AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yet again, a brand-new chapter. This one serves to expand on the aftermath of the attack on Arzachel, and establish with a little more clarity the timeline in terms of what occurs between that attack and the subsequent Second Battle of Daedalus. This chapter and the next one do partly overlap in terms of the chronology.
And before anyone comments on the song that features in this chapter - yes, I know I changed that from the series. That was deliberate.

PHASE 37: The Song of Hope

November 6th

Eurasian Federation

Paris

Jacqueline Bouvier was worried about her boss.

With President Baum killed in the attack on Arzachel, Brennan Marshall had suddenly been thrust in the unenviable position of leading the nation in wartime, while the death of both Baum and Copeland had thrown their plans for the end of the war into absolute chaos.

She knew he'd been on the phone with Representative Athha in Orb, and ever since that call he'd been working himself ragged coordinating a response.

"Jacqueline," the lanky ex-pilot suddenly said as he looked up from his desk, "has there been word from John at Artemis?"

-"Yes, sir." She replied. "General Harrison reported that the Alakshya is standing by and awaiting orders."

-"Good." Marshall said, sounding exhausted, but he was refusing to rest. "But that's not going to be enough. Tell him to send his entire force into the Debris Belt - as covertly as possible."

-"The Debris Belt, sir?" Jacqueline asked, confused. "Why not the moon directly?"

-"Because that's where he's to rendezvous with the Orb fleet." Marshall replied. "We don't have the manpower to take out that mad fucker at Daedalus without their help - and even then, it might not be enough."

Just then, an aide entered, timidly addressing Marshall and announcing that an urgent communication had come in, and that they were asking to speak to him directly.

-"Who is it?" Marshall asked.

-"It's Eileen Canaver, sir." the aide replied. "In the PLANTs."

'Eileen Canaver? What the hell could the Diplomatic Committee want now - especially after this?' Marshall wondered.
"All right. Put her through."

United Orb Emirates

After Cagalli's departure, the little group had scattered as Mina and the Council returned to the government building, while the others went home.

Murrue and Mr. Waltfeld were gone, as were most of the rest of the former crew of the Archangel. Even Juri had left with Cagalli.

Canard was in space, doing who knows what.

"He's probably reached the Eternal by now." Kira thought aloud, wishing he were there with his brother.

But he was not. He was left alone, sitting in his wheelchair as it stood on the balcony, where he looked out at the sunset.

And he wondered how things could have gone so horribly wrong.

Inside, the TV was on, the news reporting on the situation in the PLANTs. The response was pandemonium, worse than when the Atlantic Federation had launched its nuclear attack, at the beginning of the war - fear and confusion began to grow as news of the attack spread.

With no word from Durendal, the Council was scrambling to mitigate the damage.

But he hardly paid attention.
He looked out to sea, and as he watched the sun sink below the horizon, he remembered another sunset, months earlier.

"We were trying to get to the shore, to evacuate when the Alliance attacked. Her phone fell out of her purse, and I cut down the hill to try and get it. As I was picking it up, there was an explosion, and I was thrown to the bottom of the hill. A mobile suit had fired a shot that had hit the hill...all of them were killed."

Shinn Asuka. Kira had been horrified when he had learned what happened - what he had done, however unwittingly.
And he had learned from Cagalli that Shinn was the pilot of the Impulse Gundam…the machine that had destroyed the Freedom.

The pilot's brutality - in Hamburg and afterwards - made sense. Kira knew those feelings well. Tolle. Fllay. So many others.

He remembered what Athrun had told him Cagalli had said. And he thought of Lacus, and wondered what she would have said. What she would have told either of them.

Lacus had genuinely believed in the inherent goodness of people, and that they could find a path to peace. For a while, Kira had believed that too…he still did, or at least he wanted to.

But everything had gone wrong with her death, and now he didn't know what to do. Even worse, even if he did, he couldn't do anything.

Beneath the veil of starry sky

As cold as winter's darkest night

It's there you'll sleep, silent and deep

You're all alone

Kira started at the sound of Lacus's voice. For a moment, he thought it was because he'd been thinking about her, that he'd started remembering one of her songs.
But he didn't recognize it.

He suddenly realized it was coming from inside the house, drifting through the open patio door.

His fists clenched, his knuckles turning white.

It wasn't Lacus. It was her.
The imposter.

