Disclaimer: not mine

A/n: I had a national exam to take okay. Actually, I'm sorry. Okay, really really sorry.

Recap:

Kira only stared dazedly, not seeing anything, 'I'm captured, but Athrun is with me. He will not hurt me. He will not leave me. He will not… right? No, no… people hurt me. Flay hurt me. No I don't want reality. I wanted to stay there. There! Not here, I didn't I die? I want to die. Then, nobody can hurt me!".

Stranded

Chapter 4

As Kira's condition stabilized, and he slept on, Athrun sat by Kira's side. The doctors were saying that it was a miracle that Kira survived, his heart had stopped for so long. But they had to keep an eye out for the POW's condition. He had been dead, so to speak, for more than 5 minutes, and even after the 3rd minute, brain cells would die without oxygen. There was a very high chance that Kira would be paralysed, or suffer memory loss. Even coordinators were not immune to such things.

Athrun stay there, watching over his friend. A small voice at the back of his head kept telling him that he had to meet Commander Creuset, but he ignored it. He could always make some excuse later. The soft beeps of the monitor were so comforting, they reassured Athrun that Kira was still awake.

Then the door to the infirmary slid open.

" Athrun," said a familiar voice that sounded annoyed. Athrun did not turn back. There was only one person that could be, and everything was secondary to him staying by Kira's side.

" Athrun!" barked Nichol. He walked right in front of Athrun's face and shock him. Sighing, the indigo-haired boy looked at Nicol in the eye. His emerald eyes were still glazed over as if in shock. Nicol wavered.

"Yes?"

Nichol sighed, " Athrun, why didn't you respond when the PA system requested for your attendance with Commander Creuset?"

"It's nothing…. I, just wanted to make sure that the prisoner was fine before I did that." Athrun said. His eyes slid back to glance at Kira before turning back to face him. Nicol put a hand on his hip.

"Now he's fine, let's go."

"No!" then he paused as if embarrassed by the outburst, recomposed himself and said, " I mean, the POW is not stabilized yet, I'll go later."

Nicol narrowed his eyes. Athrun was making excuses; he just wanted to stay with the POW. Nichol fidgeted uneasily. His mouth itched to ask him what was the POW to him, why was Athrun so concerned about him anyway? Athrun definitely knew him.

"Athrun, I want you to tell me honestly, why are you behaving this way?"

Athrun started. He stammered, "I... That… what do you mean by that?"

He was definitely not behaving like himself. After knowing the other by for more than a year, Nicol could anticipate the kind of tone Athrun could use. This was definitely not the normal Athrun. He would normally quickly make up a credible excuse. He did not show any sign of weakness so easily, especially not after he tried so hard to hide it. The POW had opened Athrun up so easily; he must've been somebody significant.

"Who is he? You're not behaving yourself."

Athrun hesitated. He looked on the floor guiltily, "I'll go see commander Creuset now." He said quickly and he got up from his chair by the bed. Nichol put a hand on Athrun's shoulder.

"It is a secret isn't it? You just don't want to tell me. Well, you don't have to. I can see than this person is important to you. I'll take care of him, you can go see Commander Creuset. I'll send a message to you if anything cropped up."

Athrun clearly didn't want that. He wanted to be the one Kira woke up to in this foreign place. 'My loyalty lies with you, Kira, I may not always be on your side, but I'll always be your friend.' But he didn't want commander Creuset to suspect anything.

"I'll go. I'll see what he wants, and then I'll return very quickly. Please message me if anything, anything at all changes in the status quo."

Nicol nodded solemnly and waved goodbye as Athrun walked out of the room. He saw the small crease that decorated Athrun's forehead, and the longing gaze that Athrun had for Kira. ' who are you?' he thought.

There were beads of sweat at his brow; Nicol very gently wiped the sweat off with a tissue. The pilot of Strike still turned his head in uneasy sleep. ' Athrun… Athrun…' he would utter every few minutes as if sensing the absence of the aforementioned friend.

