The mood was bitterly quiet as the former Alliance battleship Archangel limped it's way across the ocean. Earlier, the ship had been the victim of betrayal on behalf of the very government it was commissioned by, forced to become the sacrificial lamb of a plan to destroy most of the ZAFT military might. As a result, the Earth Alliance headquarters of JOSH-A had been obliterated in a massive wave of nuclear fire. Without the timely return of Kira Yamato, the former pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam and current pilot of ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, all aboard the Archangel would've been killed.
Kira stood on the catwalk overlooking the hangar deck, where the recently-stolen Freedom Gundam rested, and contemplated his fate up to this point. Once, he felt obligated and satisfied that his only reason to fight was to defend his friends. Now, he was trying to help prevent history from repeating itself again. ZAFT and the Earth Alliance were on a collision course, like the Zeon Republic and former Earth Federation had been in UC 0079. If something didn't change soon, no one would survive the conflict.
'I won't let that happen.' Kira thought to himself as he stared up at the dormant Freedom Gundam. 'I won't let this continue. Not when things can be changed.' With that, he began to leave the hangar bay with thoughts of the uncertain future ahead of all of them.
Cagalli Yula Attha watched from the observation deck as the Archangel slowly made it's way into the water-filled dock. She immediately felt tense at the sight of the once-formidable battleship, it's hull scarred and chipped from repeated assaults. It had been through a horrible fight and lived to tell about it. She had heard rumors of it's escape from the ruined Alaska base and, especially, of Kira Yamato's return with a more powerful mobile suit.
Kira...
She immediately left the observation deck and raced toward the Archangel, whispers of tension and memories of heartache inside her head. She had gone to the beach on the outskirts of the Orb Kingdom, seeing the ruined remains of the Strike Gundam and it's nemesis, the GAT-X333 Aegis Gundam, scattered everywhere. Her heart sank as the reality sunk in that her friend had died on the battlefield. The horrifying description of what happened from Athrun Zala, Kira's old friend and reluctant enemy, had nearly drove her insane with grief and fury. She had already lost Ahmed, another of her close friends from her days as a guerrilla fighter. She didn't want to lose anyone else.
Cagalli stopped at the entrance to the Archangel, adrenaline racing through her veins as her heart pounded in her chest. She watched as some of the medics brought out one of the wounded soldiers, hoping that when she found Kira, he wasn't in the same state. She had resolved herself to a grief-stricken state of mind, something her father scorned her about sometimes. Uzumi Attha was intelligent and observant as a leader, unwilling to break his resolve of non-interference over a blatant show of force from the Earth Alliance time after time. She respected him enough but felt he didn't understand her at times. She needed to grieve over her friend's death or it would driver her mad.
Then she heard the rumors of his return.
Cagalli entered the battleship, racing through the corridors in search of the azure-eyed young man. If the rumors were only rumors, if it was only someone else who resembled him that defected from ZAFT and saved the ship... She then saw a figure turning a corner, her heartbeat nearly stopping when she saw whom it was. His hair was slightly longer that the last time they saw each other, but understandable so.
"KIRA!"
The brown-haired pilot turned around, falling to the ground when Cagalli tacked him. She hadn't changed at all from the stubborn and fiery blond he knew and respected as his friend. He smiled to himself as she started pounding on his chest.
"You... stupid... jerk!" Cagalli said, hot tears of relief and unvented sorrow flowing down her face. "Do you know how worried I was about you? Don't do this to me again!"
"...Sorry, Cagalli." Kira finally managed to say, happy to let the blond-haired princess vent her feelings onto him. She and everyone else had a difficult time in his absence. She needed this to feel better as much as he needed to help them.
Athrun Zala blinked the rain out of his eyes as made his way to the old auditorium, the White Rose Amphitheater, an unresolved feeling of betrayal settling in his heart. His father and leader of the ZAFT military, Patrick Zala, had shown him surveillance footage from when the Freedom Gundam was stolen, nearly causing Athrun's blood to run cold. In front of the mobile suit were two figures he immediately recognized. One was Kira Yamato, whom he believed he had killed on Earth in a torrent of rage. Then other was his fiancee, Lacus Clyne, whose father was already suspected to be a collaborator against ZAFT. With that resting on his mind, Athrun was told to take the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam in pursuit of the stolen mobile suit.
Lacus...
