Sai nervously tugged at his cummerbund bowtie and made a fractional adjustment to the way his tuxedo hung from his arms. The custom tailored silk garment had been lying on his and Vanai's bed when he'd come home from work the day before... he had only touched it once before putting it on this morning, but that once had been enough... it was the most comfortable set of clothes he'd ever worn. Which meant all the itching and sweating and discomfort he was feeling really was coming from anxiety, not any material source. It didn't stop him from cursing the garments in place of his own worries, because to blame his worries would mean acknowledging he had worries at all, and he did not want to admit to himself that he did. But he did, oh he did. He was sure enough about Vanai and her father and all their friends.
But they were all he was sure about... his parents had not responded to his email and so looked not to be coming... he couldn't figure out why though. And he was starting to regret inviting Kira... if Kira had even gotten the invitation at all... no return email had been sent. Sai was two hours early for the wedding and fifteen minutes early for his proposed meeting with Kira. What was he going to say to him? What was Kira going to say back? Sai was planning on keeping his connection to Blue Cosmos secret for as long as possible... the entire wedding if feasible. He didn't think that idea would translate over to Kira very well... especially if he brought Lacus, Athrun and the rest of them. Sai hoped he wouldn't, but figured he would. If something was going to go wrong, like the pit of his stomach was saying would, it wouldn't go wrong in just a small way.
"Everything all right, sir?" a dry, almost inflectionless but nonetheless familiar voice said from behind his ear. Sai successfully resisted the urge to jump... after weeks and weeks in the company of the Lieutenant he was getting used to the stealthy bodyguard's mannerisms and habits. The Lieutenant... even Sai had trouble calling him by his name, Cyprus Finch... almost could not make a noise when he moved unless he really tried, so ingrained was stealth into his mindset. Even though it was one of the happiest days of his life, his wedding day, the Lieutenant and his men had not slackened off security. They had been in place around the volcano rim chapel since the day before, scouting around and making sure everything was fully secure... both to ensure his and Vanai's saftey and the safety of the dignitaries that were due to attend. His wedding was a world affair... heads of state and military from most of the Earth Alliance would be here, as well as Cervantes, Asmodeus and a lot of senior Blue Cosmos people.
Sai was glad of the security, since it meant that nothing was going to go wrong... nobody short of a regiment of mobile suits was going to get past the Lieutenant and his men and even that force would be slowed perceptibly. Sai hadn't seen the Lieutenant do much, but what he had seen had impressed and shaken him to the core... he was very glad the Lieutenant was on his side of the fence. The pale haired and pale skinned slender man with flat grey eyes didn't seem like someone special on first glance... all part of his strategy as it turned out. He was a lot like Asmodeus... you had a hard time even realizing he was around until he was right next to you and by then it was far too late. On the other hand, unlike Asmodeus, the Lieutenant could stand out in a crowd just like Cervantes, commanding everyone around him without even moving or saying a word. It all depended on what he wanted to do, what effect he wanted to have. Sai could see why the men of his unit whispered legends about him... he was the sort that spawned legends and myths without even meaning or wanting to.
"Just anxiety, Lt." Sai replied, mastering his wandering mind and turning to face his tenative friend. They had not spoken much, but Sai sensed a mutual degree of respect between them... the Lieutenant certainly seemed to like him a lot, since he was practically the only guy the Lieutenant ever talked casually with for even a real short time.
"I've heard of the ailment." the Lieutenant said with a bare smile. "Thomas experiences it too, before every major mission. It helps, I think, to drink a lot of alchohol and pull a few pranks... or it does for Thomas anyway." the Lieutenant continued, referring to his second in command and co-legend in the Hellhounds, Sergeant-Major Thomas Glory... Sergeant-Major Glory... a beast of a man who was more at home with a rocket launcher in one hand and a minigun in their other than the bottles of champagne he was currenty helping arrange on a side table. Despite the somewhat ludicrous image of Glory, who stood seven feet tall barefoot and massed more than four hundred pounds of sculpted and scarred muscle, dressed in the not quite uniform but not quite dinner dress outfit all the Hellhounds were wearing, his short blond hair buzzed back short recently, moving seemingly tiny wine bottles around like they were high explosives with low vibration tolerances, Sai found it hard to believe such a giant could ever feel anxiety. He also noted that the Lt. made no referral to feeling anxiety himself... Sai had no doubt the very idea was foriegn to the supremely calm and collected bodyguard-soldier.
"I think I'll pass on that for the meanwhile... I'd like to be coherent for my own wedding. Maybe afterwards I can have a few drinks with you guys." Sai replied, checking what little he could see of the parking lot through the open door to the chapel. No sign of Kira yet.
