Author's Notes: This was originally written for LJ comm seed(underscore)fic(underscore)test, where the theme was "Lost in the Rain" but I'm also using it for one of the 20 DeaYza themes
Title: Weathering the Storm.
Theme: #2 - Storm
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Angst/Introspective/Romance
Pairings: Yzak/Dearka, Kira/Lacus, mention of Athrun/Cagalli
Word Count: 3,384
Summary: In our lives there is bound to come some pain, surely as there are storms and falling rain; just believe that the one who holds the storms will bring the sun.
We have something here for you. If it isn't too much of a problem, please come pick it up. The coordinates for our location are attached and I trust you will act wisely.
– Lacus Clyne.
Yzak glared at the message one last time before maneuvering into the Zaku cockpit. He'd told the council that he had to take leave to retrieve something lost on Earth during one of the war's battles. It seemed like a good enough excuse, and they'd granted him leave time and a transport to get his Zaku there.
The truth of the matter was he didn't have a damned clue what he was picking up. Clyne and the Archangel had simply disappeared after the war; and aside from a few rumors about Orb rebuilding Onogoro Island, even that part of the three-ship alliance was unaccounted for.
But even when Patrick Zala had declared her a traitor, Yzak just couldn't see Lacus being a threat in the least. If anything, he was more apt to agree with his mother on the matter, that perhaps Clyne's peace-loving fans were using her to forward their agendas.
At least, that was his belief until he actually encountered her and the Archangel. Without their intervention, PLANT would have been destroyed by the nuclear attacks and ZAFT, in turn, would have destroyed the Earth with GENESIS.
So even though the request did seem a bid odd, Yzak decided that the exact specifics of his descent to Earth didn't need to be known. It was still possible that there were people in ZAFT wanting to find the missing pop-idol. At least until he found out why she'd asked him to come, Yzak decided to keep the meeting a secret.
Just to be safe, he had the transport drop him off over the Pacific Ocean. And once he was certain he wasn't being tracked- the former Duel pilot set out for the coordinates he'd been given.
As he neared the location, a light rain began outside; its midday mist curtaining the sky in a dreary haze. There was something about the rain that unsettled him, a bitter nostalgia pooling in the recesses of his mind. Then it dawned on him- the reason the islands and sea below looked so familiar.
"This place is…"
He brought the Zaku to an abrupt stop, hovering over the water's surface.
To anyone else the area would seem normal, just the usual stretch of ocean with the outcroppings of islands around. But to Yzak, he was treading into a graveyard. Just like that day months before- mist was cloaking the area and the last traces of a destroyed black mobile suit still lay on the ground.
"This is where… we lost him," He murmured, hands clutching the controls so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Slowly, almost reverently, he passed over; each place between there and his destination stirring up bitter memories of before.
The place where Nichol died. The place where Dearka and the Buster had gone down. The place where they'd lost the signal to Athrun's Aegis.
Each location was burned into his mind from those fateful days. It had been raining the morning after they'd lost Nichol, and storming the day Dearka and Athrun disappeared. The rain, the storm, it was symbolic Yzak concluded; just there to make up for all the unshed tears.
And now, months later, the rain had returned to mourn with him.
Shaking the depressing thoughts from his mind, Yzak tried to focus on the task at hand. Looking at the coordinates once more, he was surprised to see just how close it was to where the Aegis had gone down. He landed on the beach near the small house, and found that there was even mobile suit debris lying around.
Opening the cockpit, he lowered himself down, his eyes noticing two figures approaching from the nearby house to greet him.
Lacus Clyne and… Yzak blinked, not believing the one with her.
"It's him. Kira Yamato…he's here!"
"Well hello, Mr. Jule. I'm so glad you came. We had a few doubters amongst us."
Shooting another suspicious gaze towards Kira, Yzak shrugged.
"I almost didn't come, but I didn't have anything better to do. It's better than the council meetings."
Lacus laughed at that, her cheery attitude making even the dreary rain seem not so bleak.
"Oh yes, they can be rather boring sitting there with nothing to do. I know Pink-chan always had to interrupt."
"Haro. Haro. I won't accept that!" The small pink robot chirped as it floated beside her.
"Well I am here. So whatever it is that I'm supposed to pick up can be handed over now," Yzak muttered, still feeling rather awkward in Kira's midst.