Athrun knew that that the pink-haired songstress was no traitor. She couldn't have been. And yet he had seen on the video footage, giving away their government's most carefully guarded weapon. He couldn't believe it. It was NOT something Lacus would do. That was what brought him to this place, the place where her career as a songstress and their relationship began. He needed answers from her, anything that would help resolve this confusion and inner conflict as soon as possible.
He walked into the dimly-lit auditorium, his gun drawn and ready in his hands. He didn't want to kill her just to appease his father. If anything, the thought of ending her life sickened him like the thought of having killed Kira made him. For what it was worth, she was still his fiancee and he trusted her. She would never betray her own people, betray him, like that without a logical reason. But still... he was going to get the truth somehow. He had to.
Athrun looked up towards the stage and the sight almost made his heart stop. Lacus was sitting there singing to herself, wearing the same dress she had worn for her first concert there. It seemed to hug the curves of her slim figure gently in several places, reaching down to her feet in shimmering waves of blue and pink. Her hair was pulled into long twin ponytails, cascading down from her head in silky rivers of pink, catching the dim lighting from the stage. She seemed serene, almost resigned to her fate as if she knew he would be here. In many ways, it wasn't far from the truth.
"Lacus!" Athrun called as he walked toward the stage, drawing the attention of the gentle singer. She smiled gently at him, knowing that he would indeed come here to find her.
"I knew you would come, Athrun." Lacus told him as she gazed into his emerald-green eyes, seeing the frustration buried in them. "You always knew just where to find me when we needed to talk. Thank you so much for understanding that."
Athrun whipped out his gun, aiming it at the gentle creature sitting in front of him. He had to do this now, before his emotions got the better of him. He was a ZAFT soldier. It was time to behave like one.
"Lacus..."
"Yes, Athrun?"
"Just tell me the truth." Athrun said calmly as he jumped onto the stage, keeping his composure in check. "Are you collaborating with an enemy spy?" He didn't know how to handle it if she were. Dealing with Kira's betrayal of their friendship when they fought was hard enough to accept, but this... Lacus was one of the few left to him that he thought he could trust. Her brteayal would destroy him.
"No, I am not collaborating with an enemy spy." Lacus told him, making Athrun silently breath a mental sigh of relief. "All I did was provide Kira with a new sword to fight with."
"How can you say that?" Athrun retorted, again aiming his gun at her, her statement bringing sorrowful memories into his mind. Why would she lie to him like that? What the hell was she talking about? Did she even know what happened on Earth several days earlier? "Kira's gone, Lacus! He was... I'd..."
"...Killed him with your own hands?" Lacus finished. Athrun froze, wondering how his fiancee knew what had happened between the two former friends on Earth. He had only told his father and that was in a debriefing report when he returned the day before.
"How did you..." Athrun started to asked, now more confused than ever.
"Before you say anymore, Athrun, Kira is still alive. He was brought to me by Reverend Malchio and had told me everything. That's how I knew about what you two had been through."
"You're lying!" Athrun told her, his hands starting to shake as he kept the metallic instrument of death pointed at her. He was somewhat familiar with the clergyman Lacus mentioned. He had run an orphanage for children whose parents were involved with the war or were victims of the recent colony drops. Yet he couldn't trust Lacus's words. He couldn't afford to have that leap of faith in her. He swallowed hard as he fought to keep his hand steady. The last thing he wanted was for the gun to accidentally fire. "Even if it were true, why would you give him a weapon just to fight against his own people again?"
"Kira changed his mind that day, Athrun, about what he was fighting for." Lacus said as she stood, staring back into his dark-green eyes. "He said that he now wanted to fight for what he believed in. He wanted to prevent the mistakes of the past wars, like the colony drops, from happening again because of selfish people in power. But what about you?" Her tone became almost accusing as she stepped closer to Athrun, unafraid of the weapon pointing at her. "What is it that you're you fighting for now? Is it those medals your father pins on you? For the recognition of being a good soldier?"
"Stop it..." Athrun told her, the words she said chipping into his resolve and wearing him down.
"If that's true," Lacus continued as she came closer, "then go ahead and pull the trigger. Then Kira would still be your enemy and so would I."
"Lacus, please..."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Do your duty as a soldier. Follow your father's orders instead of thinking for yourself, Athrun Zala of ZAFT."
Lacus was so close to him that the gun's barrel was buried in her stomach, a commanding look in her ocean-blue eyes. She knew that she was taking a serious gamble with her life now. If it were another person, she would be dead by now. But Athrun wasn't like that. His experience fighting Kira those many times had softened him, made him question himself and his beliefs about ZAFT and his father in general. Patrick Zala was a follower of Gherin Zabi's Zeon philosophies, odd rhetorics about the so-called superiority of those in space compared to Earth. It had made a madman out of him and a slave out of his own son. She wanted Athrun to break that chain, for her sake as well as his own.
