as a hostage. That's the honest truth! I didn't know!" There was still the silence. Kira never said a word. Several uncomfortable moments followed until Kira finally said,

"I will rescue her, Athrun." The determination and love in his voice returned. "I will save my Hikaru. And don't try and stop me. If you do, Athrun, I will not hesitate an instant in killing you." The Gundam then moved again but not to strike Athrun. Instead, Kira manuevered his mobile suit to pass Athrun and head to the ZAFT forces ship. Athrun did not stop him.

"Very good, Yamato Kira." Came a different voice over into the Gundam ship as well as the Aegis. Both Athrun and Kira were taken aback in surprise. Kira did not recognize the voice, but Athrun did.

"Who is this?" Kira demanded.

The voice chuckled and then a visual component was opened in both the Gundam and the Aegis. It was Rau Le. Smiling maliciously, he introduced himself and conveyed his message. "My name is Rau Le Creuset. I have some interesting news for you, Yamato Kira."

"What is it?" Kira yelled, his eyes narrowing in anger and suspicion.

"Your girlfriend, Hikaru, has been... well... put through some 'tests'." He smiled, acting like it was all a game; a horrid game of cat and mouse.

"What do you mean?" Kira demanded, feeling fear rush through him. He did not like the teasing in Rau Le's voice or the malicious way he said it.

"What did you do, Rau Le?" Athrun demanded.

Rau Le chuckled. "What? Are you on your friend's side now?"

"No!" Athrun said angrily. "But you did something! Tell me what you did!" Rau Le chuckled once again, his eyes sparkling briefly in maliciousness.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" The image of Rau Le on the monitors then disappeared and was replaced with something horrific. It was the image of a girl chained to the wall. She had cuts and bruises all over her body and she was not moving. Her clothes were ripped and barely covered any of her. Her wrists and ankles were chained together. Her crimson hair almost matched the blood spilling from her face. Athrun's heart stopped beating and he just stared in absolute horror.

"HIKARU!!!!" Kira screamed, his voice ringing throughout the Strike, Aegis and even the room Rau Le was in. "Hikaru!!"

Rau Le's face then appeared once again on the monitor. He was laughing at Kira's crazed antics for the woman he loved. Athrun was sitting there and was still frozen. "Honestly, Kira, you are too easy. All I have to do is harm someone close to you and you are as weak as a little ant."

Kira's eyes flashed in fury. They glared in redness and absolute hatred at Rau Le. Clenching his fists, he was shaking with rage. "What did you say?" He demanded through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry to tell you, Kira; although your screaming was very entertaining, I'm afraid it was not enough to reach Hikaru. She's unconcious." Rau Le's toying was only annoying and angering Kira. "And here's the funner part. I leave you with an ultimadum, Yamato. Either come and save your dear girlfriend or protect the ArchAngel. Either way, someone is going to die today."

"What!?"

"You heard me." Rau Le replied. "Someone is going to die today. But I leave you with the choice, Kira. Are you going to save your true love? Or are you going to protect the ArchAngel? Chose wisely." Rau Le then disconnected the connection between him, the Strike and the Aegis. The ArchAnfgel had also hacked into the communication as well. They were aware of their fate. They all sat in dead silence.

Aboard the ZAFT ship, Rau Le was sitting in his chair. His hands were folded in front of his face and his chin was resting on his hands. He smirked.

"Uh... commander?" One of the men said, a little scared.

"What is it?" Rau Le asked.

"Are you... are you sure that was a good idea?" He asked. After receiving a cold, brief glance from Rau Le, he stammered as he continued quickly. "Be... because... you know, Kira could decide to protect the ArchAngel. Then what?"

"That won't happen." Rau Le said confidentally, lowering his eyes as he raised from his seat.

"Why not?"

Rau Le then glanced over at the man. Smirking once again, he replied, "The boy is in love. He said so himself that he would rather see the ArchAngel be destroyed than not protect that girl." Nodding his head once, he concluded, satisfied, "He'll come." As he walked off, he he said to the man over his shoulder. "By the way, make sure you wait until Kira can see her before you kill the girl." He then left the room, leaving the commander in astonishment.

--Back with the Aegis and Gundam...--

Kira and Athrun said nothing to each other for several minutes. Finally, Athrun broke the silence between the two of them. "Kira, I... I'm sorry." His voice was quiet and filled with remorse. Kira said nothing to his apology.

"I'm going."

"What!?" Athrun exclaimed as Kira started to maneuver the Strike Gundam around Kira and head once again towards the ZAFT forces ship. "You can't mean you're going after Hikaru!"

"Of course I am!" Kira said angrily. "I'm not letting that bastard hurt her anymore!"

"But what about the ArchAngel?"

"Let them die." Kira said. Everyone on the ArchAngel was oblivious to their empending doom. Athrun gasped in horror.

"What!?"

"I told you before, Athrun, I don't care what happens to anyone else as long as Hikaru is safe!"

"That's not the Kira I knew!" Athrun said angrily. He felt betrayed; as if he was a member onboard the ArchAngel.

"That Kira's dead!" Kira started to leave when Athrun abruptly stopped him. Clenching his teeth, Kira said, "Outta my way, Zala."

"No!"

"MOVE!" Kira yelled, moving his weapon once again and setting the Gundam to strike. His eyes flashed. "I'm serious, Athrun! Get the hell outta my way!"

"I won't!" Athrun screamed back. "I want to make sure Hikaru's safe too! You're not the only one who cares about her!"

"Then why are you stopping me?" Kira screamed. "Why won't you let me help her?"

"Because the people on the ArchAngel need help too!" Athrun shouted, taking Kira aback. "You joined the Earth Forces to protect them and now you're going to let them die?!"

"I'll protect Hikaru!" Kira screamed. "No matter what it takes! I love her and I'm not going to let anyone stand in the way of me protecting her!" Then, using his weapon, he slashed the Aegis and flew past Athrun, heading straight for the ZAFT forces ship. Athrun glared at Kira as he flew there. Just as always, he was being stubborn and self-righteous in protecting Hikaru. Athrun could not believe that Kira was going to allow 200 persons to die just because of a childhood love that would not die. Making up his mind, Athrun decided to take matters into his own hands about the present situation.

TBC.

--I hope people were happy with the results! A lot of things were repeated, and I'm sorry. PLEASE REVIEW!!!-- SKS