================
Chapter 8
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Yzak cursed to himself as he went over the checklist for Duel Gundam's weapons output. He and Dearka had both finished repairs on their mobile suits, as well as Cagalli's people from Orb, when they saw the massive satellite weapon called Angel Halo from a viewport. It seemed to reflect it's power everywhere at once, chilling the silver-haired pilot. Still, he was more determined than ever. If that was GHOST's newest weapon, then they can launch it. He'll be ready in his Duel Gundam to destroy it.
"You haven't changed a bit, Yzak." He heard the familiar voice of Athrun speak as he entered the hangar, dressed in his flight suit. "You're still eager to prove yourself in battle."
Yzak jumped down from the Duel Gundam's cockpit with a smirk on his face. "You haven't changed either, Athrun Zala." the silver-haired pilot said, placing a hand on the other young man's shoulder. "Where's your girfriend and Yamato?"
"Cagalli went to talk with her people from Orb." Athrun told him. "Kira's still changing. So you know already about what's out there?"
"Not entirely. The rumor is that the giant satellite out there is GHOST's newest weapon."
"It's true." Athrun said with a note of solemn in his voice. "They plan to use it to drop one of the PLANTs onto Earth."
"That's insane." Yzak said, not surprised that their enemy would go that far to achieve their goals. Raww Le Kleuze was willing to obliterate everything with his Lowegrien cannon, so a colony drop wasn't that surprising to the Duel Gundam pilot.
"Exactly, which is why we have to head out there to stop him." Athrun glanced upward at the still form of the Aegis Mk. II mobile suit, amazed at how much it resembled his old Aegis Gundam so much. "It's almost ironic that I piloted to prevent people like Kira and Lacus from having to. Now, all of us will have to fight now."
"The dance of war, peace, and revolution is an endless waltz humanity must perform if they are to survive." Yzak mentioned. "A philosopher said that centuries ago but it's still true today. Maybe that's why all of us are here now, to continue or interrupt that waltz."
"Maybe..." Athrun glanced back toward the changing area, where Kira still was. 'Still, some of us weren't meant to dance that waltz through history. Kira, I hope you understand that finally...'
----------------
As Cagalli drifted into the changing area of the hangar, her mind was still digesting what happened to herself and Kira several hours before. She had just gone over a brief report from Misaka Ajan, one of the veteran fighters from the Orb kingdom who became a Strike Daggar pilot. All of them knew about Angel Halo's presence and, after Cagalli explained, were still willing to fight despite the risk. She couldn't head out herself, much to her disappointment, since the Strike Rouge was being retrofitted.
She leaned against a locker, the memory of the kiss she shared with Kira still burned into her mind. Her skin flushed at the thought of his warm lips against hers, the malestrom of feelings she tried to bury invading her senses once again. She mentally cursed herself, ashamed at what a simple act was doing to her already-confused heart. She was in love with Athrun, Cagalli reminded herself, and what happened with her and Kira was never supposed to happen...
...so why she desire so much more?
'Dammit, Kira.' Cagalli cursed to herself, growing more frustrated by the emotions unlocked within her. 'Why did you have to make me feel this way? This shouldn't be hapenning between us... so why don't I want it to stop?'
"Cagalli?" She heard Kira's voice call to her from the other side. She quickly rose up as he came over, hoping that the young man wouldn't see the flush on her face in the dimly-lit lighting.
"I'm over here, Kira." She replied as the brown-haired young man arrived, already dressed in his flight suit. Cagalli looked at him, seeing the look of dedication written in his azure-blue eyes. This was definitely not the same young man she had known for over two years. His eyes showed a soul scarred by time and experience, not the innocence they once held. In a way, she was proud of him. And still...
"What's wrong?" Kira asked, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. Cagalli nearly flinched at his touch, guilt beginning to well within her at what she was feeling now. She fought it down, determined to hide the wave of emotions he caused her to feel.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about... about how so much has changed. For all of us."
"I know..." Kira started looking at the ground, remembering the experience he had as Heero Shinigami. That side of him, dominated by the Psycho system, was a part of himself he never wanted unleashed again. "I look back and regret so much all the things I did when I was Heero Shinigami. Then I remember how close we all were before the last war ended, you and Athrun both giving me so much encouragement. Somehow, those memories make me feel better knowing that my friends still give me a reason to fight."
"You should hold on to that." Cagalli advised, laying a hand on his shoulder as she smiled at him. "Letting the dark memories possess you constantly is not an option anymore. You're not the same person you were when you first climbed into the Strike mobile suit."
"Well, you're not the same rough-styled guerilla fighter who hated being called a 'girl'." Kira admitted. Seeing the scornful look in Cagalli's eyes when he mentioned the 'g-word', he continued. "Actually, I feel so much closer to you and everyone else now."
