When Kara woke up, the sun was setting. A soft chirping filled her ears. What was left of the building was in shadows. The room was deathly quiet. Her breathing sounded loud and awkward. Kara felt a shiver run down her spine. A bird chirped overhead. The sound of it seemed so out of place. From her limited vision, she could see that there were pools of blood on the floor, besides the lieutenant's.

Kara looked around. She and the dead lieutenant were pinned down by a heavy piece of concrete. Kara wiggled her fingers and her toes. She could still feel them. The lieutenant's blood had seeped through her uniform and her undershirt. She could feel it trickling down her sides. The thought of it made her want to puke. As if by magic, the bullet had stopped after going through the lieutenant and hadn't pierced through her flesh. She could feel it right between her shoulder blades. If it had, she would have been paralyzed. It would have hit her spine for sure.

She tried to take a deep breath. Her abdomen felt like it was on fire. Kara figured she had at least one broken rib. 'I wonder if this is what those people in Heliopolis felt like?' she thought. The wind was blowing steadily. It had lost all of the magic it had held when Kara first experienced it. It blew dust into her bloodshot eyes.

She tried to roll out from under the dead man. After a few painful tries, she succeeded. Enjoying her new freedom, Kara greedily sucked in air. She promptly doubled over in pain. She felt blood trickle down the corners of her mouth. 'Oh great,' she thought. 'I must have punctured a lung. I thought stuff like that didn't happen to coordinators.' Kara relaxed her muscles and stared up to where the ceiling once was. The sun was slowly setting and shadows filled what was left of the corners. Slowly she rose to her feet. She could hear the sound of helicopters. Hopefully that was the rescue team.

On board the helicopters

Athrun sat quietly gripping his armrests. He swore his heart had stopped when he found out that Kara had been involved in an attack on a ZAFT base. Dearka, of course, had a worse reaction. He'd promptly punched a wall, leaving behind a rather large dent. Now he was sitting next to Athrun staring out the window with his fingers drumming on his leg. He was as anxious as Athrun was. "Do you think she's okay?" Dearka asked breaking the silence.

"Of course," Athrun responded immediately. "Kara looks a little delicate, but she's as tough as nails."

"We've got some natural butt to kick either way," Dearka said cockily.

Athrun just looked at him. The Kara he knew would have never fallen for a guy like Dearka. He was so cocky, and at times just plain arrogant. But, Kara had to have seen something in Dearka. Besides, he could tell Dearka really cared about her. He knew by the way his eyes light up whenever he talked about her, and the way his ever-present smile got that much brighter when her name was mentioned. Dearka was the kind of guy that sort of grew on you. Of course, if Dearka ever broke Karalee's heart, Athrun would have to kill him.

Suddenly the helicopter stopped and someone threw a ladder out the doorway. The three others in the helicopter climbed down the ladder with Athrun and Dearka close behind. Dearka quickly scanned the room. His eyes stopped when he saw a head of rich midnight blue curls. As he stepped of the ladder, he ran to Kara. Her uniform was soaked with blood.

"I knew you'd find me," Kara gasped painfully. "And don't worry, the blood isn't mine."

"Who's is it?" Dearka asked her frowning.

"That lieutenant over there," she told him struggling for breath. "He saved my life. Hi Athrun, and no it's not my blood." Kara managed a weak smile at the sight of her brother.

"Thank goodness," Athrun said, laying a brotherly hand on her forehead, smoothing back her hair. "How are you doing?"

"It's hard to breath," Kara admitted. "I think a punctured a lung."

"I need a stretcher over here!" Dearka called out to no one in particular. He took Kara's hand in his. "You're gonna be fine angel. You have to be."

Kara felt darkness creep back into her senses. She felt so tired all of a sudden. Gentle hands lifted her onto a stretcher. It felt like she was floating as she was gently raised out of the collapsed building. A clear mask was slipped over her head to help her breath. Her last clear image was of Dearka. She could hear voices around her. "No other survivors," one voice said. "She was lucky," another commented. The last voice she heard before she slipped into oblivion was Dearka's. "I love you angel."