Athrun turned away from her in defeat as he lowered his gun, tears beginning to run down his face as bitter realization settled in place of cold frustration. He was a pawn, nothing but a puppet to his father. He fooled himself into following orders, like a good soldier. He had fought and, if Lacus was correct, almost KILLED his friend because he was being a good soldier. He had betrayed everything his instincts told him was true because a good soldier.
"What have I done?" Athrun said quietly. "What... what am I going to do now? Kira... if he is alive, he'll never forgive me for this..."
Lacus touched the side of his face gently, soothing the lament out of him as he looked into her eyes. He was finally beginning to see the truth for himself. Maybe now he'll become the knight and defender she knew he could be.
"It's not too late." she told him gently. "You can still go to Earth and try to find him. Kira is still your friend, after all."
Athrun wanted to believe and trust her words this time, feeling a need to make amends for letting his friend and himself down throughout this war. For him, his own war with his own convictions was finally coming to an end. Suddenly, the door to the auditorium burst open as several armed guards entered. They were Patrick Zala's personal agents, government police who did nothing beyond what they were told.
"Good for you, Athrun Zala." one of them told the black-haired youth. "I see you've secured one of the rebellious Clynes. Your father would be very pleased with you."
His father...
Hearing those words, Athrun stepped protectively in front of Lacus and aimed his gun at them, having finally made a real independant choice. He wasn't going to let anyone pull his strings anymore. He would think for himself this time, not like a soldier who only followed orders from a tyrant.
"I suggest you stand aside, Athrun Zala, otherwise my men would be forced to end you life here and now."
"I'm not going to let them take you, Lacus." Athrun whispered, his stance unmoving so he could protect and shield her. "When I tell you to, I want you to be ready to move with me. Okay?"
Lacus nodded, willing to trust his judgement.
"This is your last warning." The guards then all aimed their guns at Athrun. "Release her to our custody, Athrun Zala, or we will remove you ourselves."
"Now!" Athrun grabbed his fiancee by the waist as the guards started shooting at them, keeping low as the two ducked behind some of the rubble in the ruined auditorium. He then fired some shots of his own with his good arm, since his other arm was in a sling from his injuries on Earth. Only one of the guards went down while the others kept firing at them. A different hail of bullets then began striking the guards, this time from a soldier across the stage. A look of relief swept over Lacus's soft features when she noticed a Clyne Faction symbol on his arm. This was one of her father's men.
"Miss Lacus!" the young man shouted to her and Athrun as two more soldiers joined him. "Your father sent us to protect you! We're here to help you escape!"
"Thank you so much!" Lacus replied as she and Athrun watched the young men strike down the last of the guards. Seigel Clyne was a man of much respect in the PLANT colonies, not because of his more infamous daughter. As a politician, he understood the many courses history had taken over the years. He and Patrick Zala were friends once but he hated the ZAFT leader's zealous views. They were on a destructive course for Armaggedeon and he wanted to stop it. Seigel also knew that Lacus was in danger, obviously, and sent some of his men to protect her.
"What will you do now, Athrun?" Lacus asked the black-haired boy, the two of them walking over to the Clyne Faction soldiers.
"I... I think I'll settle this my own way, Lacus." Athrun told her, an air of uneasy confident in his voice. "I'm supposed to go to Earth and retrieve the Freedom Gundam. After that... after that, I'll decide what to do." He needed time to resolve the dilemma before him, the problem of whether or not he would confront his father. Someday, he would eventually do that.
"I hope that you make a good decision this time." Lacus said, a smile of confidence gracing her beautiful face. She then leaned over and kissed his lips gently, something the two of them haven't done in several months. Athrun brought his hand up to his lips as she released him, a feeling of warmth passing through him from the touch of her soft lips against his. He never expected that, since the kisses they usually shared were out of common courtesy instead of romance.
"Goodbye, Athrun." Lacus said, joining the soldiers as they walked towards the rear exit. Athrun took one last look at the retreating form of his fiancee, his mind reflecting on the words she told him. As he began walking toward the opposite exit, he had already made up his mind about what to do once he got to Earth. He would find Kira and decide what to fight for.
"Goodbye, Lacus." Athrun muttered under his breath, the image of the pink-haired songstress still in his mind as he left the auditorium.