"Of course. I'll see what can be arranged. Now, if you'll excuse me, young master, I need to make some last minute preparations." the Lieutenant said. Sai nodded and thanked him, not quite hurrying outside so he could see Kira, if he was indeed coming, before the Lt. did. Sai wasn't sure what opinion the Lieutenant had on Coordinators, but he knew well Cervantes's and Asmodeus's positions... and the Lt. worked for them... if at all possible he didn't want a gun battle to break out before his wedding... or during his wedding... or at all, really. Back inside the chapel the Lieutenant's smile turned predatory for a fleeting instant. He knew who the young master was looking for out in the parking lot... Asmodeus's wire taps had of course included Sai's computer... they had recieved the invitation email the moment it was sent and it hadn't taken Asmodeus long to figure out who it was addressed to.
Asmodeus had actually been disappointed in himself, the Lt. recalled, for not thinking of such a ploy earlier... the targets were good friends of the young master, of course they would want to show up for the wedding... it was the perfect opportunity to bag a lot of troublemakers all at once. They hadn't known the targets would actually show up until yesterday, when a bulk order for formal attire was put in to a world famous outlet store in Honolulu... an order for nine tuxedoes and six gowns, to be delivered post haste to a drop box address on the Big Island. Tracking the order delivery and the pickup by a fiery red ferrari had not been difficult for Asmodeus to arrange... they had lost the car before following it back to its origin point but they knew to expect early guests. The Lt. was under strict orders to allow the young master his talk with his friends... former friends after the wedding, when the Lt. would be in charge of taking them into custody. Personally, the Lt. would have let the young master talk anyway... and even let his friends go too... he had nothing against them and in fact, deep within the most secret places of his mind, he even sympathized with them... a little.
"ETA?" the Lieutenant asked as he drifted past Glory, who was seemingly still fussing with the champagne bottles, but was actually working the controls of a concealed commlink system that kept all the members of Hellhound team Alpha in constant contact with each other, even though the twelve members were scattered all over around the chapel and surrounding area. It also kept them in contact with Hellhound teams Bravo, Charlie and Delta, who were secreted as a reaction force in the boreal caldera below the chapel... they would exfiltrate from their hiding places during the wedding and act as backup for the police action.
"Five, sir." Glory replied out of the side of his mouth. The red ferrari had been sighted driving up the access road to the private wedding chapel... leading an armored black stretch limo. Clearly the targets were people of some means, much as the files he and the Lt. had studied had indicated. Glory snorted slightly to himself as he continued adjusting the real bottles next to the false versions that concealed the radio transmitter and reciever. He had read the files... he had recognized the names... other professionals in the business were good people to keep tabs on as you never knew when you might be teamed up or squared off. He wasn't too concerned... the only scary name on the list had been Vladimir Valkavich... Andre Forkav... Glory knew the man well and wouldn't have looked forward to facing him in a secret war... or war of any sort. Any man who could use a garrote as his primary weapon was not someone you wanted to be fucking around with, in Glory's opinion. But he did have the Lt. on his side... and the Lt. was another one of those people you didn't want to ever be fucking around with. And the Lt. had lots of backup... Glory was feeling pretty good, all things considered.
"Ready?" the Lt. asked. Glory envied Sai his conversation with the Lt... he had known the Lt. ever since they went through boot camp together ten years previously and he could count the number of lengthy conversations he'd had with his best friend on just his own ten fingers. Well... lengthy conversations that did not have to do with work, anyway. And the number of work related actual conversations was pretty small too... the Lt. could communicate a hell of a lot with just gestures and single words... he was more articulate with shoulder shrugs and stares than Glory ever was during the few times he had been forced to give briefings or other speeches.
"Yes, sir." Thomas Glory, Sergeant-Major in the EFSOU, perhaps the second most feared man in all of the Hellhounds and certainly in the top five toughest men on the planet Earth replied smartly, replying not only for himself but for the rest of team Alpha, who were hanging on every word the Lt. spoke through the comm. channel.
"Good." the Lt. said, the single word of praise and acknowledgement causing a beautific stirring in the heart of every one of his men... they lived for his praise, for his acceptance. The Lt. continued on his way, legs unconsciously moving him outside the chapel and into concelament, where he could watch the young master greet his soon to be former friends without being detected.
"There's the chapel... seems clear enough." Alkire admitted to Kira as he swung his ferrari up off the access road into the parking lot for the chapel... a private affair that was only rented out to upper class wedding parties for ridiculous prices. Alkire had to admit the location was fantastic though, almost certainly worth the price. The chapel was situated in a nature preserve, on the lip of the caldera of a long extinct volcano. There wasn't another building within ten miles and the chapel had a commanding view of the ocean on three sides and the taller mountains of the rest of the island in the other. Lush green forest carpeted the entire area and indeed extended down into the shallow bowl of the caldera... coming right up almost to touch the chapel on the sides and in the back.
Up at this elevation the sun beating down merely warmed the chill morning mountain air rather than turned the air into a steam bath like it did at the base of the mountain. There were only a few other cars parked in the lot... mostly just the upper middle class sedans belonging to the staff of the chapel, who had likely arrived early to make sure everything was ready before the wedding and to make any final adjustments. A single dark navy blue sports car... a custom model Alkire could not easily identify... was parked in the spot of honor closest to the chapel... clearly the groom was here early, just as advertised.