He wondered how Lacus would have felt about that - the idea that someone in the PLANTs was impersonating her.
And in spite of himself, he listened. The melody was slow, gentle. Less like the pop songs from the concert tour, and, he realized, more like the kinds of songs Lacus herself used to sing.

A single prayer's soft melody

Across the lonely silent fields

A little light begins to shine, it shines on and on

And he wondered why she was doing this. Why would this girl, whoever she was, willingly steal Lacus's name, her identity?
And as he listened, the thought occurred to him that it wasn't just the voice, or the melody, but the words that were striking a chord with him.

He heard hope, a genuine, heartfelt hope. And he realized that perhaps, in her own strange way, she was doing this for Lacus's sake.
The thought seemed foolish. Or maybe, it was Kira trying to convince himself. But the more he listened, the more he started to think that maybe this girl, whoever she was, really believed in the same things that Lacus had.
And if she did, perhaps there were others out there who did.

And if that was so, then there was still hope.

Aprilius One

Athrun watched the broadcast from his quarters at Aprilius One's main military facility.
And he remembered the first time he had seen Meer, when she had sung one of Lacus's songs, after Break the World.

The concert she had given on Earth had been very different - almost a complete shift to a sort of infectiously upbeat pop style that had made him uncomfortable.
But this was more like that first time, and more like Lacus herself had been.

Her outfit was completely different as well. She wore a short, elegant black kimono-like garment, with high, detached sleeves. Over it a sleeveless, white-and-lavender overcoat. It was a formal outfit, very different from the revealing outfits she had previously worn; in fact, he remembered Lacus wearing a very similar white-and-lavender outfit in the final months of the first War. Moreover, her hair was styled in a similar high ponytail.

It suited her, he thought, accentuating her resemblance to Lacus.

One day on a green and shining morn

One day we will finally make through

He thought about Meer, and remembered their conversation in the PLANTs when he had first arrived.
He knew that Meer understood that what she was doing was dishonest - she'd been quite candid about it. But he also knew why she did it, and he had a feeling that Lacus would have understood.

Cause in this sky, so dark with winter

We still have to believe that it's true

Fields of hope

In her heart, Meer genuinely believed in Lacus, in the kind of world they had fought for. The kind of world he was still fighting for.

Lacus was gone now. But Athrun was determined that her death would not be in vain. If it fell to him to bring this war to an end, he would do it. Not alone - he wasn't foolish enough to believe that he could do that. But he wasn't alone. Cagalli, Yzak, Shinn.

"We're still here, Lacus." He said to the empty room. "And we'll do it. Hopefully, this time for good."

Athrun was shaken from his thoughts by a knock at his door. He stood, and when the door opened, an officer he'd never met in a lavender staff officer's uniform stated he was to escort him to the commander's office.

Athrun followed, and the staff officer stepped aside as soon as they arrived.

Inside, he found Yzak seated, looking irritated. The office was otherwise empty.

"Any idea what this is about?" Yzak immediately asked without so much as a word of greeting.

"Nope." Athrun replied, taking a seat next to Yzak. "But if you and I are both here, I'd expect we're going to be deploying soon."

"You're probably right." Yzak replied.

Soon enough, the door opened, and Ezalia Joule entered. Following her was Eileen Canaver of the Diplomatic Committee.

"Gentlemen." The latter said. "As you both know, the situation in the PLANTs right now is extremely precarious. Chairwoman Joule and I have spoken with the Supreme Council and we are already taking steps to address the situation. This is why you are both here."

"Both of us?" Athrun asked.

"Yes, Athrun." Canaver replied with a small smile. "You and Yzak will be deploying in six hours' time, with your ships. You will take your teams into the Debris Belt."

"The Debris Belt, ma'am?" Yzak asked. "Why?"

"I have more detailed orders for you both in these envelopes." Ezalia spoke. "You are to open them only once you reach the Debris Belt - which should take you about three days."

"I am assuming this has to do with the situation on the moon?" Athrun asked. "But in that case, the detour via the Debris Belt doesn't make sense, unless…"

"I suspect you've guessed correctly, Athrun." Ezalia interrupted. "However, given the sensitive nature of the situation, I have to ask that you refrain from further speculation until you read your orders."