"I feel the same way, Kira." She let the brown-haired Coordinator move his hand over her arm, feeling her skin become warm as her own hand traveled down his arm. They moved gently closer, the two feeling a genuine bond between them from the supposedly-innocent gestures. Cagalli could feel some of her confusion finally slip away, replaced by a warm sense of kinship with the young man.
"We should hurry." Kira told the blond-haired ruler of Orb. "Knowing Yzak, he'd be all-too eager to get on the battlefield."
"Yeah..." Both of them rose up and headed toward the door leading to the hangar, a sense of closeness beginning to cement between them. This was their time, no one else's.
"Kira?"
"Yeah?"
"...If you call me a 'girl' again, I'll break your neck. Got it?"
================
Athrun turned around from his check on the Aegis Mk. II, seeing both Cagalli and Kira exit the changing area with a different composure on their faces. Part of him was relieved to see the two of them back to what appeared to be normal. Still, another part of him said that there was more to this newfound friendship between them. He had overheard part of their conversation, putting some of the pieces together in his mind. Still, some of the answers were missing. That he would have to get from them.
"Are you ready?" The black-haired Coordinator asked as his two friends approached him.
"Yeah." Kira replied, a small smile on his face for the first time in many months. He could finally face his demons, as long as his friends were there. He noticed the serious look on Athrun's face and his smile fell. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk, Kira." He pulled his friend to the side, where no one could hear them, and prepared to confront the brown-haired Coordinator. "It's about you and Cagalli."
"What do you mean?"
"I overheard some of what you two were talking about." Athrun saw the newfound confidence fade from his friend's face, somehow regretting having to tell him what he knew. "Somehow, you two became much closer over the past 56 hours. I want to know what's going on."
"Athrun..." Kira braced himself, knowing his friend wouldn't be able to take what he was about to say. "When I was Heero Shinigami, I visited Cagalli in the Orb Kingdom. I told her that I found out from ZAFT records that... that we weren't related after all."
"...I see." Seeing Athrun's calm composure, Kira continued.
"I learned that I was an experiment created by a man named Dr. Hibiki, based on the DNA of several Coordinators as well as the baby who should've been Cagalli's real brother. I told her this and she didn't take it well."
"Was there any reason she should have?" Athrun gripped a sidebar on the hangar deck, trying to keep his composure from slipping. "Kira, you show up out of nowhere two years later to tell her you weren't her brother after all? What the hell were you thinking?"
"I know I should have went to you and Lacus also but..." Kira looked down to the hangar floor, feeling the tears beginning to return. "...but I just couldn't then. I'm sorry."
"..." Athrun looked at the sorrow-filled boy in his azure-blue eyes, his anger beginning to become replaced with regret. He didn't consider what Kira might've been going through in all that time, how he and Cagalli would have to cope with being lied to for so long. "Kira... I wish I could say that I always knew but I didn't. There was always something between you two, long before she told us her father said she was your sister. Even after that, you were always bigger in her eyes than anyone else... even me. She cared a lot about you." He glaced over at Cagalli, who was chewing out a technician working on her Strike Rouge. "She still obviously cares about you, since she was willing to keep looking for you after you ran away."
"I just..." Kira started to say. "I wish I knew what to say to Lacus after all of this is over."
"I'll explain it to her with you, if it helps." Athrun unzipped his flight jacket, pulling out a necklace. "By the way, you should probably have this now."
"Cagalli's necklace? But Athrun, she gave that to you. I can't accept that."
"I wouldn't feel right holding on to it anymore." Athrun placed it into Kira's hand, a forgiving smile on his face. "If anything were to happen to me, she would want you to have it."
"...Athrun..." Kira was striken speechless, his hand closing around the gift. Why was he doing this? Why would Athrun suddenly give him something this personal?
"We'd better prepare for launch." Athrun said as he went back to his Aegis Mk. II, leaving Kira to contemplate the meaning behind his gesture. In truth, he wasn't upset at either of his friends. Part of him felt happy that they should be so close. Yet a sense of regret that something more could've happened permeated his thoughts. He shook it off as he slipped into the Aegis Mk. II's cockpit, bringing the systems online.
================
"All mobile suits report ready, Captain." Miriallia reported from her station. Murrue gripped the armrests of her chair, praying to whomever was listening that those pilots, in many ways her children, would return to her.
'Mwu, please watch over them.' Murrue thought to herself as she rose from her chair, a determination burning in her eyes that hadn't existed since the end of the last war. "All mobile suits, prepare to launch now!" She turned to the helm and the viewscreen, seeing the glowing mass of rings known as Angel Halo ahead of them. "Helm, adjust course to full speed ahead! It's time to end this fight!"