"I don't see anything amiss yet." Vlad added from the back seat, swinging a small pair of binoculars around like he was sightseeing. The binocs, besides magnifying vision, also contained heat and magnetic sensors that would detect people hiding in the foliage by their heat or weapon signatures. Of course, with the sun warmed forest it was hard to see very far into the undergrowth and many advanced weapons were made primarily of plastic nowadays so he did not rely only on the binocs... but his eyes could not pick anything strange out either. Everything seemed on the up and up. He, Alkire and Kira had gone first in the most maneuverable car so that if it did really turn out to be a trap they would have the easiest time escaping. Kira was smiling, pleased and relieved. He saw the waving figure standing at the door to the chapel.
"There's Sai, at the chapel door. I told you it was nothing but a friendly invitation... we don't seem to have been ambushed yet." Kira said, fighting the urge to add "I told you so."
"Emphasis on "yet"." Alkire muttered. He had to admit though, that since neither he nor Vlad had managed to detect any sign of danger, that probably meant there were no signs to detect. Alkire despised hubris but he had some of the best eyes in the business and Vlad was the sharpest scout he'd ever seen... if he couldn't locate the enemy they were almost certainly not there. Still... Alkire couldn't quite convince himself that everything was cool. Something was nagging at his mind, something he couldn't quite point to and say "that's wrong". He sighed. He had no choice but to get the party started. "LZ cold." he radioed to Raine in the limo.
"Incoming then. Sorry dear." she replied. The limo quickly pulled into view and parked next to the ferrari in the middle back of the parking lot. Kira was already out of the car and walking towards Sai while everyone else piled out of the limo and composed themselves. Much to Alkire's aghast horror, Cagalli and Lacus had shed the disguises he had prepared for them... he hadn't seen them get into the limo and hadn't noticed that they'd washed their hair dye out and removed the skin darkeners he'd had them put on. Cagalli was no longer a raven haired beach girl and Lacus her well tanned blond friend... now they were unmistakeably Cagalli Yula Attha and Lacus Clyne.
"Are you INSANE?" Alkire hissed, fingers balling into fists, tendons standing out on the back of his neck. "Do you want to die? Please tell me I'm seeing things and you two aren't out of disguise. Do you have any idea what will happen if you are recognized?"
"We will be forced to leave in a hurry. I would have figured that was what you wanted." Cagalli retorted. Alkire paused in mid tirade.
"Whahuun?" he asked, derailed.
"Much as Kira has been looking forward to this meeting, I found myself growing more and more uncomfortable as time passed. While Kira truly believes Sai wants to talk, I found myself thinking about how horribly exposed he will be out here... even if Sai means him no harm there is the matter of whoever Sai has been staying with these past months... there are many people on Earth who would be quite happy to kill Kira, unfortunate though that truth is." Lacus added. "I hope this meeting is all that Kira wants it to be, but I'm expecting something to go wrong. Much like you, yes? The sooner I or Cagalli gets recognized and we are forced to leave, the better. I feel guilty for forcing Kira away from his friend to protect me, but this is necessary to preserve his own life, I believe most firmly."
"Buh... uhh... wha... damn... that makes too much good sense. What a strategy... remind me not to play chess against you two... thats totally out of left field but it should work great. In a twisted sort of way. But I like it." Alkire said. "There's a lot more to you than I initially gave you credit for."
"Yes, I think you've underestimated Cagalli and I quite a bit. Bear that in mind for the future." Lacus said lightly but with a smile like steel. Alkire couldn't believe it... unless he totally missed his guess he'd just been threatened by Lacus Clyne... a singularly solitary event he was sure.
"Well then... after you two then." Alkire said, sweeping out an arm in a half bow. Lacus and Cagalli stepped by quickly, pausing only to collect Athrun and followed closely by everyone else. Alkire looked at Raine. "That was really their idea?"
"Totally... I think you summed it up well... we've been underestimating them. A lot. We should stop before we get in over our heads." Raine replied. "Just consider them to have gone through EFSOU, like you have. Then maybe you'll have an idea, like I'm starting to, about just how dangerous these kids are. We've been riding the lion's back without realizing it."
"I dunno... I'm a pretty good lion tamer... handy with a whip, if you know what I mean." Alkire said with a wink and a nudge. Raine shot him a half exasperated look and a sigh.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?"
"Quit... what's quit?" Alkire asked, heading off towards the chapel, entwining his hand with her's... though leaving his gun hand free for instant action if required.
"Kira." Sai said, the single word... the name... the mere utterance seeming to carry the weight of an entire book of meaning. He stood at the top of the short flight of shallow white steps that led from the parking lot to the chapel door. Kira was at the bottom, immaculately attired in a tuxedo of similar make to Sai's own... nearly identical bow tie... pink rose boutenniere on his left breast a little odd but it did not detract from his appearance. Except for that and his brown hair and violet eyes, they could have been twin brothers... Sai's own boutenniere was dark blue in a slight nod to his political affiliation. Kira's hair was blowing slightly in the breeze, much as Sai's own was. They just looked at each other, stares meeting like two people diving into opposite pools, one lavender tinted... the other cerulean blue.