He'd gone from blatant hatred and bitterness towards the young man, to a comfortable sense of confusion after Freedom had helped him during battle. But now, he wasn't quite sure how to act around him.
"Oh my, well… there's a bit of a problem there…." Lacus said, glancing back towards the house where a group of children watched from the porch, "The thing you were to pick up isn't here at the moment."
He wanted to be angry; he wanted to be furious for being drug out to these damnable islands for nothing! But with a single sheepish smile, the pink-haired woman erased all those violent urges from his mind to leave nothing but mild irritation.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Once again, he found that he couldn't decline a request from Lacus Clyne.
"If I'm stuck here, I might as well eat."
Clapping her hands together, she turned towards the house.
"Great. You can wait out on the porch with Kira, I'll be finished soon."
And without a second thought, he followed her up the hill.
What is it about this woman? It's no wonder her voice and songs were used to bring peace. A simple request from her and even I'm listening!
It was silent, save the rain falling on the rooftop; a silence that both irritated and pleased Yzak.
"You'll be glad you came, Yzak."
There goes the nice, quiet, non-talking… Yzak's mind flared.
"Did I say I wanted to talk?"
"No, but you really shouldn't be so irritable."
"Hmph. With this incessant rain I don't see how anyone couldn't be."
Kira gave a slight smile as he gazed out at the beach, "The rain is a good thing. It should put you at peace."
"I don't see anything good about it," Yzak muttered, crossing his arms.
"Rain brings about rebirth; a cleansing for the earth so that new life can grow. It washes away the days of war and allows peace to be born again."
The silver-haired man blinked, thrown by Kira's strange words and how eerily familiar they seemed.
Great. Now he's babbling nonsense. That or he's just…
"You've been around Lacus too long," He noted, sulkily sitting down on the porch steps.
Kira smiled gently and continued to look out at the ocean.
"Why do you hate the rain so?"
Yzak glanced up, fully intent on telling him to mind his own damned business; when he saw that same familiar look in his eyes.
Damnit. He's just like her. Two peas in a little pod.
"I just do, okay?" Yzak snapped back.
Kira's eyes softened and he moved to sit beside Yzak.
"I lost a friend to the rain once too…"
His voice was distant and thoughtful, almost as if he knew already why Yzak didn't like the rain.
"You lost….three right?"
Blue eyes widened in shock.
"How did you…"
"Nichol, it rained the morning after I killed him. The next time we fought, Dearka and Athrun both went down," Turning to offer a sad smile, Kira looked over at Yzak, "You were left alone on your team then, weren't you?"
Yzak quickly diverted his eyes away, but muttered a reply nonetheless.
"I lost them all to the rain."
A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, and it fell into a reverent silence between the two.
Finally, after awhile, Kira spoke again.
"I'm sure if we could do it all again, I wouldn't have killed Nichol. And Athrun…he wouldn't have killed Tolle. But we don't have that option, now- we can only work towards the future and hope that it can remain at time in which no one has to needlessly die."
"You sound so optimistic."
He stood then, brushing off his black pants.
"Dwelling on the past won't help either of us move forward. And all of those who were lost would be sad if we became dead on the inside. That's why- we must keep living."
"Kira? Mr. Jule? I'm sorry to interrupt your talk, but dinner is ready to be eaten."
The two young men looked up as Lacus stood in the doorway.
"We wouldn't want it to get cold, now would we?"
The long wooden table was surrounded by young children on all sides. Reverend Malchio, Yzak recognized from negotiations in the past. And the purple haired woman, seemed to be Kira's mother. Sitting down beside Lacus, Yzak couldn't help but feel out of place. The rest seemed like a big family, and here he was- the lone intruder on their meal.
"I do hope it's something everyone likes, it is a new recipe," The young woman spoke up, walking around and dishing out the soup.
Once again glancing about the table he sat at, Yzak noticed a young boy staring at him.
"Hey, why are you still part of a stupid group like ZAFT?" The child piped up.
Luckily for Yzak, Lacus intervened.
"People like Mr. Jule are the ones making ZAFT a good place to be. Isn't that right?"
She looked up, her eyes locking with Yzak's as she smiled gently.