Chapter 8
================
Yzak cursed to himself as he went over the checklist for Duel Gundam's weapons output. He and Dearka had both finished repairs on their mobile suits, as well as Cagalli's people from Orb, when they saw the massive satellite weapon called Angel Halo from a viewport. It seemed to reflect it's power everywhere at once, chilling the silver-haired pilot. Still, he was more determined than ever. If that was GHOST's newest weapon, then they can launch it. He'll be ready in his Duel Gundam to destroy it.
"You haven't changed a bit, Yzak." He heard the familiar voice of Athrun speak as he entered the hangar, dressed in his flight suit. "You're still eager to prove yourself in battle."
Yzak jumped down from the Duel Gundam's cockpit with a smirk on his face. "You haven't changed either, Athrun Zala." the silver-haired pilot said, placing a hand on the other young man's shoulder. "Where's your girfriend and Yamato?"
"Cagalli went to talk with her people from Orb." Athrun told him. "Kira's still changing. So you know already about what's out there?"
"Not entirely. The rumor is that the giant satellite out there is GHOST's newest weapon."
"It's true." Athrun said with a note of solemn in his voice. "They plan to use it to drop one of the PLANTs onto Earth."
"That's insane." Yzak said, not surprised that their enemy would go that far to achieve their goals. Raww Le Kleuze was willing to obliterate everything with his Lowegrien cannon, so a colony drop wasn't that surprising to the Duel Gundam pilot.
"Exactly, which is why we have to head out there to stop him." Athrun glanced upward at the still form of the Aegis Mk. II mobile suit, amazed at how much it resembled his old Aegis Gundam so much. "It's almost ironic that I piloted to prevent people like Kira and Lacus from having to. Now, all of us will have to fight now."
"The dance of war, peace, and revolution is an endless waltz humanity must perform if they are to survive." Yzak mentioned. "A philosopher said that centuries ago but it's still true today. Maybe that's why all of us are here now, to continue or interrupt that waltz."
"Maybe..." Athrun glanced back toward the changing area, where Kira still was. 'Still, some of us weren't meant to dance that waltz through history. Kira, I hope you understand that finally...'
----------------
As Cagalli drifted into the changing area of the hangar, her mind was still digesting what happened to herself and Kira several hours before. She had just gone over a brief report from Misaka Ajan, one of the veteran fighters from the Orb kingdom who became a Strike Daggar pilot. All of them knew about Angel Halo's presence and, after Cagalli explained, were still willing to fight despite the risk. She couldn't head out herself, much to her disappointment, since the Strike Rouge was being retrofitted.
She leaned against a locker, the memory of the kiss she shared with Kira still burned into her mind. Her skin flushed at the thought of his warm lips against hers, the malestrom of feelings she tried to bury invading her senses once again. She mentally cursed herself, ashamed at what a simple act was doing to her already-confused heart. She was in love with Athrun, Cagalli reminded herself, and what happened with her and Kira was never supposed to happen...
...so why she desire so much more?
'Dammit, Kira.' Cagalli cursed to herself, growing more frustrated by the emotions unlocked within her. 'Why did you have to make me feel this way? This shouldn't be hapenning between us... so why don't I want it to stop?'
"Cagalli?" She heard Kira's voice call to her from the other side. She quickly rose up as he came over, hoping that the young man wouldn't see the flush on her face in the dimly-lit lighting.
"I'm over here, Kira." She replied as the brown-haired young man arrived, already dressed in his flight suit. Cagalli looked at him, seeing the look of dedication written in his azure-blue eyes. This was definitely not the same young man she had known for over two years. His eyes showed a soul scarred by time and experience, not the innocence they once held. In a way, she was proud of him. And still...
"What's wrong?" Kira asked, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. Cagalli nearly flinched at his touch, guilt beginning to well within her at what she was feeling now. She fought it down, determined to hide the wave of emotions he caused her to feel.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about... about how so much has changed. For all of us."
"I know..." Kira started looking at the ground, remembering the experience he had as Heero Shinigami. That side of him, dominated by the Psycho system, was a part of himself he never wanted unleashed again. "I look back and regret so much all the things I did when I was Heero Shinigami. Then I remember how close we all were before the last war ended, you and Athrun both giving me so much encouragement. Somehow, those memories make me feel better knowing that my friends still give me a reason to fight."
"You should hold on to that." Cagalli advised, laying a hand on his shoulder as she smiled at him. "Letting the dark memories possess you constantly is not an option anymore. You're not the same person you were when you first climbed into the Strike mobile suit."
"Well, you're not the same rough-styled guerilla fighter who hated being called a 'girl'." Kira admitted. Seeing the scornful look in Cagalli's eyes when he mentioned the 'g-word', he continued. "Actually, I feel so much closer to you and everyone else now."