"Sai..." Kira replied. His head had been full of words just instants before... he'd had an entire conversation planned out during the ride to the chapel... but now he'd forgotten all of it. Every word, every question... gone. He couldn't think of what to say. "How's it been?" he managed with a slight smile.
Sai smiled as well... trust Kira to just cut right through to the heart of things... no angry questions, no demanding to know where he'd been or who he'd been with. Just a simple inquiry... a friend wanting to know how another friend had been since their last meeting. It warmed him to his soul... he felt friendlier towards Kira than he had since Switzerland. "It's been good. Better than good. Amazing. Incredible. I'm strapped for words."
"Yeah." Kira agreed, similalrly tongue tied. He started up the stairs and held out his hand. Sai looked at it for a moment before tenatively reaching out his own hand. They gripped each others hands and shook once. "Good to see you again, Sai. It's been too long."
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Sai agreed. He dropped Kira's hand, noting a few squriming tendrils of discomfort in his gut... everything was just so awkward. What did he and Kira really have to say to each other? They could tell each other what they'd been doing, but Sai already knew what Kira had been up to... it hadn't been hard to figure out who was piloting the Freedom like mobile suit against both sides in Eurasia. And now that Sai thought about it, there was a lot of stuff he'd been doing... most everything really, that he didn't feel very comfortable telling Kira about. He'd been certain that there were hundreds of things to talk about with Kira when he'd written the invitation... but now that he was confronted with him everything seemed to inevitably lead to Blue Cosmos... the one thing Sai definitely did not want to talk about.
Sai looked up and saw that everyone else from Switzerland was standing a few paces behind Kira, waiting for him to have his talk. There were five new faces in the crowd... four older men and a woman he dimly remembered seeing once or twice before... but Sai didn't know them. Sai frowned slightly when he saw and easily recognized Athrun, Cagalli and Lacus... none of whom had bothered to disguise themselves in the slightest. He smiled again when he saw Miriallia, dressed in a lavender gown that looked quite fetching, but his lip curled upon sighting Ysak, who looked very uncomfortable in his tux... Sai well remembered that Ysak had killed the son of one of his new friends and while that son may have been a disgusting bastard, it didn't change the fact that Ysak had shot him and killed him. "I suppose I should invite you all inside out of the heat, huh?"
Kira looked back when Sai did and smiled at Lacus... everything was going fine, if a little slower than he'd thought. Nothing was wrong with Sai... it was just the standard communication trouble they'd always had... neither of them were especially good with expressing themselves to each other. And of course Sai was even more pent up and nervous than usual... it was his wedding day after all, only a few hours before he was going to be married. Kira imagined that he himself would be a nervous wreck in a similar situation... he certainly wouldn't be as composed as Sai was. Kira looked back at Sai... now that he thought of it, there was something a little different about Sai... he seemed older... more mature... more a man than an old teenager now. Maybe it was the fact that he was getting married but Kira felt it was more.
His friend had grown up a lot in the time they had been apart... grown up so much Kira found it breathtaking now that he thought about it. He didn't feel at all different... a little older and wiser perhaps but nothing like the subtle transformation Sai had undergone... he stood straighter, he talked more clearly and with greater purpose, his grip had been firmer and his entire stance had shifted slightly to that of someone used to giving orders and making a difference in the world. Kira found himself envying his friend just then... like he'd said before there were lots of things Sai could do that Kira could not and never before was that as apparent to him as it was now.
"Thank you." Lacus said politely, moving up next to Kira and giving a half curtsy. "I must congratulate you on your marriage, Mr. Argyle. I hope to be as lucky as your no doubt lovely bride is, sometime soon."
"Thank you as well, Lacus." Sai said, taking her hand and bowing over it. "Though you needn't be so formal, I'm sure I'll have more than enough of that during the wedding and during the party afterwards. And I'm only Mr. Argyle for the next few hours... I'm taking my wife's name when we get married."
"Isn't that a little... counter-custom?" Cagalli asked as she shook his hand as well, slightly tenatively. She could be shaking the hand of a man who had betrayed her and Athrun's private secret lives to the entire world.
"Maybe. But it's what her family wanted and who am I to argue? I'm me, no matter what my name is. By the way, I want to say how sorry I am for what happened... I wish I could have been there in Switerland when that video came out. If I ever find out who stole that photo of yours and took that video I'm going to punch their lights out and then turn them over to you. Nobody deserves to be treated like that... least of all you and Athrun."
