THANK YOU

known as r - You have always proven to be a great writer of Gundam SEED fics and it was initially after I read The Great King that I actually though about doing a Gundam SEED fic and here is the result, thanks for the unknown boost of confidence and following through with the story through reviews and reading.

lac-le - or lac73 is it now? I am grateful to know that some people are continuing to read this story, it is nice to see and hear of people following up with the stories and you have been one of those extraordinary people keeping my motivation for this fic.

Cherimai - You are like the others, you reviews are always encouraging, every time I read one, it gives motivation to make the story better and continue developing the plot more.

Thanks to the three of you, you keep this fic going!! Now, onto the story, this time voiced by the actual generation who will be the main characters of the fic. Of course Lacus, Kira, Athrun, and Cagalli will be around but Keir is going to be a dominant voice, along with Kora when she comes back .

CHAPTER 7 – SHINJU

FIFTEEN YEARS LATER - COSMIC ERA 88

Keir sat down rapidly typing hoping to get his homework done before he had to get home. He knew he really probably shouldn't have skipped class. While the teachers they got upset about on the outside they really didn't care as long as the work got done. To be honest the classroom dulled his intellect, it was an almost suffocating atmosphere and he didn't want to have to deal with Jaina. He flinched recalling the fiery haired heiress of the Sahaku family. She was pretty but she seemed to have it stuck in her head that he and she were some kind of destined item. Keir knew her real motive and sighed. She wanted to be the next queen of ORB.

Years ago a freakish accident had resulted in the death of his cousin who had been the heiress of ORB. Shortly after her death, his aunt, the current ruler of ORB had named him as the heir to ORB. He exhaled, that had happened fifteen years ago on that day and he knew that his aunt who was normally so cool minded and collected would probably end up bursting into tears. He himself had to admit he was mournful over the fact he had never been able to know his cousin. He shook his head and chastised himself; he wasn't getting any homework done musing about things like this.

Suddenly the green bird that had been silently perched on his shoulder took off and he sighed before putting his laptop away, putting it back in his bag, and going off to find where it had gone. Torii had been a robotic bird that had always been with his father, recently though the thing had taken a liking to him, Keir had to admit he didn't know why his Father had constantly dealt with how the bird as it always seemed to run off. He called out for it, and it swooped down from a light post it had been perched on before, and quickly flied past as Keir made an attempt to grab at it. However being at the top of a hill he lost his balance and ended up taking a tumble down the hill.

Keir rubbed the back of his head before he realized he had run into someone. Torii, landed on his head and he couldn't help but scowl because of the antics the bird had caused. He turned to the girl and helped her up, "I'm so sorry, Miss."

He suddenly went silent; the girl was, for lack of better word, beautiful. She had deep emerald orbs which was complimented perfectly by the silver cascade that was blowing gently in the wind, and to curved things off perfectly a beautiful alto voice said, "I am quite alright, thank you for you help."

Keir suddenly realized that she was on school grounds though he had never seen her, "No, I am really sorry for running into you like some kind of idiot. Do you go to school here?"

"I will be."

"Will be?"

"I just transferred from a school on Copernicus today, starting on Monday I will be attending this institution."

Keir smiled, "Than maybe I'll see you around," he held out his hand, "My name is Keir, Keir Yamato"

Suddenly the girl looked away and said, "Perhaps," she however glanced away from him, coldly brushing his introduction off, "Don't get familiar with me, I am here to study, not make friends."

With that, she started to walk away, Keir said, "Can't you do both?"

The girl paused, with her back to him, and said, "No," though silently she wished she had that luxury.

Keir stepped into his house and instantly turned on his laptop. He quickly finished the homework he meant to finish earlier. Afterwards logging online and entering a chat room. This was his standard get away; he didn't have to worry about dealing with the people in his day to day life because he could always meet better people online who were, unfortunately, millions of miles away. Keir's mind once again wandered to the girl he had met earlier. There had been something almost melancholic about her, but she was undoubtedly spirited. Keir vowed then that he would do whatever it took to become the cold hearted ice queen's friend.

THE NEXT DAY….

Keir ran, it was not good, he was going to be late which after skipping a class yesterday which would be a double offense and would only probably land him in detention. He ran entering the room as the bell rang, thankful that the teacher wasn't there yet which was odd since Mrs. Allen was rarely late. He simply sat down, relishing in his good luck. The door opened and all the students quickly became alert. Mrs. Allen walked him, and Keir gaped, as he saw the beautiful silver haired girl he had ran into yesterday. Mrs. Allen cleared her throat, "We have a new student who has recently transferred from the Copernicus Institute."

Immediately Keir was confused, that school was one of the most expensive schools on the moon so why would such a girl have transferred from such an advanced school simply to come to a normal Earth school. The girl stood up straight, reminding him of a military officer, and said, "My name is Shinju Kerein. I recently transferred here to experience what life is like here on Earth and to study the unique formation that ORB has in the co-existence of Naturals and Coordinators."

