CE 74, July 6th
The doors on the other side opened, letting two men enter, one of them older and wearing a suit, the other much younger, taller and built, wearing simple cargo pants and a green t-shirt. "Miss Flay, so good of you to join us; this young man will be briefing you about the past activities of teams operating under level 9 clearances. His name is Kira Yamato."
Flay managed to keep her face impassive as Kira kept his cold look on his face. "Kira here is from a group that's been operation since March of CE 74. Miss Alster is one of our newest and best Vice Ministers; she handles a lot of the foreign things for the Alliance."
"Pleased to meet you Miss Alster." Kira said neutrally, firmly yet gently shaking her hand. "I think your partner has everything set up for your briefing, thought I'm not sure on his whereabouts."
Kira smiled. "Dearka was probably eager to get things started, and probably went to see how early Miss Alster could get here. He's a curious person, and probably exploring the White House, neither of us has been here before."
The older man smiled in return. "Well I guess there's no need for concern, unless you need him to help you with the briefing?" Kira shook his head. "I'd let him explore some more, I can handle the briefing."
"Then I shall leave you two. Good luck, Miss Alster." He left the room, closing the door tightly behind him. "If you'll take a seat, then we'll begin." Kira said, grabbing the remote for the projector. Flay stood standing, as if waiting for something expectantly. "Is this some kind of poor joke?" she asked finally.
Kira regarded her carefully. "No. President Delson wanted me and Dearka to brief people on the past activities of the teams operating with level 9 clearances, and I assumed that we'd be addressing a large group of people, not you alone." Flay looked unconvinced. "So of all the people operating in secret, you and Dearka were chosen to brief me."
"As I said, we assumed that the briefing would be for a large group of people. Nothing in the report said anything about who would be attending. This is as much of a surprise to you as it is to me."
Flay looked ready to say something else until she remembered what Miriallia had said to her before. Hear out his story entirely and then when you have all of the facts you can decide. She promptly took a seat and motioned for Kira to begin. Kira was a bit flabbergasted by her sudden mood change, but decided not to press the issue any further.
"On February 20th of the 73rd year in the Cosmic Era, the Republic Triad was founded. Over a year before, special ops teams were being trained by the best that ZAFT, Orb and the Earth Alliance could spare. After nearly two years of study, the first of the teams were ready to be put into service"
Kira showed slides of training classes and some of the instructors as he spoke. "The bulk of the new teams were shipped off to the PLANTs where they dealt with a group of renegade Coordinators who believed that the path former Supreme PLANT Chairman Patrick Zala took was the correct path for all Coordinators."
Pictures of prototype High Mobility type 2 GINNs were shown battling with Sword Daggers, GuAIZ and M1 Astrays. "They were stopped before they could carry out their plan to drop the remains of Junius 7 on Earth. Some of the units were shipped back to Earth to root out any ground-side terrorist groups."
"Nothing but rumors awaited those groups upon their return, rumors that none of their superiors would act on. One group took it upon themselves to safeguard the Triad's Valentine Ball, and while the rumors turned out to be true, it was considered an unsanctioned mission and buried deep inside the governments."
Flay knew Kira was talking about his team rescuing all of the delegates at that party, herself included. "The groups were officially commission by the Republic Triad in the month of March, and every mission that every team was assigned was being completed in a spectacular fashion."
"Terrorist activity on Earth had dropped nearly 10 during the first three months, but the special ops teams were not without their own losses. Some were outmaneuvered and outgunned, some were simply unprepared and others were betrayed." Kira almost snarled at the mention of betrayal.
"Betrayed by whom?" Flay asked, curious to know who in the Triad would do such a thing. "By the Supreme Commander of the Republic Triad Armed Forces."
There was a pause as Flay realized that the way Kira spoke that title meant it was his team that was betrayed by Yzak Joule. "What happened?" she asked her voice soft again.
Kira looked right at her. "He left my team alone, and came after me. Only me."