"Thank you for the sentiment but if we find out who did it, rest assured, Cagalli and I won't need any help in adminstering a just recompense upon them." Athrun spoke up firmly from behind Cagalli. He took and shook Sai's hand just as firmly, staring him directly in the eyes in an almost challenging manner. Sai didn't back down... he'd stared down Asmodeus and Cervantes when they were upset and he'd looked into the Lieutenant's eyes without flinching... compared to them and especially compared to the raging fire of Vanai's eyes, Athrun wasn't anything to be ruffled about. Plainly the Coordinator was angry and on edge... Sai could hardly blame him, considering what had happened and especially considering their current exposed condition... more than a few people planning to attend would certainly recognize Ms. Attha and Mr. Zala. How that would go Sai did not know, but he expected things would remain civil... this was a wedding after all. "Whoever they are." Athrun added.
He thinks it was me? Thats stupid. I may not like the son of a bitch, but Cagalli's all right. I wouldn't betray them to the news like that... that would be wrong. I'll have to do some looking for them... Blue Cosmos has a wide reach... and while Cervantes assured me the man who did the deed killed himself I can't bring myself to believe it... a man with the balls to pull off a smear job like that wouldn't just end his own life afterwards... he's still out there. "Of course. Merely expressing my sentiments." Sai replied. He greeted Miriallia next, genuinely glad to see her... she was his one remaining true natural friend from his old friend circle. She was easy to get along with, unlike the awkwardness with Kira and Lacus or the hostility he felt from Cagalli and Athrun... the damned Coordinator had poisoned Cagalli against him with his prejudices, no doubt. But Sai found it tough to get her to engage in as much conversation as he was used to... she clung quite tightly to Dearka. Sai was used to Mir clinging to her boyfriends... she'd done it to Tolle all the time... but he found it a little annoying right now... she hadn't seen him for months and yet she didn't seem all that happy to see him... maybe another victim of a Coordinator's prejudice, since Dearka, while polite was not more than cool towards him.
Sai looked up and out at the parking lot, where a white limousine unfamiliar to him was pulling up... it was large and expensive... another early arriving guest of some import no doubt, but Sai didn't remember hearing the Lt. talk about any other guests arriving early... the wedding wasn't due to begin for another two hours. The next people he greeted in the line of acquiantances was Ysak and his two girlfriends... Chanel and Katie, he could not tell them apart as they were dressed in identical red dresses with identical hairstyles and accoutrements. He shook their hands briefly and bowed, but couldn't muster up any warmth... he wasn't glad to see them and he wished they weren't there. If Cervantes wasn't going to be happy to see Kira and Lacus and Cagalli and Athrun... Asmodeus was going to freak out when he saw Ysak, whom he hated with a burning passion. The next person after them was a man grown, the man with brown and black speckled hair and twinkling blue eyes that still managed to convey far more sense of threat than Athrun's. Sai was shaking his hand and trying to get a look at whoever had stepped out of the limo, but was unable to see around the older man.
"So... who is the lovely bride? I've yet to catch her name. Mine's Alkire... Alkire Majesty." Alkire asked.
"I am. Who the hell are all you people?" Vanai's truculent but heartbreakingly sweet voice said from behind the group at the door. Sai's jaw dropped... he hadn't expected Vanai to show up for another thirty minutes or so... why had she shown up early? Sai's jaw dropped farther when he saw her in her brilliant pure snow white wedding dress with a blue diamond necklace shaped like the Blue Cosmos insignia around her neck... she was a vision of all that was good and right in the world... fiery red hair pluming from her head like the lava that used to come from the caldera and yellow eyes flashing like molten sapphires in her face. Lacus and Cagalli and Miriallia and even Chanel and Katie were pretty girls... but Vanai was a goddess among peasants, at least in Sai's eyes. His good mood was spoiled more than slightly when he saw Cervantes and Asmodeus getting out of the limo as well, but neither had yet turned to look at the people at the door... a precious few seconds of peace he was thankful for.
"Kira... Lacus... Mir... everyone... this is Vanai Zunnichi... my one true love and soon to be bride." Sai proclaimed proudly. "Vanai, dearest... meet Kira Yamato... the friend I've told you about. And the rest of his friends as well, all acquiantances and old friends of mine as well."
"Out of the frying pan... into the fire." Victor whispered to James, who could do no more than stare in stupifecation. Raine leaned close to Alkire.
"The lion's den... thats where we are. That whip better be damned good." Alkire turned to make a comment and froze. Cervantes and Asmodeus, in a conversation of their own, suddenly stopped and looked at him from no more than six feet away. Alkire was stunned... this was worse than he ever imagined it could be. Exposed... off balance... surrounded... outnumbered... the situation screamed trap. Trap with a capital "T". TRAP TRAP TRAP! They were screwed... they were caught cold... the legion of bodyguards was moments from descending upon them, no doubt. Cervantes smiled, convincing Alkire once and for all that it had been a trap. They were expected... no man was that unflappable, especially when his own daughter and soon to be son in law were closer to Alkire than to him.