"Uh…"
"A young soul who has lived through the tragedies of war would never let such wars tarnish the next generation," Kira added.
He frowned at that; Lacus had indeed rubbed off on Kira. But Yzak found that the brown-haired man before him was someone he just couldn't bring himself to hate anymore.
Strike, Freedom- whatever pilot he was. He could understand him now. And that understanding wasn't something Yzak could share with the other council members or the new recruits back on the PLANTs. They were the same deep down- two young pilots who were lost and needed a guiding light.
For Kira, that ray of light in the storm was none other than Lacus Clyne. For Yzak, most would say there was no light in his life other than beating Athrun at anything and everything that came his way.
"Everyone can find a path to peace and happiness in their hearts if they allow themselves to follow it. Soon, the storm will be over and things will be clearer for you."
Another rumble of thunder outside left Yzak wondering which storm it was Lacus spoke of. While the one outside didn't seem likely, the one raging inside seemed to show no sign of stopping soon.
He'd been lost in that storm since that day months ago.
The already dark, stormy sky grew darker as night fell upon the earth. And much to Yzak's chagrin, whatever it was he was supposed to pick up- still wasn't there.
"I'm really sorry that you're being delayed like this, Mr. Jule. They must have just gotten held up due to this patch of rainy weather. But, I have prepared a bed for you to stay in until morning, I'm certain that they'll be back by then," Lacus explained, the pink Haro rolling on the ground beside her.
By this point, Yzak was tired; torn most of the evening between being irritated and the inability to get too mad at any of the house's residents. The thought of a good nights rest- even on rainy, dreary, Earth- was appealing to say the least.
"Whatever this is better be damn well worth it…" He'd muttered as he headed into the guest bedroom they'd set up.
Behind his back, Kira and Lacus exchanged a knowing smile.
The storm was raging outside, winds whipping at the trees and rain beating down on the landscape. Lacus stirred awake on hearing a few children fussing, scared by the racket outside.
Once the children seemed calm enough, she slowly navigated the hallways to check on their guest. Opening his door quietly, Lacus peered in at the silver-haired man.
"The storm seems to be upsetting him as well…" She murmured to herself on noticing him toss and turn in his sleep, "Hopefully, it will pass like the one outside."
The memories were fresh, each event seeming as if it was only the day before. And that's what made the rain and standing in this place all the more painful for him.
It was almost as if he was reliving it all again- that maybe it was everything since that day that had been a dream.
And the storm raged on.
The dark night after they'd lost Nichol, his knuckles bloody after punching the wall in frustration. If Dearka hadn't been there, who knows what he might have done. Yzak didn't want to think about that, but soon he'd have to.
He'd crashed down onto an island himself, Strike's attack rendering the Duel helpless and stranded. Yzak remembered those last few words with Dearka and regretted them everyday.
"Dearka, get your ass over here and help me out. I'm stuck in the goddamn trees."
"Just a second, Yzak. I'm bu…Shit…"
Then the communication line went dead, as the Buster's signal went out. Yzak couldn't see what had happened, but all he knew was where Buster went down was right by where the Sky Grasper had just fired.
"Dearka? Dearka- damnit, you'd better be alive you ass!"
He cursed; tears he would never admit were there welling in his eyes. It already looked as if the legged-ship was sending out someone to recover the Buster, but those efforts all halted at the same moment a large explosion erupted.
Aegis's signal was now…also gone.
Yzak wasn't sure what happened after that, from the moment the ZAFT soldiers picked him up along with Duel until the murmurs that Dearka was possibly taken as a live-hostage, everything was a blur of anger and sadness.
But even after that small ray of hope, things didn't improve. The storm outside might have ended, but the one inside was only beginning. It was a sick game, Yzak concluded. The is he/he isn't alive question always nagging him in the back of his mind.
The term MIA didn't give a damn about that tiny bit of hope, and Yzak was given the orders to clean out Dearka's belongings and place them in a box.
Inside, the rain never stopped. And even though he remained firm and tough on the outside- he was constantly torn on the inside. Rain to express his anguish, thunder and lightening to express his anger.
That storm rose to a tempest months later when he encountered the Buster in battle. How dare someone else use Dearka's unit, he'd fumed. But in the end, he wished it was just some nameless natural soldier and not the one who was inside.