Seventeen hours later

A bright light hit Kara's eyes. She'd been taken to a military hospital at another base. She winced as she took in a deep breath. It looked to be about the middle of the afternoon. Her body felt like it was made of led. She felt a tight grip around her hand. She smiled when she saw who was sitting next to her. Dearka sat in an uncomfortable metal chair, fast asleep. She gently squeezed his hand. Dearka practically jumped out of his skin. He immediately smiled when he saw the reason he had been woken up.

"Hey angel," he said gently. Running his thumb over the back of her hand. "Welcome back."

"So what did the doctor say?" she asked him searching his eyes for some clue as to what had happened.

"You're gonna be fine. The doctor said you'll just need a little time."

"How much time?" she inquired.

"Can't we just focus on the fact that you're alive?"

"No."

"You have a hairline fracture in your right ankle," he told her with a sigh. "You cracked three ribs and one punctured your lung. There's a big bruise on your right hip, but other than that you're doing pretty well. But it might be about six months until you're as active as you were."

"Were there really no other survivors?"

"I should go tell the doctor that you're awake."

"Don't avoid my question Dearka," Kara said sternly trying to get up. She got about halfway up before she cried out in pain and fell back onto the bed. Her face became a ghostly shade of white. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. Her slender fingers gripped the white sheets. Her breathing became heavy and ragged. Dearka sat very still, just watching Kara, not quite sure what to do. Kara hated being fussed over. But he didn't want it to seem like her didn't care about her. Her fingers slowly relaxed and her breathing calmed after about a minute. Dearka smoothed her hair away from her face and took her hand in his. Just as he was about to say something, Athrun entered the room.

"Dearka I brought more coffee," Athrun said as he walked into the room. "Kara you're awake!" Athrun set the cups on a table by the door and rushed over to his sister. He took a chair opposite to the side of the bed Kara was on. "How are you feeling?" he asked pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I feel like a building fell on me," she told him, smiling weakly. "There weren't any other survivors, were there?"

Athrun looked up at Dearka, unsure of what to say. Dearka lifted up his hands, as if to say Athrun was on his own. "You were very lucky," Athrun said carefully. "Everyone else… well they… they had very serious injuries, there was nothing anyone could do for them."

Kara nodded slowly. Her emerald eyes grew cloudy. "I wasn't supposed to die," she told them after a minute. "For some reason they left me alive."

Athrun's hand went to his pocket. He'd found a note on the ground near Kara. It read, "Next time, she will die." Just the thought of it sent chills down Athrun's spine. It had been signed the Blue Cosmos, aterrorist group of naturals. Kara's life was in danger. But they couldn't tell her. She was a lot weaker than she knew. Dearka and Athrun had agreed not to tell Kara that she had coded while the doctors were performing surgery. They'd come so close to losing her.

Flashback

Athrun and Dearka sat together on an uncomfortable metal couch with thin green cotton cushions. They doctors had been performing surgery on Kara for close to three hours. Dearka clutched a Styrofoam cup about halfway filled with cold coffee. Dearka pressed the cup to his lips and started a take a sip. He immediately spit it back out. There were very few things worse than cold coffee.

Suddenly a light above the emergency room door started flashing. Two nurses came running into the room pushing a cart. "Hurry! She's coding!" a young male nurse yelled pushing open the emergency room doors for the nurses.

'Please God!' Dearka silently pleaded. 'If you're listening, I can't loose Kara! She means so much to me! Please, I know I'm not sure whether I'm ready to embrace this religion thing, but Kara believes in you. So please, don't let her die.'

The light went off and Dearka found himself holding his breath. That meant one of two things. Either Kara was dead, or they'd gotten her heart to start again. The nurses came out calmly pushing the machine. Athrun and Dearka looked at them anxiously. "She's alive," one of the nurses told them with a soft smile. "If she doesn't code again she's going to be fine."

Athrun sighed, running his hand through his hair. "She's going to be fine," he said, more to himself than to Dearka. "She's to pigheaded to die."

End Flashback

Kara looked at her brother and Dearka. She could tell that there was something they wouldn't tell her. Dearka was fidgeting. He only fidgeted when he was trying to keep a secret. Kara looked at the two of them suspiciously. She wanted to question them, but her eyelids were growing heavy again. She relaxed and let sleep wash over her. Dearka and Athrun looked at her. "She looks so peaceful," Dearka commented softly.