"Alkire Majesty, I presume? And Raine Belaruse... James Ramsgoth... Andre... excuse me, Vladimir Valkavich... and Victor Klein, right?" he said, nodding to each TEMPEST member in turn. "I am Cervantes Zunnicihi. This is my friend and advisor, Asmodeus Sark. I believe some of you may have heard of him. And me too, of course." Cervantes continued smoothly, acting like nothing untoward was happening. But Alkire saw the sparkle of triumph, carefully hidden in the depths of the other man's eyes... he was loving every second of this. "I welcome you to this joyous occasion... I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about during the reception, don't you?" Cervantes left that thought hanging and stepped into the chapel. "Ah, more familiar faces... lets see... Dearka Elsman... Miriallia Haw... I don't know you two well but friends of Sai's are friends of mine, eh?" He turned his gaze elsewhere, playing with them like a lion with a mouse.
"Mr. and Ms. Zala-Attha! How wonderful to see you. Dressed and everything, how shocking. Isn't your wedding going to be soon as well? Maybe you can use the facility after Sai and Vanai, eh?" Cervantes said, getting as many digs in as he could, enjoying the tightening of lips and narrowing of eyes. He didn't usually get to have this much fun all at once. "You must be Ysak Joule. I've heard about you... but I don't know those lovely girls by your side... not feeling talkative, mmm? Don't worry, there is plenty of time for us all to become well acquianted." Cervantes nodded at Ysak before circling his gaze around to his primary targets. "And who is this? Not Lacus Clyne and the famous Kira Hib... pardon me, Yamato. No surely not... I did not know you had such well known friends, Sai. I would hardly have expected the PLANTS most famous pop singer and pacifist and the Ultimate Coordinator to show up to your wedding. After all..." Cervantes started to say. Sai cut him off.
"I'm glad you know all my friends, sir. But what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you for at least an hour." Sai said, sliding up to put his arm around Vanai and stand between the two groups of people... Vanai, Cervantes and Asmodeus on his right, everyone else on his left. Things hadn't gotten bad yet... but they were far from good... a word said wrong and everything was going to blow up in his face. The invitation really seemed like a bad idea now.
"Oh, I figured a father's touch might be useful in making sure my little girl's happiest day went perfectly. We were just sitting around the mansion twiddling our thumbs anyway. Look how well this turned out for us all though. I must admit, I forgot to invite any friends of yours... everyone else is a friend of mine or Vanai's. I'm glad you had the presence of mind and the gumption to send your own invitations... speaks well of your initiative, my boy. I always admire judiciously applied initiative. But of course you already knew that, since you're a senior vice president after all." Cervantes said effluently, voice oozing good cheer. Kira was staring at Cervantes with a sickly look... that last time he'd seen this man was from much farther away and he hadn't liked it... now he was seeing him in his full aweful majesty... light grey suit with maroon undershirt and the white cane, white hair and almost glowing yellow eyes blazing with exaltation... the man was frightening. Kira switched his gaze to Sai at that last comment.
"Senior vice president? Where have you been working, Sai? That's a major upgrade." Kira said, trying not to sound like he didn't really want to know. He had a very bad feeling about this. Very bad.
"Oh, you mean you didn't know? Sai's been working very closely with me... my company is Cosmos Weapons Manufacturer's and its subsidaries... I also head up an environmental rights group... perhaps you've heard of it. Sai is also a major part of that organization... he's quite popular, you know." Cervantes said with a wide grin. Oh, this was delicious... he lived for moments like this.
"Cosmos..." Kira trailed away... his eyes riveted themselves to the necklace Sai's bride, Vanai... the girl from math class who'd always thought he was hitting on her... was wearing around her neck. Vanai was busy giving each and every Coordinator present a death stare... with an extra couple left over for Miriallia and Cagalli. She was ignoring Chanel and Katie, who kept trying to stare her down. But the feminine gaze war was not what troubled him, even if he did not like how the red head was staring at Lacus at all... it brought up unpleasant memories of Flay... no... his attention was centered on the blue gem necklace. The one with a much hated symbol as it's centerpiece, lovingly worked but no less hideous in his eyes for that. "No..." he looked at Sai pleadingly. That couldn't be true. Sai couldn't...
Sai did not look away. He met Kira's gaze. Before he might have been embarrassed... but he wasn't now. He was getting married today and he didn't care what his friends thought about him... if they couldn't respect his choice of political party then they could go screw themselves. He had tried to skirt the issue to avoid offending them but now that it was in the open he wasn't going to pretend he was anything less than proud to be a part of Blue Cosmos. It wasn't like he was one of those fanatics who used machine guns and drive by shootings to express themselves... he much preferred argument and debate. "What about it?" Sai asked Kira back. "You don't see me criticizing Lacus for being a pacifist, do you?"
"But... Blue Cosmos? You hated Blue Comos!" Kira protested. The world had been kicked out from under him again... it was happening even when he thought it would never happen again. This didn't make any sense at all... sure, Sai had always had a bit of an inferiority complex whe it came to Kira and Coordinators, but he didn't hate them. Kira knew that for certain. How could Sai have so radically changed so as to join Blue Cosmos? Kira's eye once again alighted on Vanai Zunnichi. Daughter of the leader of Blue Cosmos. Sai's wife. Kira knew well the influence Lacus had on him... Sai seemed just as in love with Vanai as Kira was with Lacus. No... that was monstrous... Sai couldn't be manipulated like that... after Flay he was much more suspicious of feminine motives.