He was happy and furious at the same time. He felt ecstatic and betrayed in the same moment. How could one stupid golden-haired man put him through so much hell then dare to fight for the other side!
Yzak wouldn't- no couldn't- pull the trigger. Instead, he just walked away and didn't turn back.
It had been months, the last time they'd met being a brief encounter after the fall of Jachin Due. Yzak understood Dearka's change of sides, but he still couldn't stay on the Archangel with him. The storm hadn't subsided enough yet for him to see past his anger at them for causing him so much pain.
He was selfish, that much was true. But usually Dearka would be there to agree with his standpoint. This time, he was facing life alone.
And so, the storm never stopped for it had no one to bring the sun back. It was simple as that, Yzak concluded, and in sleep he now wondered if perhaps he could find the sun on his own.
There was someone with him; Yzak noted as he slowly awoke from his slumber. He wasn't sure who, his senses still groggy and exhausted from the bitter memories that he'd dreamt the night before, but he could feel someone's fingers gently stroking his hair and humming to themselves.
Shifting slightly and muttering incoherent thoughts under his breath, Yzak rolled in the direction of the touch.
"Oh, so now you're awake? Jeez, Yzak. If I knew you'd be this helpless and lazy without me, I would have stuck around."
That voice… Yzak's eyes shot open and he slowly brought the golden-haired figure into focus.
"D-Dearka?"
"He remembers my name, it's a miracle! And you try to pretend that you're such a cold-hearted person. You missed me, didn't you?"
Yzak sat up, rubbing at his eyes and trying to make sure that he was indeed awake.
"Look, I know I'm a dream-come-true, but you're wide awake so calm down. I'm really here, Yzak."
Dearka's warm hands settled on Yzak's shoulders as he looked him square in the eyes.
"I want to go back, so I had Lacus ask you to pick me up."
"Go…back?" He murmured, everything happening too fast for his half-asleep brain to process it.
"To ZAFT. You're on the council now, right? I was thinking that perhaps you could cover my ass. Truth be told, I wouldn't have minded the PLANTs and home after the war was over but I didn't dare set foot there since it probably got out that I deserted and I really needed to relax some before dealing with that mess. But when I overheard that you were on the council, I figured that's my free-ticket back in. So whatdaya say?"
Rubbing at his temples in hopes it would help the information sink in faster, Yzak frowned.
"Dearka…"
"W-What?"
Reaching up and forcefully grabbing Dearka by his shirt-front, Yzak pressed a forceful kiss to the other man's lips.
Dearka… you're coming back. Thank you.
Pulling away, Yzak scowled.
"You idiot! Since when is it my job to cover your ass? You're the one who got into that mess, it's not my fault you went and deserted ZAFT. Then again, maybe if you tell everyone that it was all Athrun's doing, since even I know he's gotten involved with that girl in charge of Orb, then they can just shrug it off at Athrun's stupidity and not be able to get mad at you at all."
Dearka smiled at the retort, shaking his head.
That's Yzak for ya. Still the same loveable guy from before.
"What are you gawking at? And where were you anyways?"
"Well, funny you should ask that- because I happened to be with Athrun and Cagalli. We'd gone to get supplies for Kira, Lacus and the kids when the storm came up."
"Next time don't ask me to come if you're not here and waiting, got that?"
Knowing that if he didn't make the move, Yzak wouldn't; Dearka reached out and pulled the silver-haired man into an embrace.
"I missed you too, Yzak," He murmured, saying the words he knew Yzak wouldn't right away.
"Well… I guess it was sorta lonely without you around," Yzak relented, resting his head against Dearka's chest.
"Sorta?" Dearka asked with a smirk.
"Okay- more than sorta…"
"How much more?"
"Dearka- don't push it."
"Aw, but I wanna know how much you missed me. You still love me, right?"
"Do you see me going around kissing people I hate?"
"No, but it'd be funny if you did."
"Dearka…"
Outside on the front porch, Kira looked up as Lacus walked out the door.
"It sounds like they're going to be fine," She said with a smile as Yzak and Dearka's playful bickering echoed from down the hall.
Kira nodded and smiled in return, his eyes looking up at the sky.
"The storm is over and now- new life can begin."
"Yes," Lacus replied leaning up against him, "a new life for everyone."