Keir knew the name Kerein; it was one of the wealthier families and one of the main military leaders of the Eurasian Federation. Immediately her name clicked with why she was in one of the more expensive academies present on the moon but the way she had said 'to experience what life is like here on Earth' made it sound like she had been on the Moon her entire life and never even been on Earth though.

Mrs. Allen nodded and said, "Miss Kerein you may take a seat behind Miss Sahaku, middle row, third seat back."

Keir watched as the girl walked forward calmly sitting down as directed, the entire class period Keir glanced over her way. She wasn't talking notes but rather staring at Mrs. Allen as if committing everything she said to memory. Keir quickly turned back to the lecture, knowing that the last thing he needed was to get on Mrs. Allen bad side by being caught not paying attention. At 11:15 the bell rang out for lunch and she got up and swiftly walked out of the classroom following two girls who he recognized at Megan and Erin, two Natural twins that had almost near genius intelligence that almost made you believe they were Coordinators. He was getting ready to follow them when he felt a hand yank back on his shoulder, and turned to see his fellow Coordinator and friend, Ryn grinning at him, "New girl is quite nice eh? Not bad to look at huh? Jaina was practically grinding her teeth to dust because your eyes were wandering to the new girl during the whole class period."

"Oh, was it that noticeable?"

"Do you think everyone is blind?"

"No, but…"

"Don't make the new girl any enemies before she has even got a chance to get to know us. Anyways, I am off. Later."

Keir suddenly ran before he felt an arm embrace and latch onto his, immediately he knew who it was, "Jaina."

"Hey, Keir," she fixed an innocent smile on her face, "let's go greet the new student together, shall we?"

Keir started to make silent protests which Jaina ignored, as she practically dragged him over to where Shinju was sitting down, eating and conversing with the twins.

Exhaling a sigh, Shinju quickly moved over and greeted the only two people she knew in this school. Her childhood friends, Megan and Erin, both of them had the same golden hair and hazel eyes though they were fraternal twins. Megan said, "So how was your first morning of classes."

"Do you really have to ask?"

Erin smiled, "It can't be all that bad."

"The only interesting thing was history, the rest of it I could really do without. I am horrible at Math as it is, and the actual class only made me all the more positive that I have no clue what in the hell they were talking about and trying to teach me. I am hardly better at science. I am more positive about the afternoon: history, philosophy, and computers those I can do. Math, science and people, no."

Megan and Erin started laughing, and all three of them grabbed their lunch trays and sat down at a table. Shinju just started to eat when she saw Erin nudge Megan and indicated something with the simply jerk of her head. Shinju coolly looked at the newcomers: a red head and the boy she had run into literally the other day."

The girl gave her a smile and said, "Shinju, right?"

She nodded tersely, replying with a silent, "Yes."

The girl said, "I just wanted a chance to welcome you. My name is Jaina, Jaina Sahaku, the one who sits in front of you in 1st Period,"

Shinju felt plain annoyed, she saw the girl possessively clutching the arm of the boy. She couldn't help but be irritated by the gesture of this welcome, the true meaning of it couldn't be clearer: the red head was telling her that the guy was hers and to stay away from him, even though she hadn't done anything to indicate she was after the boy. The last thing she was here for was to find a guy, and she was about prepared to make it almost bluntly clear when she realized she didn't want to get off on a wrong foot either. She had wanted to attend a school on Earth, she had practically begged her Father for this chance, and she didn't want her own actions and attitude to make the worse out of this chance she had been given. She simply said, "Thank you, Miss Jaina."

Shinju had hoped that the girl would leave it at that, she had no intention of having anything more to do with a girl like the red head. The girl however didn't and she narrowed her eyes slightly before grabbing her half-eaten lunch, "I introduced myself to you earlier, you introduced yourself now, but don't get the idea that I want to be your friend. I am here to study, not to make friends, now if you'll excuse me."

The cold way she said that made the fiery haired diva scowl and she immediately said, "Oh, I see how it is, and what wrong with me that you are friends with these freaks and you can't be with me?"

Keir noticed that the girl eyes had been almost cold but a moment later her eyes held a fierce intensity that made him yank at Jaina fearing that the silver haired newcomer would lash out. However Jaina didn't move, pushing him away from her, Shinju watched as Jaina was coming near her, it was obvious that Jaina's pride had been mauled and that was more important than anything. Keir, however, didn't want Jaina to get herself in too deep, and he didn't want Shinju to get in trouble because he was pretty sure she would lash out to defend the twins. He knew this whole welcome scenario had been a way for Jaina to assert that he belonged to her, and he was pretty sure that Shinju knew this as well but Jaina had stepped too far near the cliff in saying something like that to the only friends the new girl had. Jaina again tried to resist him and suddenly he grabbed Jaina's shoulder and placed his lips on Jaina's. The young woman gave a looking of surprise before returning it, leaving everyone in the lunch room shocked. His eyes wandered to Shinju's direction, the girl simply look appalled and took her leave.