"I hated specific stances Blue Cosmos supported." Sai clarified. "I don't hate you for being a Coordinator, Kira. I don't hate Coordinators period. But I don't think we can get along either. You might not be able to change how you were born and I cannot do so either. But just because the past cannot be changed doesn't mean the future is immutable as well... Coordinators and Naturals do not get along and forcing them to be together in so called equality is foolish. There is no set destiny where humanity and Coordinators co-exist... it is a fact of human nature to want to be the best and as long as we co-habitate, Coordinators and Naturals will fight to be the best. We could exterminate each other... but I don't think that is possible... not without ensuring mutual genocide. We should seperate our races... Coordinators and Naturals, forever seperated. That's the only way to achieve peace and move forward."
"Running away from the problem isn't going to solve anything!" Lacus interrupted. "If we seperated the Coordinator's and Natural's one side would eventually feel threatened by the other being out of sight and would attack and we'd be back where we are now."
Sai glared at her. She made it sound like he hadn't thought of that himself... like he was stupid or something. He was getting fed up with Coordinators again... his good feelings towards Kira were melting away. Couldn't he keep his girl under control? Vanai knew when to talk and offer advice and when to let Sai express his own views... she had nothing positive to add to the current conversation and so she was letting him talk, though she likely had quite a bit to say to Kira... none of it suitable for the ears of minors. "Well, once you've come up with a more advanced solution for world peace than simply praying for us sweetly to get together and talk things out like children being summoned to the principles office for detention, be sure to let me know. Meanwhile I'll be working on my solution as well. I can tell you which is more likely to succeed, but you probably would just come up with another know it all smart ass comment. You seem to be good at that."
"Now, now, lets not fight. It's a happy day today. A wedding. Surely you can put all this tension behind yourselves until a more suitable time?" Cervantes said with a grin. "After all... its not like there's a war on or anything... oh, I guess there is. Well... in that case I'm sure you'll both get to try your solutions... the war won't end tomorrow or anything." Well, the war might but the mop up certainly won't. "I can promise you all that Blue Cosmos is not doing anything to harm Coordinators right now. The entire organization is taking a holiday for my daughter's wedding. Let's have a drink and be friends, eh?"
Kira ignored Cervantes's gibes, though the taunting was starting to piss him off something fierce. Only the certain knowledge that they were surrounded and completely in Cervantes's power had kept Ysak and Athrun from action, Kira was sure. "I can't believe you would do such a thing. I can't believe you would join Blue Cosmos... it's so... not you, Sai."
"How would you know what I am? You were always too busy fighting the war to get to know how I was doing. Barring that you were stealing my girlfriend." Sai was digging for his wallet when he brought up that spiky ball of pain. Kira flinched, as did Lacus.
"That's... that's..." Kira started to say.
"Shut up, Kira. I've heard what you had to say on that issue and it's closed. We're past it. I only brought it up to illustrate just how little you really know me any more." Sai searched through his wallet for a way to get through to Kira.
"You were sad when you thought I was dead... you were glad to see I was alive after Genesis... we had a good time in Switerland, didn't we?" Kira retorted, started to get frustrated and angry.
"I don't hate you Kira. I don't think I could ever hate a guy like you. But you really piss me off sometimes. Like now. You just cannot accept that the world and the people you know in it... might actually be different than how you want them to be. You want proof of who I am? Look at this!" Sai said harshly, showing his business card... the one that had the CWM insignia and his official position on the front... and the Blue Cosmos membership card on the back. "I'm a hard working senior executive for a corporation that provides more than 75 percent of the Earth Alliance's armaments in addition to dozens of other products. I earn a salary with more zero's in it than all the calibres of all your mobile suits many weapons added together. I work for that money... I work hard and long hours making technology better for the Earth. And then I come home every day to my loving fiancee. Sometimes on weekends I go out with some mutual friends and have a few drinks... sometimes the conversation turns to politics. I go to Blue Cosmos rallys when I feel like shaping my own viewpoint to more accurately fit what I want it to be alongside the greater viewpoint of the organization. I've even spoken at a few and my views do seem to have a following. That's who I am. Who did you think I was? The crewmember on the Archangel? The student from Heliopolis? The stilted friend from the desert? Who?"
"If you don't hate me... why are you saying all these things?" Kira asked, numb. Sai growled... he just didn't get it. He was taking offense... not thinking. It amazed Sai that such an intelligent guy could be such a pinhead.
