Azumi woke up to find herself boiling under a considerable pile of blankets, a damp cloth on her forehead, a bandage wrapped tightly around her injured arm, hands still tied behind her back, and a sleeping La Fllaga snoring lightly on a chair next to her bed. Upon further examination of herself, she discovered that her space suit was gone and she was dressed in her t-shirt and a pair of white men's trousers she recognised as the ones worn by male EA soldiers. She strained her mind to remember how she had gotten in this position, and soon flashes of the previous day lifted the haze of sleep. She briefly saw her arm being treated, before the image was replaced with flashes of La Fllaga bending over her with cold compresses, medicine, and those damned blankets.

Kicking the offending layers of fabric off, Azumi sat up and took in the room around her. It was obviously an unused crewmember's room. It contained a sink, a bed she currently occupied, a small bedside table, and the chair containing La Fllaga's slumped form. Nothing else catching her interest, the Coordinator turned her attention towards the man. His chest rose and fell rhythmically. She felt the urge to cover him with one of her blankets, but the restrained state of her hands prevented her from doing so.

'He looks so peaceful.' she couldn't help but think. 'Too bad I'll have to wake him up.'

Normally, she would have let him sleep, but there were certain pressing matters she needed to attend to immediately. Realising she didn't even know the man's first name, she called him by his last.

"La Fllaga… La Fllaga... La Fllaga! Hey, La Fllaga, wake up! Wake up, damn it! God, I wish I could poke you! Damn these ropes to the Seven Circles of Hell!" After calling his name several more times, the MA pilot's eyes finally fluttered open and he cast Azumi a dazed look.

"Huh… Oh, you're awake." Mwu stated intelligently. Not receiving a reply from Azumi, he stood up, stretching and looked down at her. "How's your arm?"

"Fine, apart for the fact that it's been attached to my other arm for the better part of the last 24 hours." Azumi stated, attempting a shrug.

"Heh, sorry about that, but it can't be helped. So, I suppose that since we seem to be on a last-name basis now, I should call you Starford." The Coordinator's steady gaze was making Mwu rather uncomfortable.

"You can, though I prefer Azumi. I can call you something else if you want me to. Oh, and thanks for taking care of me last night." Azumi found herself unable to control the speed of her words as they rushed out of her mouth. For all she knew, this guy could have been the one that changed her out of her space suit, a concept she wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"Mwu. You can call me Mwu. And you're welcome. So… umm, is there something you need?" It seemed like the only logical thing to ask at this point.

Azumi nodded, the pressing matters previously mentioned returning to her mind. "I need to use the washroom. And some food would be nice." Her stomach gurgled its agreement.

After spending a rather awkward fifteen minutes trying to convince Mwu that she wasn't comfortable with him coming in the bathroom with her and he would just have to untie her and stand guard outside the door, Azumi had been brought a tray of breakfast. Mwu had, of course, been forced to feed the Coordinator, having refused to untie her a second time.

At some point, a doctor came in the room to check on Azumi's wound and change the bandages if necessary.

"It's healing pretty fast. Then again, having your genes altered does have quite a few advantages." he told Mwu, completely ignoring the patient in question. This naturally angered Azumi, and she spat a few angry words at the man, before being reprimanded by Mwu. The doctor cast a triumphant glance at Azumi, as he concluded, "You know, she'd be pretty cute if she wasn't a Coordinator."

A low growl escaped the girl's throat. That remark had been too much. "What are you, an x-ray? What do my looks have to do with my genes? It's because of people like you, who can't see that both Coordinators and Naturals are human, that there's a war!"

The doctor looked ready to argue, but Mwu pushed him gently out the door, before returning to his chair. He cast a sidelong glance at Azumi and found himself agreeing with her.

"Why did you join ZAFT?" The question surprised Azumi. 'Why would he care?'

"I guess I wanted to defend the Homeland. Besides, we Coordinators deserve freedom too, and the way the Atlantic Federation was riding us, not letting us produce our own food, it didn't look like we'd get it peacefully anytime soon. The Atlantic Federation started it anyways; we retaliated. It's not like we enjoy going to war!" Anger flushed Azumi's face slightly as she spoke.

"I wasn't implying that you do. I was just wondering why you'd join. What you said before, about Coordinators and Naturals both being human, it sounds like you don't really like fighting. Am I right?"

"Yeah, but I do fight, because I have to. I joined after my mother was killed in a Blue Cosmos attack on the PLANTs. She was a civilian, but they murdered her anyway. My father had already died protecting the Homeland, so I was left alone, just because these people can't accept us as human beings. I don't want anyone else to go through that. Coordinators were created by Naturals, in a way, anyways. I don't think I should be ashamed of who I am, just because it's not 'natural'." Somehow, telling all this to Mwu was calming Azumi down. She felt a knot being twisted in her throat, but it eased at his words.

"I don't think you should be either, Azumi." Kindness was all she could read behind the phrase. The Coordinator was startled to find herself seeking this man's approval. Shaking herself inwardly, she ventured, "So, why did you join?"

Mwu looked lost in though for a moment. "Well, I wanted to protect my home too. I hate the idea of having to fight for peace, but I feel obliged to help any way I can."

"I think those are pretty good reasons, Mwu." The look in Azumi's eyes was sincere, so the MA pilot continued.

"Heh! I'd like to say those were my only reasons, but I guess my father had some influence in my decision too. He always expected so much of me and he was a real war legend. I guess some part of me wanted to please him by joining the EA, though even that didn't seem to satisfy him much. I was just never good enough." Sorrow clouded Mwu's vision for a moment, as he remembered the disappointed looks his father used to give him.

"I'd put a comforting hand on your shoulder, but my present circumstances are preventing that. Anyways, you're a great pilot and you're really the nicest person on this ship, so far. You shouldn't torment yourself over others' expectations of you. The only expectations that matter, really, are your own." A warm smile graced Azumi's face as she spoke.

Mwu was about to answer when a familiar alarm sounded, followed shortly by words he certainly wouldn't regret never hearing again.

"Approaching enemy vessels. All hands to level one battle stations. I repeat, all hands to level one battle stations."

Author's note: Wow, people are actually reading this thing and liking it, and it's not just like my mom or something. I'm quite surprised. Actually, my mom's not really reading it, because she doesn't know what Gundam SEED is, but that's beside the point. Anyways, sorry about the short chapters. I guess it's just how my inspiration comes: in brief bursts of brilliance. Haha, but seriously, I'll try to write them longer, but I can't promise anything since they're already pretty mapped-out in my mind. If things go according to plan, there should be 9 chapters in total. I won't write a lemon, because that would be pretty hypocritical of me (heh, you figure it out), but I will attempt a little lime later on. I know this chapter was a little boring, but they had to get to know eachother at some point. Anyways, the next one will be more interesting. Until next time, and hey, keep up the compliments, because it's not like I'm getting paid or anything. xD