Disclaimer: Gundam Seed is the property of Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, Bandai, etc. The author claims no right over any of its concepts, characters and locations aside from those created originally for the purposes of the storyline.
More A/N end of chapter: Chapter 3 of my first fanfic ever. Also, Since Seed Destiny isn't out yet, therefore this fic ignores its existence. :)
Chapter 3 Summary: Kira finds Lacus amidst the chaos, and what he sees sends him right back to the past he had chosen to forget. Yzak and Dearkka make their appearance while Cagalli refuses to surrender against those who want to shatter the fragile peace.
Chapter 3: Unanswerable Questions
The festivities had been broken by the explosion. Fragments of the decorations had burned up and were scattered across the ground. People were running aimlessly, simply trying to get away from the flames that threatened to engulf them.
Kira swallowed, a lump had formed in his throat when he heard the all too familiar sounds of explosions. While Athrun had run towards the podium where Cagalli was at the first blast, Kira had run backstage, looking for Lacus. His thoughts turned ugly as he ran, and he felt his heart throbbing wildly against his chest. He couldn't see what was happening behind the podium, and Fllay's death played again and again in his mind. But it wasn't Fllay's face that haunted him now; it was someone with a far gentler face. She had light pink hair and aquamarine eyes, and she had been taken away from him in an explosion. Panic engulfed him, and he ran and ran until he felt like his lungs were going to burst. Kira reached backstage, expecting the worst.
He threw open the door that led to the changing rooms, and ran inside. The force of his gesture had the door slamming violently against the wall. The people inside the changing room were in chaos, throwing on whatever clothes they had and hastily making their escape. He fought against the flow of people rushing outside as he desperately searched for Lacus, shouting her name at the top of his lungs.
"Kira!" Lacus ran to him. "What's happening?"
Kira enveloped her in a crushing hug, unable to speak. Adrenaline was rushing through him, and the fear he had felt at the thought of losing Lacus shook him to his very core. Had she been outside when the bombs exploded, she certainly would've been hurt. His heart still beat violently against his chest as he tried to calm down, but as thoughts of Lacus flooded his mind, he found himself gripping her tighter against him, assuring himself that nothing untoward had happened, and she was alive.
"That hurts..." Lacus gasped out as Kira's grip became painful.
Her voice brought Kira out of his self-made nightmare and brought him back to reality. He loosened his tight hold on the songstress, but he did not let go. His indigo eyes met her aquamarine ones apologetically.
"I had thought..." Kira's voice broke, as he tried to continue, his eyes felt misty as tears that hadn't appeared since four years ago threatened to form in his eyes. "It was happening again..."
Lacus shook her head, placing her hand against Kira's cheek, understanding what he was feeling.
"I'm here Kira." She whispered, trying to reassure him again.
Kira swallowed painfully, nodding. "Let's get out of here."
Kira exited the changing rooms with Lacus, and abruptly froze in his tracks, startled Lacus bumped onto his back. He felt his body give an involuntary shudder at the sight before him. It was something he had hoped would not be built again, and never again used for war. It had been a catalyst that had brought Space and Earth to a full fledged war, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind it. Seeing it again triggered memories, it had both been his blessing and his curse. A blessing that allowed gave him power to fight against those who tried to destroy what he tried to protect, yet a curse in which the nameless men he had killed using that power haunted him until now.
A Gundam was destroying the mobile suits that were stationed on the perimeter of the venue. It was painted a dark gray and navy blue, brandishing a beam saber. Rounds fired from Vulcan guns on the side of its head managed to wipe out the helicopter teams that were trying to prevent it from inflicting more damage to the ceremony grounds.
Kira forced himself to move, brushing off the memories that threatened to overwhelm him. Kira decided that it wouldn't do well to die just yet. Kira pulled Lacus in the opposite direction of where the Gundam was heading, He hoped that its cameras wouldn't register their presence and that the pilot wouldn't make them his target.
Perhaps that was too much to hope for.
They had only ran a few meters when the Gundam turned, sensing movement. Kira clasped Lacus by the waist, guiding her through the dense foliage, where he hoped the trees would shield them from the Gundam's vision. Luckily for them, reinforcements had arrived, and the Gundam's attention was diverted to fighting them off instead of following Kira and Lacus.
They bumped into Athrun who was carrying an unconscious Cagalli on his back.
Kira gave a concerned look at Cagalli's limp form, and met Athrun's eyes.
"She's just unconscious." He said quietly, still moving as he glanced up at the night sky which was illuminated by the flames, walking in the direction away from it.
They soon emerged in a desolate spot away from the battlefield. Three young people stared at the flames, and felt the world they had fought for four years ago suddenly taken from them. The people sacrificed in the war four years ago were now again disturbed from their slumber. Kira clenched his hand tightly. Questions of who did it, and why they did it plagued his mind.
Athrun stared blankly at the scene before him, disappointment flooding through him. He shifted slightly so that Cagalli's weight on his back was balanced properly. Political ramifications were already being processed in his mind. Most of the Naturals were wiped out, this would lead people to appear that Coordinators would be behind the attack, and not to mention the problems surfacing now that members of the united council who attended were killed. A lot of finger-pointing would certainly occur there. Athrun bit his lip. If this escalated, it would lead to another war between Naturals and Coordinators. He knew that there were people on both sides who would fuel that war, egos and animosity was not something that could be removed even by disarmament and peace treaties. His eyes hardened at the thought. He couldn't let it get that far.
Apparently, Kira had sifted through the situation in a similar fashion as Athrun. He turned to Athrun. "The people won't let this happen again, will they?" He asked, his voice tormented.