"I'm saying them because I do want you to understand me, Kira. I want you to know who I really am... not who you assume I am. We were friends up in Heliopolis... we were friends during most of the war. I wouldn't mind being friends now... in fact I'd like that very much. But I cannot be friends with you if you refuse to accept me as I am. You have some idea what I'm saying... everyone thought you were a traitor to your people because you fought on the Archangel... can't you see how similar the situation is here?"
Kira shook his head. "I was doing that to protect the people I cared about. You... Mir... Tolle... I was fighting to protect you all. How is joining Blue Cosmos at all like protecting people? I'm sorry, but it seems more to me that you're doing all this for you... not for us. I'm supposed to accept you as you are... I can do that. I want to be your friend Sai. But it has to go both ways. I can change and accept you... but you have to change too... you have to see where I'm coming from too."
"I do accept you... I invited you to my damn wedding, you stubborn bastard. How is that not friendly?"
"The wedding where you marry the daughter of the man who is currently in charge of an organization that wants to kill the person I love most just because of how she was born. An organization that wants to kill me and most of my friends for a similar reason. The wedding where you marry someone who to me seems to be strongly influencing you against me, pardon me for saying so. I just can't see where our parallel paths parted. We used to be the closest of friends... sure we had a bit of trouble communicating, but it was never anything like this." Kira said plainitively.
"Vanai isn't influencing me against you... you don't need any help doing that yourself. And if Vanai is influencing me... don't you think the little pink hair vixen behind you might be doing some influencing on you in turn?"
"But I trust..."
"You trust Lacus's intentions are for the best, of course. Just like I trust Vanai's intentions are for the best. We seem to have a conundrum here... are you telling me I should trust you and Lacus more than I trust Vanai? Please be clear because that seems to be exactly what you are telling me." Sai said, his voice going low and rough. He did not need this shit on his wedding day... if Kira didn't come around quick... well, he didn't know what was going to happen... but it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Well... no. Of course not. You should trust whomever you want to trust. But... Sai... you're making a mistake. I can't let you do this. I can't let you go down this path. Can't you see where you're being led to?" Kira said, his voice pained. Alkire winced... Kira's word choice could have been a lot better. A LOT BETTER. The kid could put his foot in his mouth like no other.
"You CAN'T LET ME?" Sai's voice went very calm and neutral. "You can't let me? I'm being led? Making a mistake? Is that what you said?"
"Well... that came out a bit harsh... I meant to say that as a friend I won't allow you to be..."
"YOU won't ALLOW... you're not doing any allowing when it comes to me... Kira." Sai practically spat the name out. "I'm the only one doing the allowing here. You keep saying things like that... I see why Blue Comos doesn't like Coordinators clearer with every word you utter. Your arrogance is staggering."
"But... you're being decieved!" Kira protested. Lacus clamped down on his arm... he wasn't talking anywhere but into trouble right now. Kira had tried his best but he hadn't gotten through. He was only hurting himself now... further damaging an already damaged relationship.
"I'm... being... decieved." Sai said slowly, as if tasting the words. "I wonder if you aren't talking about yourself now? I'm seeing things very clearly, I think. The only deception I'm under was the one that you were a friend to me... ever. All I've been to you is a convenient cutout for you to place against the background so you could feel better about your motivations. You should go. And not come back. Don't even call me. I'll do my best to forget you ever existed. That's probably best, don't you think? Should be easy enough... if I'm not real enough to trust for you, returning the favor shouldn't be too hard, eh?" Sai said bitterly, turning away towards his father in law.
"That's not the TRUTH!" Kira said, stepping forward and reaching out to his friend. He didn't see Sai turn back. Or maybe he just refused to accept that Sai really meant what he said. In any case, he was unprepared.
"FUCK YOUR TRUTH!" Sai cried, whirling and throwing a strong, swift and straight right hook into Kira's face. Sai hadn't really expected to hit him, though he'd certainly tried. He'd attempted a similar attack back in the desert and all it had earned him was a twisted arm and bruised pride. But either he was a lot faster or Kira was really a lot slower for some reason, but in any case his punch slipped right through Kira's defenses and he connected solidly. Very solidly. Sai hadn't been in many fights growing up, but he'd had a few... and this was the most solid punch he'd ever landed. It seemed to contain all his emotions... the bitterness, betrayal, sadness, pain, anger, frustration... all the negative stuff Kira had brought out. That one punch drained all that out of him by lending a lot of force to his punch. More even than he'd intended. He didn't break Kira's nose, but he bloodied it damned well and actually knocked the Coordinator right off his feet, to land stretched out stunned on the chapel floor. Sai gasped once and looked down at Kira, who was staring at him like he'd just grown an extra head.
"And fuck you too, Kira." Sai said, turning on his heel and walking out with Vanai by his side. He paused briefly by Cervantes and whispered something in his ear. Cervantes nodded after a long moment and whispered something back. Then Sai walked out of the door... leaving the soiled past behind and stepping into his bright future, ignoring the soldiers who poured past him and his wife in all but name on their way into the chapel to apprehend his former friends. He didn't look back even once as the doors swung slowly shut behind the Lieutenant, who saluted his back briefly.