The rest of the afternoon, the lunch room incident was the talk of the school, and Keir had to admit he hadn't minded his interlude with Jaina though he was sort of curious about how Shinju was doing. She was in none of his afternoon classes, and he didn't see her until the end of the day at computer class. He was about to go up to her and apologize for Jaina's behavior when the bell rang and he took his seat. He spent most of the period typing completing his lessons though there was a noticeable gap between the Coordinators and Naturals in the class. Like expected the Coordinators completed their exercises with more ease and quicker than the Naturals. He recalled that Shinju had to be a Natural but by the end of the class period; she had outpaced some of her Coordinator classmates. She recorded her progress, and suddenly a frown came on her face, before she glared at him and immediately he wondered what he had done to make her mad. She logged out, and put away her laptop in her bag. She quickly left leaving Keir no time to go after her. Ryn came up to him, "Looking for the newcomer when you already had your moment with Jaina Sahaku today?"

"Well, that was an accident."

"An accident to avoid the newcomer from getting herself expelled for decking Jaina."

"Yeah, I mean."

Ryn laughed, "I knew it, you like the newcomer. To bad she hates you right now."

"Hates me?"

"You ran and knocked into her yesterday, you kissed another girl in front of her today at lunch, and you have been gawking at her all day, do think she wouldn't be a little turned off and angry."

Keir suddenly, scratched the back of his head, he hadn't meant for anything to happen. I am sure making a mess out of making friends, aren't I?

He ended up spending the last few moments looking around hoping to straighten things up a bit, so she didn't totally get the wrong idea about him and hate him forever. He didn't understand why he was trying so hard to fit in and be accepted by her, but she was so different and almost alluring. She wasn't like the other girls he had spent his entire life surrounded by, she was a whole new kind of person, and she didn't care about any of the things that seemed important to the rest of the world. She came from a rich family like himself and the Sahaku and yet she was the closest thing he had to a friend with similar thinking. He walked home puzzling why he was going to such lengths with this one person, the answer came to him, she was so judgmental, obsessed with perfection, and yet it didn't bring her happiness. Maybe he wanted to understand better to make her smile and find the true person behind the icy persona.

He saw down and was surprised to see a familiar pink haired diva seated at the table, "Mother? I thought you and Dad weren't back for another week."

His mother, with her beautiful pink tresses, smiled, "We got done earlier than expected, and we returned this afternoon."

"And your uncle returned with us."

Keir turned to see his father glancing at him a smile on his fact as he settled down at the table. "Well your return is of course welcomed, I am happy you are all back, Father, Mother. How is Uncle Athrun?"

Kira looked at his son and took a moment to admire his son's sapphire eyes and raven hair, "As well as can be supposed. He obviously returned since this is a hard time for both him and your Aunt. Do not bring it up, though it happened fifteen years ago, it has never been and never will be forgotten by the two of them."

Keir nodded sadly, pausing until his mother looked at him concerned before he began eating.

After dinner Keir decided to take a walk, Torii perched on his shoulder, quietly uttering tori tori as he thought silently to himself. Suddenly it again took off and he came out of his reverie as he gave a silent curse following the robotic bird's progress through the sky. He stopped suddenly when he heard a voice silently singing through the falling sun and the approaching darkness.

The always enduring night is now wavering

It idles quietly as if it is too sorrowful

The ocean that's full of fresh greens

If I could just wait for beautiful daybreak

With a light heart

He paused listening the haunting song and recognizing it as one of his Mother's songs, songs that she had sung to many people of Earth when she had been younger, though even now his mother still sang, he found himself surprised to hear someone singing the words so delicately and with passion he wouldn't have expected from anyone but his mother.

I'll go to the dark ocean and the skies

Who was it that had taught me?

That there is a place without conflict

Is it impossible for anyone to reach it?

Or perhaps within someone's heart the flow of water has been stopped

This is a song that coaxes the tormented earth

He suddenly felt Torii, ram itself into his neck as he came out into the open, seeing a girl, but for a moment he was left wondering if it had been his own imagination in seeing the silver hair turn to a beautiful golden brown.

Even thought it might not be anywhere right now

I'm going to earn it myself

Always, someday, for sure.

The girl turned to him to face him with emerald eyes, and the words escaped from his mouth before he could stop them,"Kora."

A/N: Another chapter down, sorry this one took so long, but finals were taking all my time for studying but now I am out of school and hopefully I should have a lot more time to write chapters which is good. Ok, now I am at a bit of a crossroads there is two ways to go with the story, put a lot more of civilian experiences for Keir, or go right for the more action. I would appreciate some opinions to help my mind settle on a choice easier. Anyways, another character was met in this chapter, Shinju, who will be another voice of this story and the new generation (which means 'pearl' in Japanese). Hope to actually bring both Athrun and Cagalli into the next chapter so keep up to date, will hope to have the next chapter up in a few days.