"We must have hope in the people." Lacus interjected simply. "They'll remember the mistakes of four years ago and treat this as an obstacle to the unification of Space and Earth, instead of one side trying to take advantage and attack one another."
The former pilots remained silent, both dearly hoping it was true.
"Achoo!" Yzak sneezed. He huffed grumpily. Coordinators were not supposed to get sick, nor were they supposed to be confined to something as undignified as 'bedrest'. How he had gotten afflicted with anything was beyond him. So far, he had been sneezing repeatedly, something which he hadn't done before. To top it off, Dearkka was mercilessly teasing him about being as weak as a Natural.
The Natural doctor talked about something called 'allergies'. And Dearkka had bursts into fits of laughter. Yzak had scowled at him and threw him out of the room, muttering something about being allergic to Dearkka's laughing.
"Achoo!" Yzak sneezed again, scowling.
A knock sounded at his door, and he turned, scowling. "Who is it?"
"It's me. Dearkka."
Yzak opened the door, scowling at him. "If you aren't going to say anything important—" He paused at Dearkka's serious expression.
"Did you watch the late night news?" Dearkka asked, his face unreadable.
"No. I don't think there's late night news this early in the morning." Yzak gave a scornful glance at the clock on his bedside, which read 2:32AM.
Dearkka stepped inside, turning the television on. A scene of the devastated gathering was flashed on screen.
"That was the party you were supposed to attend today." Dearkka remarked. "The united council who attended was wiped out. You're chose the right day to get some allergy, you lucky bastard." He drawled out, albeit his voice was a little flat, obviously upset about the events that had transpired.
Yzak didn't reply. His eyes were fixed on the screen in front of him.
A communicator on Yzak's table beeped, alerting him that a video call was being patched through.
Yzak put the broadcast on mute, pressing the button that allowed the call to go through.
Athrun's face flashed on the screen, he looked tired and tense, and he didn't speak immediately.
"What do you want, Athrun?" Yzak asked, skipping the pleasantries. Despite both being in Le Creuset, they had never spoken to each other on a friendly basis. Too much rivalry had already taken place for Yzak to comfortably call Athrun his 'friend'.
"I need a favor." Athrun stated.
"What?"
"I want to know if there are still recoverable blueprints and records of either Justice or Freedom, and if you do, I want it."
That favor, Yzak was not expecting.
"What the hell do you need a Gundam for?!"
At that point, Dearkka interrupted Yzak.
"After the explosions, a Gundam was seen leading other mobile suits to destroy the area."
Yzak turned violently at Dearkka.
"And you only tell that to me now?!" He scowled.
"Only a Gundam can match up to another Gundam." Athrun stated flatly. "You know that as well as I do. Orb and the Earth's Alliance records were destroyed when the peace treaties were signed. Obviously, even if ZAFT's records were destroyed, somebody got a hold of it beforehand and had built another one."
"Even if I did find one, you wouldn't be able to build one in time to stop him." Yzak countered.
"Then do we just sit idly, watching more people die because we have no means of defense?" Athrun asked quietly.
The questions and problems had no plausible answers at the moment. Yzak and Athrun stared at each other on the screen, at a silent stand off. As much as Yzak hated to admit it, pitting a pathetic GINN against a Gundam piloted by a Coordinator would be like sending a man to his death sentence. And there would be no choice but to fight again at this time. Their adversary had already resulted to arms, which meant that there was little chance that the issue could be settled diplomatically. Yzak scowled again as the so called allergy threatened to send him to a fit of sneezing.
"Fine. I'll see what I can do."
"You owe me big time for this, Zala." He remarked snidely.
"I'm aware of that." Athrun managed to grin at him good naturedly, pressing the button, ending their conversation.
Behind Athrun, a figure stirred, her honey brown eyes half-opening.
"Who are you talking to?" Cagalli's sleep-tinged voice reached him as she closed her eyes again, stretching languidly. Problems or not, Cagalli could not be easily roused from sleep. It would take a few moments before reality would check in.
"Nobody." Athrun lied smoothly, as he walked barefoot to the side of the bed, seating himself. "How do you feel?" He asked softly, raising his hand, brushing her unruly hair from her face.
Cagalli tugged his hand and made a space for him on the bed, not answering him immediately. Athrun heeded her wordlessly, fixing the pillows and leaned against them, while Cagalli settled against him, making herself comfortable against his warm body. Athrun's arm instinctively went around Cagalli's waist, resting his cheek against her hair.
"I'm fine. Angry at what happened, but fine." Was Cagalli's husky reply.
"What are the Princess of Orb's plans?" Athrun asked against her hair, his hand drawing imaginary circles on her back.
"I told you not to call me that." She replied drolly, and opened her eyes, meeting his gaze. Athrun was surprised. Usually, when Cagalli woke up she was grumpy, and her brown eyes hazy. This time, her eyes were crystal clear, focused, and alert.
"As for them," Cagalli held his gaze, her eyes lit with determination.
"They won't win."
A/N contd: The chapter is slightly different from the summary, since I decided to switch the sequence a bit. Yzak and Dearkka were supposed to appear in Chapter 4, but I switched that scene with the one where Aya was supposed to appear.
Chapter 4 Summary: Dearkka and Milly meet again as Cagalli, Lacus and Yzak coordinate with what's left of the council to hold the fragile peace together. Kira revisits some of his demons, while Athrun makes his decision.
Thanks for reading! : )
KingArthur6687 : Thanks again. :)) Heheh, and as you see with the chapter, everyone's okay and alive. ;D
Yuugiri : Thank you for reviewing! ;D Hm, I'm not sure how to answer your question without giving away anything. Heheh. Only that...I hope that Aya doesn't come out as villainous as Azrael did in Seed. :D