-
Flashback
What was that?' Kira wondered. He wandered through the dark house and stopped in the kitchen as the sound of boot steps was heard again. Barefoot and wearing only an old white t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants, Kira crept over to the cupboard and silently withdrew a large frying pan. The heavy steps neared the doorway and Kira stood ready, poised to act.
The intruder stepped around the corner and Kira swung with all of his considerable might, hitting his enemy square in the face. The man stepped back for a second, cursing in pain before raising his military-issue assault rifle. Kira swung the edge of the fry pan down, knocking the weapon out of his gloved hands. Starting another swing, the intruder grabbed Kira's wrists and twisted them painfully before bringing his knee up and the wrists down, sending the impromptu club flying.
Kira broke out of the wrist lock and threw a punch which was easily knocked aside. The intruder threw his own punch, hitting Kira in the jaw and stunned him enough that he delivered a powerful push-kick to Kira's chest. On his part, Kira hit the back wall of the kitchen with a thud and stood up straight in time to have the intruder stab a knife deep in his thigh.
Screaming in pain, Kira lashed out, only to have his hand caught and the knife in his leg cruelly twisted. Reaching past the extreme pain, Kira connected an uppercut to the man's jaw, sending him into a three-step retreat. Leaning on the wall for support, Kira pulled the knife out, biting his lip to hold in the scream. Shifting the bloodied weapon into an overhead two-handed swing, he swung down, only to have the intruder catch his arms. The man kicked Kira's injured leg savagely, sending him to the floor.
The intruder grabbed Kira's neck with one hand and lifted him a few feet off the ground. Kira's vision blurred as air no longer reached his lungs and blood no longer reached his brain. "Yzak!" a sharp voice called from behind them.
Thinking quickly, Yzak turned and threw Kira at Dearka, who was holding a gun. Kira collided with Dearka, knocking him off balance and allowing Yzak to jump through the window and escape.
-
Flay stared in horror as Kira finished recounting his story. To think that Yzak would hold a grudge against Kira after all this time, it was borderline preposterous. "Dearka moved me to the Orb safe house where I recovered and then met you again." He looked down for a second and then back up at her with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, for everything I've put you through, everything I've had to do without letting you know, it took me down one hell of guilt trip."
"And I'm sorry as well Kira, I shouldn't have flipped out on you like I've been doing lately." She stood up and walked around the table to hold one of Kira's hands. "Milly was right, I should have listened to the entire story before making a judgment."
Kira almost laughed. "That girl knows a little too much for her own good." He wrapped his arms around her waist and closed the small gap between them. "I really am sorry." Flay put her arms around his neck and brought their foreheads together. "I know you are, silly." And then they kissed.
Dearka was whistling a tune to himself as he opened the door to the conference room. He was informed that they were only going to be briefing one Vice Minister by the name of Flay Alster today, so he withheld that information from Kira, not knowing how the slightly younger Coordinator would react. He stopped the door as it was halfway open, listening to sounds that sure didn't sound like a briefing on Section 9 activities.
Peering in, he noticed a sight that he hadn't seen in a while. Closing the door gently, he resumed his whistling as he continued his tour of the White House.
>>>
CE 74, July 8th
Yzak surveyed the gathered men and women before him. Their numbers weren't large, only a handful to call the elite of the Sheila Antarres 1 Division. They were divided into three squads. Perhaps the most notable squad was the one led by Colonel Neo Lorrnoke, the commander of the 81st Independent Battalion, codenamed the Phantom Pain.
The masked Natural led three more Naturals, all of them very skilled, into battle with their donated mobile suits. Auel Neider, the Abyss, Stella Loussier, the Gaia and Sting Oakely the Chaos, all hand picked by Neo himself. The suits were donated by ZAFT as part of paying back the Alliance.