"Best let her sleep and be at peace while she can," Athrun said rising to his feet. "I'll go check in and let them know of Kara's circumstances."

Athrun walked to another building about two blocks away from the hospital. The Zaft general in charge of the base was waiting for either Athrun or Dearka to tell him how the survivor from the attack was doing. If had been an ordinary soldier, he would have expected a report, but this survivor was Karalee Zala, Patrick Zala's daughter. And if anything happened to her, Patrick Zala would personally have him demoted.

"Sir?" Athrun asked poking his head in the door. "I understand that you wished to see me."

"Yes," the general said sitting up a little straighter in his desk chair. "How is Lieutenant Zala?"

"She's been stabilized sir," Athrun told him. "However, I think she needs constant protection, at least for awhile."

"Why might that be?"

"I found this note next to Lieutenant Zala," Athrun said, pulling the note from his pocket and handing it over to the general. "I believe the Blue Cosmos is after her, they won't rest until she's dead sir."

The general nodded his head. "It wouldn't surprise me," he mumbled. "She is a high ranking official's daughter. This sort of thing isn't unheard of in a war." The general looked up from the note to Athrun. "Very well." He said firmly. "She will be put under your protection. When your ship leaves, she will be on board with you. I trust you will take good care of your sister."

"Yes sir," Athrun responded, trying unsuccessfully to contain his smile.

"I believe that pleases you," the general said smiling as well. "Don't make me regret it."

"Of course sir," Athrun said standing. "When will we be leaving?"

"At the end of the week," the general told him. "The lieutenant will be able to travel by then. Now go on back to your sister."

"Thank you sir," Athrun said gratefully. He saluted and then quickly exited the building. He stepped out of the building and into the late afternoon sunshine. The sun was slipping under the horizon and the moon was making its way into the sky. The stars were just beginning to twinkle.

He walked back into the hospital and took the elevator back to Kara's floor. He walked into the room, and then immediately walked back out again, shutting the door behind him. Kara had apparently woken up again. She'd moved over on the hospital bed, allowing Dearka access as well. He'd climbed up on the bed and had wrapped his arms loosely around her, being careful of her ribs. She was using his chest for a pillow.

Athrun fought the urge to be an overprotective brother and let them sleep. At times he wasn't happy that Kara and Dearka were dating. Dearka didn't seem to be his sweet little sister's type. But, when Athrun saw the look on Dearka's face, like he was never going to give Kara up, he knew Kara would be safe with him.

The next morning

Dearka yawned and started to stretch, but he was weighed down by something very warm. He opened his violet eyes to be greeted by a cloud of dark blue hair. He smiled when he realized who it belonged to. He had spent the entire night with Kara in his arms. He softly kissed the top of her head. Kara smiled in her sleep and snuggled a little closer. Dearka watched her sleep. She looked more like an angel when she was asleep than ever.

Kara yawned and her eyelids fluttered open. Her eyes locked with Dearka's and a soft smile graced her lips. Dearka couldn't resist the urge; he quickly leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "You probably should get up," Kara said after a moment. "A nurse is bound to come in any minute."

"You don't like me holding you?" Dearka asked in an injured voice.

"Of course," Kara assured him. "I just don't want a nurse to walk in on us."

"You look gorgeous when you're asleep," Dearka informed her, sitting up carefully and laying Kara back down so he wouldn't hurt her. He slipped off the bed and retook his place in the chair. A nurse walked in with a breakfast tray not even a minute after he'd sat down.

"Here you are Lieutenant Zala," she said setting the tray on a cart and pushing it over in front of the bed. "Eggs and bacon with a piece of toast."

Kara nodded and smiled, trying her hardest not to wrinkle her nose. "I really dislike eggs," she commented as the door closed. "They expect me to get better when they make me eat eggs?" Suddenly Kara clamped her hand over mouth and looked at Dearka apologetically. "You did not hear that. I have to talk to the servants like that at the mansion or they'll feel sorry for me. You can't let servants feel sorry for you, then they talk about you all the time, especially when you can hear them, but they think you can't."

Dearka couldn't help but chuckle. "I always knew you were a spoiled little rich girl," Dearka told her smiling. "I just choose to love you in spite of it."