"I'll be going off to PLANT soon."

"PLANT won't be having a war would it?"

"Yes. And then you'll join me on PLANT won't you?"

… And just like that, Athrun was gone. Kira didn't want Athrun to leave! He wanted to go with Athrun to PLANT right then. Athrun was his only friend on the moon. The moon was a primarily Natural-Dominated place, and coordinators were ostracised there. Kira was, before he met Athrun. He had been bullied in school. His friends called him 'freak'. Kira could still remember the first time they met.

Then Athrun came along. He saw him crying.

"Why are you crying?" Kira wiped his tears on the sleeve of his blue jacket. His eyes were red and his nose was swollen. Kira remembered that Athrun's Green eyes were filled with curiousity.

"I'm not!" Kira said defensively.

"You are! Your eyes are puffy, you are crying." Athrun said matter-of-factly. Kira's already red face flushed further.

"Leave me alone!" Kira shot. He felt ashamed now, re-living that moment. He had been so rude then. Athrun was unaffected. He smiled warmly at Kira.

"What's your name?"

"What's it to you?"

"My name is Athrun." Athrun had said then, ignoring Kira's words. He remained unfaltering at the face of Kira. His mother always told him, "People always say what they don't mean when they're angry. You must not take things to heart."

Kira's violet eyes flashed, he stood up angrily and left the playground. That night, Kira dream of the strange boy that had been friendly. ' Athrun… I don't think I'll every see him again."

He didn't see Athrun for a while after that. And he continued being bullied by the Naturals in his school. The next time he met Athrun again was a few months later. Athrun had only been there on holiday during the first time they met. The second, was when he stayed there for a few years, it was also when they became the best of friends.

Kira continued, unconscious in sleep, his dreams seemed uneasy. Nicol murmured reassuring words. He wanted to fulfil his promise to Athrun to take care of his friend.

Then an orderly walked in.

"I have had orders from Commander Creuset to transfer the POW to a hospital."

Nicol's eyes widened. What was he to do now? And Athrun wasn't back yet, and the crew members of the ship had not been given permission to disembark yet.

"Can you hold on for a while? This POW has been my responsibility. May I see the order?" Nicol said quickly, trying to stall for more time. The orderly looked annoyed, he reached for something in the pocket of his coat and took a palmtop out. He keyed some things in and offered it for Nicol to look.

Nichol looked at the electronic order. It was indeed Commander Creuset's signature at the bottom. There were instructions to bring the Strike's Pilot to a hospital address that Nicol didn't know.

"Are you going to be the only person bringing him there?"

"Yes." The man looked more and more annoyed. He eyed the red ZAFT uniform with distaste. The young boy outranked him.

"Hold on, I have to make a call." Nicol said. His heart beat quickly as he keyed in Commander Creuset's phone number. The phone rang for a long while before anybody picked it up. He saw the orderly start tapping his foot impatiently.

" Commander Creuset? You gave instructions for the POW to be sent to a local hospital? …yes... Oh, but then, I'm afraid that one person is not enough. There may be a chance that the POW regains consciousness during the journey to the hospital. He may not be able to handle it… yes, okay, I understand. Thank you."

Nicol heaved a sigh of relief. He typed a massage to Athrun's handphone. And told the orderly that he would be escorting the POW to the hospital. He watched silently, worriedly as the man single-handedly moved the bed and everything. Nicol was impressed.

As the two of them left the ship, he received a message from Athrun.

' Thank you very much, Nicol.'

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End of chapter 4

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A/N: about the handphone, I thought, since Shin could carry Maya's handphone with him, ZAFT must allow handphones to be brought, just not used, since we don't' see him actually use it. As to why Athrun can massage back to Nicol, please look out on the nest chapter. And more flashbacks will be coming. I will be revealing more about their 'past' ( of course it isn't really true, it's fiction afterall.)