Yzak's own squad, the 32nd Cosmic Platoon, was personally led by the Supreme Commander into battle. His second-in-command was personally appointed by Gilbert Dullindal, forcing Yzak to keep his third team member at the rank of Lieutenant. Shiho Hanenfuss had been his second after their return into space during the Great War, and Yzak had lobbied hard to keep her as the second.
The final two men were perhaps the most dangerous; one of them was Sai Argyle, the now famous inventor and creator of the Argyle Institute, a place that developed plenty of weapons. The other was his old friend Kuzzey Buskirk, who obeyed every command to the letter, and he was rather good at carrying out certain tasks.
Combined together for the first time since Yzak had developed the idea of the Sheila Antarres 1 Division, they were all a force to be reckoned with, especially working together. Perhaps with them he would finally be able to rid himself of the one man he truly hated.
"Our quarry is a dangerous rogue, and has so far been able to elude all attempts to stop him. He is considered armed and very dangerous, but I want him alive. We need answers and we believe that he may possess them. His last known location was somewhere in Orb, but he's been known to jump locations frequently."
"I want him caught before the end of this month, and no later. I will not let one man endanger the well-being of our fragile government, not after all everyone has suffered and lost."
They all saluted, knowing better than to openly raise their doubts about their current mission. Yzak kept the details ambiguous on purpose, knowing that while one squad would take great delight in hunting the so-called fugitive, another squad would have some qualms with their target.
Doubts he could not afford. Kira Yamato had to die, that was for certain.
>>>
CE 74, July 10th
"Hurry Miriallia, they'll be here any minute now!" Flay said frantically, setting forks and knives at four places along the table in her apartment. Miriallia was putting out the cups and napkins, looking back and forth between the kitchen and the door. They, of course, referred to Kira and Dearka, both of them finally free for a night to spend with friends.
As it turned out, the Section 9 briefings took just over a month to complete. Five of the Alliance's Vice Ministers, Flay included, had been briefed on nearly all of Section 9 and the past activities and possible future operations, background and the personnel operating within the Section. Flay had been amazed to learn much of the past two years of Kira's life, from training to some of the daring and risky operations they had carried out.
Dearka had confronted her after the second day of her briefing, alone. He had wanted to know how Kira was taking it since the other Coordinator was getting good at masking his emotions. Flay had responded truthfully, telling the blond Coordinator that they had made up from their last arguments, but she omitted the details. Dearka had grinned, as if he knew something more than he should, but Flay had let it slide.
It had been Miriallia's idea to throw a small get together for Kira and Flay after everything was done, and she had planned it for just the two romantic lovers, but Kira had somehow caught wind of the once secret plan and decided to phone ahead and tell Flay that Dearka would be joining them. Unwilling to make his friend feel like a third wheel, he asked what Miriallia would be doing that night, and Flay had answered that she was free, neglecting to point out that Milly was the brains behind tonight.
In a mad scramble, Miriallia had rushed back to her apartment to change into something nicer than a pair of faded blue jeans and loose grey t-shirt, and then had rushed back to finish preparations for the addition of two more people. Both women could only hope that there would be enough food for all of them. They would find out in a second as the doorbell rang, letting both of them know that their guests had arrived.
Miriallia whipped off her borrowed pink apron, smoothing the ruffles of her light blue slacks and frilly white shirt, and then went to answer the door. As expected, both Kira and Dearka were waiting on the other side, Kira holding a bottle of wine and Dearka holding a corning ware pot with tin foil wrapped around it. "Hello Kira, Dearka." She greeted.
Kira hugged his old friend warmly. "I brought red wine because I didn't know what we were having, and it goes with our roast." He explained, holding up the bottle of wine and pointing at the container Dearka was still holding.
"Well that's a relief." Flay said, walking to the door to greet her boyfriend. "Not only did you bring more food, but you brought what we prepared as well." Kira handed the bottle of wine to Dearka and smoothly picked up his girlfriend in a hug. "I missed you." He whispered.