"Yes, ma'am." Athrun replied. If he had to guess, they were meeting reinforcements in the Debris Belt - and that meant, he was sure, the Orb Fleet. And they were taking this roundabout course in order to keep their movements hidden from Durendal.

"Thank you." Eileen Canaver said. "I'm sorry if this meeting was brief, but know that your mission is of the utmost importance. Good luck to you both."

As they both left, Athrun heard a familiar voice call out his name. Yzak grinned, and kept walking, while Athrun turned and saw Meer. She still wore the same outfit he'd seen her wearing in the broadcast, although she had removed the overcoat, which he spotted draped over a nearby chair.

"Athrun." She said quietly as she neared him.

"Lacus." Athrun replied, still uncomfortable calling her that. She shook her head, smiling sadly.

"Are you leaving?" She asked.

"Yes. We set sail in a few hours." He replied. "I saw your broadcast."

"You did?" She asked, and for a moment she smiled and he saw that same infectious cheerfulness she had when they had first met. "What did you think?"

"It reminded me of the broadcasts Lacus used to make, during the last war." He said. "I've never heard that song before, though."

"Did you like it?" She asked.

"It was beautiful." He admitted. "It sounded just like the kind of song she used to write. I think she would have liked it."

"I'm glad you think so." She said, and Athrun was surprised to see that she looked to be on the verge of tears. She spoke slowly, almost hesitantly. "I started working on it after the last time you and I met on Earth. When you told me…"

"I remember." He said.

"It's only the second song I've written on my own." She said. "Emotion was one I wrote for myself. I know what I've been doing…it's wrong. And maybe it was selfish of me, but even if I was pretending to be someone else, I wanted some part of it to be truly mine - so that even if they didn't know it, people could hear me, not Miss Lacus."

She was right, it was selfish. But Athrun understood.

"But Fields of Hope is different." She continued. "Because I didn't write it for myself. I wrote it for her. I've always admired her, and now I'll never get to meet her. But I wanted to do something in her memory. And for you to tell me that - that she would've liked it…do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do." He said, genuinely moved. Then, he was momentarily flustered when she hugged him.

"Thank you." She said quietly. "And good-bye, Athrun. I hope I see you again when you get back."

Then she turned around, briefly wiping her eyes on her sleeve, and walked away.

"Good-bye, Meer." He said quietly, unsure whether he would ever see her again. He left, heading back to his ship.

Three days later, Athrun was in his quarters onboard the Diana.

The bridge had just reported that they were nearing the Debris Belt, and he decided it was time to open his orders. He immediately saw that he'd been correct: Their orders were to link up with the Orb Fleet at a specific set of coordinates, which he immediately recognized. It was where Lacus had established the Eternal's docking facility, in a converted resource asteroid.

Before he could read the rest of his orders, an announcement came through on the intercom from Kurt Gunn, his XO. "Sir, there's a broadcast coming in from the homeland that I think you're going to want to see."

"Relay it to my terminal, I'll watch it in here." Athrun replied. "Thanks, Kurt."

He turned on his screen and the first thing he saw was Meer, wearing the same outfit she had worn when he saw her before their departure.

He guessed that this broadcast, as usual, was being transmitted to every screen in the PLANTs, and watched with some interest, wondering what the purpose of this broadcast could be.

"Everyone, please listen to me." She began her impassioned plea, as she had many times before. "I know that you are all frightened. We all want this horrible war to end, and to live once again in peace. And I am sure that the Supreme Council, our courageous soldiers of ZAFT, and our friends and allies all over the world will do everything in their power to ensure that this dream that we all share becomes a reality."

She closed her eyes, and to everyone watching, seemed to be praying. Athrun thought that she would begin to sing.

But she did not. And her next actions took him completely by surprise.

She took a deep breath, and then Meer Campbell raised her head and opened her eyes. She reached up behind her and untied the ribbon, and her long hair fell cascading down her back and over her shoulders. And then she began to speak again, and instead of hope and comfort, her words brought confusion to many who listened.

"Everyone, I know how much you have all looked to me for guidance, and I am thankful for all the kindness that you have all shown. But if there is one thing that I value almost as much as I do my dream, that all of us should live in peace, it is the truth. And the truth is something that has been withheld from you all for far too long."

She hesitated for a moment, and then spoke two sentences that changed everything.

"I am not who you think I am. I am not Lacus Clyne."