Okay, before we start the next chapters, I have a few things to say:

Jiang Mae: Thanks for the support! I'm sorry the chapters aren't that long so far…the ones with the action in them are coming up soon and yeah, they will get longer…but there will always be some short ones. Like this one, for example.By the way, I love your user name it's so pretty - what does it mean?

Haruka: Well, yeah, Kira didn't mean to kill Nicol, but Rin doesn't know that now does she? .

AnimeSisterz: Thanks for the comments! I love Nicol so of course I had to do a fic! .

So, yeah. Oh, and of course the disclaimer: Um…I don't own Gundam Seed…? (Or do I? evil music plays) No, I really don't. But I wish I did! Does that count? But yeah, I only own Rin. Sadly. Oh, well, on with the fic!

CHAPTER THREE – SUSPICIONS AND PIANO SHEETS

Rin caught up with the Le Creuset team the following day. She was welcomed onto their ship and the Destroyer was brought on board. She met her fellow teammates in the hallway that would lead her to her quarters. They were three boys. One had blond hair and purple eyes. Another had white hair with a scar running down his face. The third one had blue hair and green eyes, and a calm, slightly sad look about him. They introduced themselves as Dearka, Yzak, and Athrun.

"Well, this is a cute one," Dearka had commented before introducing himself. Rin had made no reply to that one, but she did give him a "look".

"I'm Rin," she said after they'd all introduced themselves. She didn't bother saluting, seeing as they hadn't saluted her. And she didn't say her last name. She didn't want them to recognize the last name and therefore realize her connection to their past teammate. Why she didn't want this, well, she kept those reasons to herself as well.

"So," Yzak said, "you must be pretty good for a girl if you've joined the war - more importantly, been assigned here. So just how good are you?"

Rin frowned. Yzak didn't seem to be too nice, and she disliked the fact that he seemed a bit prejudiced about women and mobile suits. "My mobile suit is called the Destroyer," she replied coolly, "so that should speak for itself."

Yzak gave a satisfied "Hmph" and walked away without another word. Dearka went with him. Judging by her first impressions, Yzak was a leader and Dearka was a follower. But what about the third one, Athrun? Well, the other two's departure left her alone with him.

Athrun seemed a bit uncomfortable. He was staring at her face. More precisely, her eyes. Rin realized quickly what was going on. He recognizes me, she thought. Then he spoke, "Uh, you should know that I'm the current commander for the team. Le Creuset sent us on our own." His tone indicated to her that he wasn't enjoying his position of commander, and would much rather give the position over to someone else. To top that off, she sensed regret in his voice.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she finally demanded, even though she'd promised herself to be polite instead of her usual loudmouthed self (which she hadn't been lately anyways, considering the recent events).

Athrun sighed. He seemed to be searching for the right words to say. Then he said, his voice breaking slightly, "We…there was another member of this team, before you. He…he was…"

Suddenly, Rin knew exactly what he was trying to get across, and it hit her hard. "He was killed by the Strike," she finished for him, speaking in a toneless voice and sighing a bit herself. She added, "I know, I heard already from someone else." She didn't want to tell him that she was Nicol's sister. That was informationhe didn't need to know. "And such events reflect badly on the commander, do they not?"

Athrun stared at her, surprised, and she could tell he felt terrible. That had definitely hurt his feelings. But this was a war. Commanders lost soldiers all the time. There was no need to regret decisions or let feelings get in the way here. There was no time for mistakes. At least, that's what every soldier was taught, Rin included. And yet Athrun seemed sad at the loss of a teammate, when Dearka and Yzak already seemed to havegotten over it. He'd have to get used to deaths, Rin thought. There's going to be much more of them before the war ends.

Rin brushed that comment aside. "Never mind, I really don't care about the details," she told him, and left him to go to her room to lay aside her knapsack. She called over her shoulder, "And it doesn't make me think bad of you." But in her head, she was saying, How could you allow my brother to be killed?

Once she reached herquarters, she realized that shewas going to have to share a room with the boys, even if she was a girl. And the bed shewas assignedno doubt belonged to Nicol before her. Rin sighed. Then she noticed something sticking out from Athrun's pillow. She picked it up and stared. Piano sheets. The same ones she was carrying with her now. Puzzle pieces fit themselves together in her mind. Nicol and Athrun must have been veryclose friends. So Athrun must know her pain, too. Perhaps she could tell him who she really was…but no one else. But not right away. She wasn't ready to have that kind of a conversation just yet.

Just then, the door began to open. Rin hurriedly shoved the sheets back where they came from and leaped onto her own bed. The door opened completely and Athrun walked in. Everything looked the same as the way it was before she entered, so he shouldn't have noticed a thing wrong. But...

"Hey," he said slowly. "Everything okay? I heard some sharp movements…"

She bit her lip. But she didn't admit to doing anything. "I was going through my stuff," Rin lied. "I was looking for something. But I found it. It's all good." She gave him a smile, the kind of smile that she'd always give in that kind of situation, only Athrun didn't know that. Instead, Athrun stared in surprise. "Something wrong?" she asked, her smile fading a little.

He shook his head, giving a small, casual smile back. The kindof smile that would brush a little idea aside, like he was doing now."You have an…interesting smile." Then he left again.

Rin stared after him in surprise. People had always told her when she was still living at home that she looked exactly like Nicol – same eyes, same smile…basically they could have passed for twins. That's why she dyed her hair electric blue and straightened it. It was daring and it made her look a bit less like Nicol. But even that couldn't mask all the resemblances.

Ah, well. Athrun didn't know yet. That's what counted.

She hadn't expected so many complications.