"You're too good to me," Kara said rolling her eyes and taking a bite of her toast. She immediately made a face. "I think this is one meal I'll pass up."

"Kara you haven't eaten anything in a day," Dearka told her sternly. "You are going to eat your breakfast if I have to shove it down your throat."

Kara glared at him and took a bite of the bacon. It had turned out fairly well. She ate that happily and then poked through her eggs. "If I dropped a piece," she thought after a second. "Do you think it would bounce?" Dearka just looked at her. "Fine, I'll eat them anyway, just don't look at me like that."

Dearka just smiled at her and pointed to her plate. Kara mumbled something under her breath about pushy, overprotective boyfriends and took a bite of her eggs. Dearka immediately laughed out loud at the face she made. "You try them," she dared holding out her fork to him. Dearka took the fork, stabbed a piece of egg, and put it in his mouth. He made a face worse than Kara's. "I told you they were bad."

Suddenly Athrun walked in holding a bag. "I found a muffin shop in the town near the base," he explained, setting the bag next to Kara's tray.

"Chocolate chip?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," Athrun said, taking a muffin out of the bag and handing it to her. "It's been five years Kara, but I still remember that you're a chocoholic. Dearka, do you want chocolate too?" Dearka nodded and smiled. "I should have figured both you and Kara are chocoholics," Athrun said with a laugh. Kara just grinned and took a big bite out of the top of her muffin. Dearka started eating his muffin as well.

After both had finished their muffins, Athrun cleared his throat, causing Dearka and Kara to focus their attention on him. "I went to go see the general last night," Athrun informed them. "He told me what is to happen to you Kara. You are going to return to space on our ship."

"Really?" Kara asked happily. "But how did you two get here in the first place? You said you were in space the last time I talked to you Dearka."

"Well. Our ship was right over the base," Dearka explained. "The base here is terribly undermanned and they weren't sure if they had enough troops to go in and secure the warehouse. All they knew was that the gunfire and explosions had stopped. But, that didn't mean that the attacking forces had totally left the area…"

Flashback

"All hands to the bridge!" a rushed voice called out over the loud speaker. "I repeat, all hands to the bridge!"

Athrun was just making his way back to his quarters to try and catch a few hours sleep when the alarm went off. He immediately turned around and ran back towards the bridge. Soldiers were taking their seats and strapping themselves in. Athrun took a seat next to Yzak. "What's happening?" he asked him.

"A base on Earth is under attack," Yzak explained angrily. "Those blasted naturals have attacked a warehouse and the base doesn't have enough people to go on a recovery mission! So now we're making an emergency descent to help retake the warehouse."

"Kara told me last night that she was going to Earth today," Dearka said frowning as he took a seat on Athrun's other side. "You don't think…" he trailed off, not wanting to even consider the possibility that Kara might be in that warehouse."

The three of them braced themselves for impact as they descended through Earth's atmosphere. Just as the felt as if they would fly into a million pieces, they were through the worst part of it and rapidly descending down to the landing pad at the base. Before they knew it, everyone was being urged to hurry out of the ship.

"Here," someone said handing Athrun a knife. "Put it in your boot. It's a primitive method of concealing a weapon, but most of the time it's effective." Athrun handled the knife carefully. He pulled it out of the cold metal sheath. He could he his reflection in the stainless steel blade. His eyes were cold and determined. His mouth was set in a grim line.

Dearka was handed a high-powered handgun. The weapon was lighter than what he was used to. It felt strange in his hand. The gun had the power to shoot through six inches of stainless steel. He took his gun out of the holster on his left hip and put in the new gun.

He looked over at Athrun; he was placing a knife in his boot. Many of the other soldiers off their ship were also receiving new weapons. However, Yzak was being forced to stay behind, something about him being a little too emotional. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Dearka would have laughed when he saw Yzak pouting.

Athrun and Dearka walked out of the building, towards the waiting helicopters. The swirling blades caused Athrun's hair to whip around his face. They boarded the helicopter and so began the grim ride to the destroyed warehouse.

End flashback

"She's asleep," Athrun commented with a grin. "It must be those pain killers they gave her."

"She always does that when I tell a story," Dearka told him laughing. "The sound of my voice puts her to sleep every time. Let's let her sleep for a while." Athrun nodded and the two slipped out of the room quietly.