Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

The New Coordinate

Story:
AU of GSD. Xander Darklighter, a pilot with attitude problem was just assigned to Minerva when three new mobile suits were stolen from Armory One. What will happen when he decided to take that path in front of him?

Notes:
Thanx for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!

I don't own GSD, their characters or anything else aside from Xander Darklighter, Claire Whitestar and Yvonne Norman.

Chapter 14: First Kiss

It was almost dark in Banidiya. Lead by Yvonne, Xander and Jess arrived at a small encampment around the outskirts of Banidiya. After they had landed, an older man walked up towards Yvonne.

"Anything I can do for you, Miss Yvonne?"

"Yes. I want you to inform the others that these two here are my guests. I don't want to see any fights around here. And please prepare some refreshment for us. One more thing, dispatch a mechanic to fix up my unit."

"Right away, Miss Yvonne." With that, the man left to perform his tasks. Yvonne turned to Xander and Jess. She then took off her helmet to reveal a stunningly beautiful face. Coupled with a pair of dark brown eyes and a long, black hair, she truly represents the term dark beauty.

"I see you've grown your hair. Tired of being a tomboy?" Xander teased. Yvonne glared at him sharply and turned around.

"Follow me. Let's talk in my tent."

As Xander and Jess followed Yvonne, the two noticed many eyes were staring at them. Most of them came from the male sets of group. Xander nudged Jess. "Uh, can you tell me what's happening?"

Jess grinned. "Well, it's a normal thing when this kinda thing happens. After all, Yvonne is beautiful. And she is bound to have some sort of fan club among her group."

"I see. I never encounter this when we met a while back."

"Bear with it. Like me, you are now a marked man." Jess said with a relaxing tone in his voice.

"I'm supposed to be happy about it?"

Inside Yvonne's tent, the three were catching up on the latest development about the tension between the Alliance and PLANT.

"So Yvonne. I don't get it. You're with the Alliance, right? Why in the hell did you supply Jess all the infos?" Xander asked after having a taste of tea made by Yvonne's servant.

"I only supply the infos because Jess wants exclusive pictures of the battles." she replied.

"Haha. Now that you're part of the group, your participation in battles makes my work easier." Jess added.

Xander glanced at him. "What, because of me getting into the thick of everything?"

Yvonne turned to Xander. "You're not with ZAFT anymore?" she asked.

Xander nods. "Yeah. I declared myself M.I.A. after the things happened at Orb. Jess here pulled me out of fire and I joined him just to even the score."

"I see. Where's your girlfriend? She's not coming with you?"

Xander looked away when he was asked about it. "Claire, she...perished at Jachin Due..."

Jess and Yvonne grew silent and the atmosphere became gloomy. Xander stood up and left.

"You switched on the wrong button there..." Jess said.

"How am I supposed to know?" Yvonne defended herself. "But if you ever see him in his berserk mode, you probably think that Xander doesn't have emotion."

Jess raised his eyebrows. "Berserk? You mean Xander is the White Berserker the Alliance had been saying?"

Yvonne nods. "Yes he is. I'm not clear on the details but the Dark Crimson somehow messed up a mission on assassinating a top EA brass and was surrounded by EA troops with no chance of escaping. To make matters worse, a member was dying and in need of medical attention. The leader, Claire Whitestar was thinking of giving up but Xander, as the one that survived the onslaught said, had his eyes turned white and he murdered almost all the troops within the area. Some said that he moved like a phantom and his method of killing was beyond any normal human capable of."

"Whoa. Was it that gory?"

"Actually, it's not. The survivors said their comrades died because of internal bleeding. How did he do it, we never know."

Xander was lying on the sand, staring at the night sky as he remembered Claire and this place. This is the place where they shared their first kiss. It was two years ago, when the war was heating up between Earth and PLANT.

A voice called him from behind. "Xander."

"Oh, Chief. What's up?"

"Can I seat here?"

"Sure, sure. Please do."

Claire sat down next to him and stared at the night sky.

"I love staring at the stars. And the full moon."

"You do? Same here."

Claire chuckled. "You know, we share a lot of things in common but we end up arguing each other during a mission. Why's that?"

He smiled. "I don't know. Maybe I hate following procedures?"

Claire smiled back at him. "Ah, so that's why."

"Yup."

"To tell the truth, I envy your laidback attitude. Doing things at your own pace. I wish I can do that."

"Chief, you can always do that anytime you want."

"I'll try. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Fire away."

"Why did you join ZAFT?"

Xander paused then replied. "I just want to show my parents that I can live on independantly without their money. Besides, where's the fun in living in a country that is neutral in everything?"

"Your parents. Did they approve this?"

"No. Of course not. They work closely with the Orb government after all. And my dad even denounced me as his son. He probably think of me as good riddance."

"I'm sorry to hear that..."

"Hey, it's alright, Chief. I had a lot of fun ever since I joined ZAFT. To be with the guys like Athrun, Nicol, Yzak, Dearka, Miguel and Rusty is one of my best times here. And of course being with you and the Dark Crimson as well."

"I see. I was thinking of going to college, get a degree and maybe get married. But when I saw what happened to Junius Seven, I felt like I have the power to make things right again. So I..."

Xander saw the tears formed in her eyes. "Did you...lost someone at Junius Seven?"

"I lost my family..." she replied, sobbing.

Suddenly, Claire threw herself at him, crying hard on his chest. "Chief?"

"Why? Why does it have to happen? Why? Xander, tell me why?"

Xander stroked her long, wavy hair. "Chief..." Claire looked up at him. Xander wiped the tears off her cheek.

"It's alright. I'll always be with you. No matter what."

Claire blushed by the remark. She then leaned in closer to his face. "Oh, Xander. I..."

"Uh, I..? Whoa!"

Without warning, Claire kissed him. It took a few moments for Xander to realize the feelings they had for each other. Then, he accepted the kiss and wrapped his arms around her. Claire pulled away, with a smile on her face.

"I love you, Xander Darklighter."

Xander smiled. "Yeah. I love you too, Claire Whitestar. But you have to know one thing."

"What is it?"

"I'm three years younger than you."

Claire grinned on that statement and placed her head on his chest. "Let the others think what they want. I don't care about it."

Xander laughed. "And I thought I'm the only one that have the 'I don't care' attitude."

(Ah, Claire. I missed those days...)

"Hey Xander."

He turned around to see Yvonne standing beside him and took a seat. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Xander shook his head. "It's okay, Yvonne. I moved on but every time I remember it, my heart hurts so much that I wish I died back there." He said as he looked up at the full moon.

"Xander..."

Xander turned to her. "So, when do you want to have our overdue duel?"

Yvonne smiled and brought her face close to him. This had cause Xander gasping for breath. "Yvonne, what are you..."

Before he could finish, Yvonne pinched his nose lightly. "Your defeat will come, Darklighter. Enjoy your victory while you can."

With that, she got up and left, leaving Xander red with embarrassment. "Hey, what's that for?" he shouted. Then, he smiled. "Oh well..."

To Be Continued...