"It's been what, five hours since the end of the briefing?" Flay whispered back, brushing her lips over his. "It might as well have been an eternity." He said sweetly. The timer on the oven went off, letting all know that the roast was done.
"Who's hungry?" Dearka called from the kitchen.
>>>
The plates had been piled near the sink, the cutlery divided into their respective groups, the wine glasses soaking in warm soapy water. The table was clear of both food and people, the latter digesting in the former who sat on the comfy carpeted floor or on the soft couch, watching a bit of TV.
"You know what'd be good right about now?" Miriallia said with her eyes closed, "a tub of Butter Pecan ice cream." Kira and Dearka looked at each other with worried looks.
"Mmm … or French Vanilla." Flay added in, nearly drooling at the thought of ice cream. And before either beautiful girl could turn to either Coordinator, Kira stood. "So one tub of Butter Pecan and a tub of French Vanilla? Coming right up ladies." He volunteered.
Dearka thought that Kira was insane. Volunteering to go get ice cream was far beyond any of their missions they had undertaken. "Are you sure Kira?" Flay asked from her place on the couch.
"I couldn't be more certain sweetie." He replied, kissing her on the lips. "I will be but a few minutes." He proclaimed like he was a knight in shining armor off to slay the beast.
"Kira, the Ice King shop is two and a half blocks east!" Milly called out before Kira got out the door. And then the door shut, leaving Dearka all alone to contend with two ice cream craving women.
It was a warm summer night, the sun just starting to set on the horizon, casting a beautiful orange and red glow. Kira whistled as he walked towards the Ice King Ice Cream shop, it was the first time in a long time he had taken the time to appreciate the smaller things in life, like getting ice cream, a warm night, or a nice relaxing meal shared with friends and loved ones.
He stood at a crosswalk, waiting for the lights to change when he noticed a man with silver hair standing against a building, looking at his watch as if waiting for something or someone. "Yzak …" he muttered angrily. The lights changed and the walk signal beeped, so Kira crossed the road with a new purpose behind his stride.
"Excuse me," he said, deepening his voice a little and jabbing Yzak hard in the shoulder twice, "do you have the time?"
"Yeah you jackass it's-" Yzak turned to the rude man, and then the words died on his tongue as he came face to face with Kira. Kira could see Yzak's scar had new scabs on it, as if a massive blow had opened the old wound. Seconds passed as both men stood there, wondering if the other dared to start something in such a public setting, but then Kira reared his arm back and nailed Yzak square in the face with his fist.
Only his ZAFT trained instincts kept his eyes from watering from the force of the blow. Seeing his target through a haze of red, Yzak retaliated with a savage three-hit combo, forcing Kira right into traffic. A car honked as tires squealed in an effort to stop and Kira landed on top of the hood. He paused for a second but then rolled backwards off of the car just as Yzak landed his leap on top of the car, denting the hood.
And again they both paused, ignoring the protests of the drivers and gasps of the expanding crowd. Then Kira turned and ran as fast as he could, crossing streets, jumping and sliding over cars that screeched to a halt before him and shouldering his way past people on the streets.
Less than ten feet behind him was Yzak, yelling at the top of his lungs. "YOU STARTED THIS ONE YAMATO! NOW BE A MAN AND FINISH IT!" Kira turned a corner and continued to run until he could find an advantage. Yzak barreled on, not paying attention to his surroundings, and as a result missed the glimpse of familiar long pink hair and a worried face.
Turning another corner, Kira ended up in a dead-end alley. Stopping, he turned and punched at Yzak just as the older Coordinator came around the corner. "Wrong turn Yamato? That'll be the last mistake you ever make." He snarled as he dodged the punch.
"Goddamnit!" Kira swore.
Yzak charged and threw a punch at Kira, who similarly charged and punched, their fists connecting. Pushing off from each other, Kira ran forward again, and missed his second punch as Yzak sidestepped and grabbed the outstretched arm. Pivoting on his feet, Yzak used Kira's momentum to throw the younger Coordinator into the wall and flew forwards, foot raised to kick.