"I feel the same way, Kira." She let the brown-haired Coordinator move his hand over her arm, feeling her skin become warm as her own hand traveled down his arm. They moved gently closer, the two feeling a genuine bond between them from the supposedly-innocent gestures. Cagalli could feel some of her confusion finally slip away, replaced by a warm sense of kinship with the young man.
"We should hurry." Kira told the blond-haired ruler of Orb. "Knowing Yzak, he'd be all-too eager to get on the battlefield."
"Yeah..." Both of them rose up and headed toward the door leading to the hangar, a sense of closeness beginning to cement between them. This was their time, no one else's.
"Kira?"
"Yeah?"
"...If you call me a 'girl' again, I'll break your neck. Got it?"
================
Athrun turned around from his check on the Aegis Mk. II, seeing both Cagalli and Kira exit the changing area with a different composure on their faces. Part of him was relieved to see the two of them back to what appeared to be normal. Still, another part of him said that there was more to this newfound friendship between them. He had overheard part of their conversation, putting some of the pieces together in his mind. Still, some of the answers were missing. That he would have to get from them.
"Are you ready?" The black-haired Coordinator asked as his two friends approached him.
"Yeah." Kira replied, a small smile on his face for the first time in many months. He could finally face his demons, as long as his friends were there. He noticed the serious look on Athrun's face and his smile fell. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk, Kira." He pulled his friend to the side, where no one could hear them, and prepared to confront the brown-haired Coordinator. "It's about you and Cagalli."
"What do you mean?"
"I overheard some of what you two were talking about." Athrun saw the newfound confidence fade from his friend's face, somehow regretting having to tell him what he knew. "Somehow, you two became much closer over the past 56 hours. I want to know what's going on."
"Athrun..." Kira braced himself, knowing his friend wouldn't be able to take what he was about to say. "When I was Heero Shinigami, I visited Cagalli in the Orb Kingdom. I told her that I found out from ZAFT records that... that we weren't related after all."
"...I see." Seeing Athrun's calm composure, Kira continued.
"I learned that I was an experiment created by a man named Dr. Hibiki, based on the DNA of several Coordinators as well as the baby who should've been Cagalli's real brother. I told her this and she didn't take it well."
"Was there any reason she should have?" Athrun gripped a sidebar on the hangar deck, trying to keep his composure from slipping. "Kira, you show up out of nowhere two years later to tell her you weren't her brother after all? What the hell were you thinking?"
"I know I should have went to you and Lacus also but..." Kira looked down to the hangar floor, feeling the tears beginning to return. "...but I just couldn't then. I'm sorry."
"..." Athrun looked at the sorrow-filled boy in his azure-blue eyes, his anger beginning to become replaced with regret. He didn't consider what Kira might've been going through in all that time, how he and Cagalli would have to cope with being lied to for so long. "Kira... I wish I could say that I always knew but I didn't. There was always something between you two, long before she told us her father said she was your sister. Even after that, you were always bigger in her eyes than anyone else... even me. She cared a lot about you." He glaced over at Cagalli, who was chewing out a technician working on her Strike Rouge. "She still obviously cares about you, since she was willing to keep looking for you after you ran away."
"I just..." Kira started to say. "I wish I knew what to say to Lacus after all of this is over."
"I'll explain it to her with you, if it helps." Athrun unzipped his flight jacket, pulling out a necklace. "By the way, you should probably have this now."
"Cagalli's necklace? But Athrun, she gave that to you. I can't accept that."
"I wouldn't feel right holding on to it anymore." Athrun placed it into Kira's hand, a forgiving smile on his face. "If anything were to happen to me, she would want you to have it."
"...Athrun..." Kira was striken speechless, his hand closing around the gift. Why was he doing this? Why would Athrun suddenly give him something this personal?
"We'd better prepare for launch." Athrun said as he went back to his Aegis Mk. II, leaving Kira to contemplate the meaning behind his gesture. In truth, he wasn't upset at either of his friends. Part of him felt happy that they should be so close. Yet a sense of regret that something more could've happened permeated his thoughts. He shook it off as he slipped into the Aegis Mk. II's cockpit, bringing the systems online.
================
"All mobile suits report ready, Captain." Miriallia reported from her station. Murrue gripped the armrests of her chair, praying to whomever was listening that those pilots, in many ways her children, would return to her.
'Mwu, please watch over them.' Murrue thought to herself as she rose from her chair, a determination burning in her eyes that hadn't existed since the end of the last war. "All mobile suits, prepare to launch now!" She turned to the helm and the viewscreen, seeing the glowing mass of rings known as Angel Halo ahead of them. "Helm, adjust course to full speed ahead! It's time to end this fight!"