Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say this? I. Do. Not. Own.
Hi everybody! First off, a big thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! You guys are the best! Secondly, the cliffie last chapter made starting this one really hard. I couldn't get the damn thing to work! So I decided to skip ahead. This is just the aftermath of the little scenario in the hanger, with little flashbacks to the actual event. If this annoys you, then I'm very sorry. It's the only way this would work. Please forgive me.
Anyways, here's the actual chapter!
Chapter 13
'This isn't a game, Rau!'
The masked man continued to stare straight ahead, not replying to the ghostly form behind him. He was lost in his thoughts. He hadn't meant that to happen. He had meant to explain. He hadn't counted on her reaction. He hadn't counted on anything really. Jay's low growl once again interrupted his thoughts. He sighed. Why wouldn't the man leave him alone, just for once. Slowly he turned to face Jay.
'What isn't?' he asked. Jay looked half ready to hit him. 'This war! This war isn't a game!' Rau stared at him, appearing only mildly interested. 'Did I ever say it was?' 'Rau, you know what I mean! They aren't your toys! You have no right to play with their lives, with her life, after everything she's done for you! She trusted you! You were her older brother, her Onii-chan. She cared about you, she even loved you, which is a damn sight more than others have done!' Rau flinched at that, but Jay barrelled on unnoticing. 'And what did you do to repay her? You almost destroyed her! You knew she loved the silver haired boy, you knew that his chances of surviving were slim and nil! What did you expect? Well? Did you expect her to just shrug it off?'
Rau stared at him, the silence ringing in his ears. What had he expected? God, what had he expected? He should've known something would've happened, after seeing Athrun almost kill himself. They were all children, as fragile as glass. Cracked and chipped glass, some only half mended from past blows, the cracks still gaping holes. She was definitly still mending from the disaster that had been 'Petersberg' (AN: Y'all remember that from all the way back in the first chapter?) and the deaths of Nicol and Dearka.
'I never meant to hurt her...' he whispered. Jay shook his head. 'Then why, Rau? Why?' Rau stayed silent. There was no way that Jay would understand. No way anyone would understand.
"You...YOU SET HIM UP TO DIE!"
She stopped dead, staring at him. Tears building up in her eye. He stared right back, not knowing what to say. The tears flowed down her face, emptying her eye out. Her soul, her beauty now landing on the ground in the form of crystaline tears. He remained silent, standing in front of her, not moving to wipe her tears away. He just watched her shatter in front of his eyes.
Yzak walked out of the hanger with Jo beside him. The smile he had learned to love was nowhere in sight, there was only an empty look. It was strange to look at. Her face was meant to have a smile on it, whether it was small, or a full blown grin. The look reminded him too much of Athrun, or Creuset. That dead look. The one that had almost learned not to care. And Jo cared too much.
With a small smirk, he turned to her. She glanced at him, and even in the dull light he could see the tear tracks on her face. It caused his heart to clench. Right, now it was time to do some stupid 'Dearka-like' problem solving. He stripped off his gloves and used his thumbs to turn her mouth upwards into a 'U' shape.
As expected, she smacked his hands away. 'You jerk! That hurt!' she shrieked, but her mouth stayed smiling. His smirk grew. 'It worked though.' With a pout, she turned away from him. 'As of a few words from now, I'm not talking.' He put his hands on his hips. 'You haven't been talking since I got back. You were crying, and then just kept your mouth shut. Don't you think I've had enough of the silent treatment?'
She glanced over her shoulder at him. There was still a large, damp patch on the chest of his flight suit where her tears had soaked into the material. Just seeing him alive had caused her to loose control and just fling herself at him and cry. And he had held her, and let her scream and sob into his chest. He had been shaking slightly. Not visably, but definitly shaking.
And Rau had stood in the backround and watched. She swallowed at the thought of Rau. She didn't want to hate him. She couldn't hate him. He'd just screwed up, that was all. Softly, she bit her lip. Zach had gone and gotten himself killed. He'd left her in that crowd with no clue what was going on, or if he was dead or not. Zach was her Onii-chan, always would be, despite his mistake. And Rau would remain her Onii-chan, despite his mistake. I can't see why you did that to Yzak, I can't understand your reasoning, I really can't even understand you properly, but you promised to protect me. And I know you will. As I will for you, Onii-chan.
With a proper smile, she turned to face Yzak fully. 'Yeah, you probably have. Lets go get a bite.'