Kira dodged and aimed a roundhouse kick at Yzak's unprotected back, but was slightly stunned when the silver-haired Coordinator jumped and easily cleared the kick, back flipping over Kira's leg to land. As soon as Yzak's legs touched ground Kira body checked his enemy, sending Yzak off balance and onto the pavement. Screaming in rage, Yzak went from horizontal to vertical and into Kira in less than a second and rammed Kira's body into the wall again. Yzak stepped back a step and from out of nowhere produced a switch-blade and prepared to drive it into Kira as he tried to recover.
The knife came down, whistling through the air as it went. "Yzak stop!" a voice cried out. Yzak inexplicably stopped. There were only three people in the galaxy that he would listen to. The first was Chairman Gilbert Durandal, whom he believed was leading both Coordinators and Naturals into an era of peace. The second was himself, its considered bad form to argue with yourself after all. And the third? The third person was Lacus Clyne; the one who had stopped him.
With the knife mere inches away from Kira's head, Yzak turned his head to see Lacus Clyne in a light pink dress standing at the mouth of the alley. "What are you doing here Miss Clyne?" Yzak growled out.
"Stopping you from making a big mistake." came her reply.
Seeing that Yzak was distracted, Kira lunged at Yzak, tackling him and slipping the knife out of his hands all the while ignoring Lacus' protests. "Kira no!" Now weaponless, Yzak rolled backwards and came up on his feet as Kira advanced with his knife. "This brings back memories, now doesn't it!" Kira yelled and thrust the blade forward.
"Stop Kira!" a new voice called out. This one had more effect on Kira then Lacus did. Kira stopped, but didn't take his eyes off of Yzak, he knew who it was. "Stay out of this Flay." he warned.
"No Kira. Yzak isn't your enemy, and you aren't his." Flay explained.
"Not my enemy?" Kira laughed. "This man tried to kill me in my own home. If it wasn't for Dearka, I wouldn't be here right now!"
"What a shame that would be." Yzak snorted.
"What the hell is your problem!"
"My problem is YOU! You're an ungrateful retarded son of a bitch! She risked her life for you, twice! She gave you the Freedom and the power to end the war! And how did you repay her? You left her!" Yzak yelled, pointing at Lacus.
"And why the hell do you care so much!" Kira demanded.
"Because I Love Her!" that stunned everyone. "Since the day I first saw her, and even when she was declared a traitor. I haven't stopped loving her, and I never will."
And silence reigned the alley, Lacus stared at Yzak in shock, Kira still hadn't taken his eyes off of his foe, but slowly stepped backwards. Flay walked towards Kira and placed her hands on his, and he finally broke eye contact with Yzak and loosened his grip on the knife, letting it clatter to the ground.
Lacus placed her hands on Yzak's shoulders. "Did you … did you really mean what you said?" she asked, a little unsure of the events and his words. His hard eyes softened as they gazed at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Of course, I could never lie about something that, especially not to someone like you." He said sincerely.
A smile graced her features. "I think we need to talk over some tea. Maybe you two would like to join-" Lacus started, but was cut off.
"No!" both Kira and Yzak said together. They looked at each other once again. "Not tonight, not ever." Kira said.
"I wouldn't sully myself to sitting down in the same room as this coward." Yzak retorted.
"Stop it, both of you." Flay ordered. Kira turned and walked out of the alley wordlessly. He had caught the look in Yzak's eyes that said 'this isn't over'.
"Flay, don't be too hard on him." Lacus said as Flay left.
Kira was angry at himself for allowing revenge to cloud his mind. He should have ignored Yzak and just kept walking, but he didn't. It seemed as if a part of him wanted his relationship with Flay to fail, he kept doing stupid things like this. And on top of it all, he still hadn't gotten the ice cream.
It's been a while since I've updated this story, lots to do, lots to do.
Reviews are always helpful, so please read and review.