Lacus pinned her hair up into pigtails. It was the way Jo had worn it in their youth. Only Jo's messy purple hair had put a completely different twist on the style. She smiled at the memory, before biting her lip and sighing. She just couldn't get her head round the fact Jo could be dead. Or that Athrun could be dead. They'd both been so alive when she'd last seen them. OK, war had taken its toll, changing them both, but they'd been alive! Shaking her head, she turned and strode out of the room, and onto the ruined stage.
The song she sang had been Jo's favorite. She'd never known why. Jo wasn't really a fan of her music. Songs of peace upset her, the same way the war upset Lacus. They both wanted peace, to protect, to get someting better for their people, but had gone on two completely different paths. Lacus had used her voice, and become the 'Pink Princess of the PLANTs', whereas Jo had become a soldier and became 'ZAFT's Bloodstained Angel'. Different choices, different paths, same goal. Only Jo's choice may have killed her.
The rustling of at the doorway caused her to glance sideways briefly, never stopping the song. Suddenly, the theater filled with noise as Haro's voice echoed of the walls. She grinned. Only one person would've thought of Haro. And he was walking up the aisle, bearing the marks of his latest brush with death. She smiled up at him, pointedly ignoring the gun in his good hand. He stared back down at her, his face closed.
'You once told me that this was the first place you ever sang,' he said, the words coming out clipped and cold. She nodded. 'I knew you'd find me.' His coldness stung, like it had the last time, but she kept her smile in place regardless. The gun raised itself from it's position at his side to point straight at her face. The move looked so natural, as if he was on auto-pilot.
'Why did you give the Freedom over to the EA?' She stared at him. 'Oh!' She said, 'No, I only gave the Freedom to Kira because he needed it.' His face changed, becoming stunned and vaguly hurt. 'Th...that's a lie! Kira's dead, I...I killed him.' The small stutters caused her to stare. It showed remorse. Guilt. Though she knew Athrun wasn't a bad person, he'd killed so many people.
'Kira survived. Reverand Malchio found him on a beach and brought him to me,' she said with a smile. 'Even if Kira were alive, why would you...' She cut him short. 'Kira isn't in the EA anymore, nor is he in ZAFT. Kira says he's going to fight for what he believes in. What do you fight for? Is it because you want honor and medals? Or because of your father? Because if that's the case then Kira may still be your enemy, and I will be too.'
She stood up to face him, staring right down the barrel of the gun. His face was stunned, but she went on regardless. 'So now that I'm your enemy, are you going to kill me too? Athrun Zala of ZAFT!' He continued to stare at her, his eyes clenched shut. The gun lowered, pointing at the ground. She relaxed her shoulders.
'Ah, Zala, you found her.' an unknown voice sounded from behind them. Athrun glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowing. The man behind him was wearing an annoying smirk as he continued. 'Though I did expect you to shoot, or at least take her in instead of standing around chatting.' His hand clenched around the handle of his gun, but it was at least five shooters to one. And they had the better position, he would have to turn and then raise his gun, but if they saw a hostile action all they'd have to do was put one in his back. Not good.
He glanced back at Lacus. She looked slightly nervous. Handing the gun to her might work, but moving his weapon was not a good idea. Lacus, tell me you have a back-up plan.
'Well, hand her over, Zala.' He remained standing between Lacus and them. The man was getting annoyed, moving a step forward. What happened next was a blur. Men hiding in the seats opened fire on the ZAFT soldiers. The shock was drowned out by his instinct. Grab Lacus, get cover, and move it!
The girl didn't put up a fight as he grabbed her and pulled her behind a pillar. Cagalli would've wanted to fight, the Little Lady would've moved on her own. Keeping Lacus behind him, he peeked out from behind the large structer. The noise of the gunfire was deafening. For one who wasn't used to it, it would hurt. Straining his eyes, he say the dull shapes of bodies falling. Lacus took a sneak peek out from behind his elbow, just as the noise died.
'Is it over?' Lacus asked. He strained for a few more seconds, and decided it was safe and nodded. They stepped out from behind the piller and Lacus walked to a man wearing a green ZAFT uniform. Before leaving, she turned to face him. 'Kira is on earth. Maybe you should go talk to him.' she said before turning back around. He made to go as well, but stopped.
'Lacus,' he said, not bothering to turn round. 'Yes?' 'One of Kira's friends hurt Jo badly. She's still alive, though.' He shrugged. 'Just thought you'd like to know.'
Huh, Huh? Responses, please people. Was it alright? Please tell me. Till next time.
