Freedom Samurai

New and old characters, new cities, new sorrow, and a new Hukari. But all have one goal; to kill Rau. SEQUEL TO STRIKE SAMURAI you must read Strike Samurai before reading this story. KiraxLacus AthrunxCagalli ShinnxStellar MwuxMurrue DearkaxMiriallia YzakxRaine NicolxSparrowxMeyrin AndyxAisha

Disclaimer:

Me: I have a little surprise for you at the end of this chapter, which is half the reason it's so long, hehe…

Alex: Yeah, (Snickers)

Olivia: (Shifty eyes) Whoo who, hehehehe, hahahahahaha! Hehehehojhohhoh…

Chelsea: Olivia's messed up right now…

Me: Yeah, she had Waaaaaay too much raw cookie dough…

Alex: How could something sooo wonderful, be sooo evil?

Olivia: Hehehehojhohhoh…

Me: And about the Fanart, I'm super sorry but my computer is all screwed up! Gaah! Something about e-mailing the pics takes forever and I don't know what's screwin' it up…

Alex: Yea, so we have to find the manual to the scanner…to see what screwed up the system…

Me: But as soon as we do, all you who asked or ask for it will get it! Sorry for the delay…

Chapter 7 Mizu's Amazing Power

Kitsu and Mizu could see the figures of Kira, and the two ninja as they came closer falling to the dead ground below them. "KIRA!" Cagalli shouted as a chilling feeling stabbed at her heart. Stellar and Shinn had stunned expressions. Kitsu's tears were once again starting to fall, and crying out loudly, a white aura surrounded her. Mizu too cried out for them, also worried about Lacus, the white aura also growing around him. "Noo!" he screamed, and his brown eyes flashed a silvery color and a silver wave flew out of him and towards the falling figures. Kitsu gripped her ears in an effort to silence her screaming for small tremors were being felt everywhere along the valley, and the entrance. A white wave also flew from her towards the fast approaching death friends.

Before anyone could stop him, Mizu had taken off in a run down the slope, but he didn't trip once for a white glow had seemed to form wherever his feet touched the ground, and sometimes they didn't touch it at all. He seemed to pick up more speed as he sprinted down, and when he hit the bottom of the valley, he kept on running. "I'm not gonna make it!" he realized and froze, allowing a strong white aura to swirl around him. He closed his eyes, and allowed the white aura to swallow him, and then he felt the white waves from him and his sister flow into him. I've never felt so powerful, what is this? He asked himself as he slowly opened his eyes to reveal they were no longer brown but white like his sister's. He reached out his hands; his fingers spread apart, and made fists, as if trying to control his power. The white glow around him enlarged and sent half of itself towards the falling bodies.

Kira had a horrified expression on his face as he watched the top of the plateau fade from view. What went wrong? What happened? Why was he falling? He felt all the air leave him quickly, and his eyes widened, but then began to slowly close. I failed you Lacus, I'm sorry…he whispered in his mind as he felt himself pulled into the darkness. A sudden jerk of his body caused the man to opened his eyes in a flash. He felt the swirling air around him begin to slow, and also saw some swirling white aura surround himself and the ninjas. Soon, he felt himself hit the ground, but softly, as if he had just fallen three inches. Getting up, he looked around and spotted Mizu, but his eyes were glowing white, and a white aura surrounded his body. "Mizu, how did you-?" but Kira stopped when the aura left the boy and he smiled. His eyes darkened to brown, and he then fell to the ground.

Lacus's eyes were wide as the lava spouts finally bubbled down, and she slowly took a few steps towards the edge to look over. She was hoping to see Kira and Dearka and even Yzak hanging on to the edge of the cliff, but they weren't there. Being so high up caused her not to be able to see if they were all right, but her eyes stung with tears as she looked away. "Why didn't I sense that tremor earlier? Why-?" but sudden realization made her heart skip a beat. It was her fault, it was her own damned fault. "How did I let this happen?" she asked herself as she felt the tears rush down her face. It was her blood, it was all her fault. Because she was the Hukari of Healing, it was all her fault. Her blood has the power to heal, but not just humans and animals. Her blood can awaken powerful forces. When her blood seeped into the soil of this plateau, the dormant volcano underneath had some extra juice to run off, it was all her fault, all her damned fault.

She began trembling and shaking. "It's all my fault! They're dead and it's my fault!" she cried into her hands. A shadow began growing behind her, but the girl didn't notice. If only she did before it was too late…"So Lacus, we meet again," a sinister voice said from behind her. The girl's sobs stopped as her eyes widened in fear. "That voice," she whispered and turned to look at who it was. All she could glimpse were a deadly grin, and short blonde hair, before the man pushed her off of the cliff edge. She fell without so much as a scream; her hair blowing behind her, her blue eyes wide in shock and anticipation. At least I can be with Kira again, she whispered to herself as she fell.

He was laying in a dark place, he couldn't see much because his eyes were closed. Opening them, he looked up, and saw a boy staring at him. Mizu blinked, thinking it was a dream, but he saw the boy looked almost just like him. But differences were also apparent.

The boy had white eyes that seemed to change from brown to white at odd times. His dark brown hair was short and spiked up messily. He didn't wear sandals but they seemed to be low cut boots on is feet. His shirt looked like a robe, but the sleeves barely came down to his elbows and looked very airy. And the bottom of it only came down to just above his thighs, and it was split open right down the front. He also wore pants that only came down to his knees, much like Mizu's pants. He had a shirt below the robe and it was colored light orange.

Mizu looked up at the boy who had a big smile on his face. "W-who are you?" he asked. The boy smiled, and leaning down, extended a hand to the other boy. "I thought you'd know, but my name's Mizutri," he said happily. Mizu stood up, and his eyes widened. "You're the chrysanthemum Hukari?" Mizu asked amazed at how similar they looked. Mizutri nodded, "Yup, and I must say, you're spiritual abilities are quite amazing. Though you were receiving help from Kitsu." Mizu thought about something, "Hey, does that mean Kitri is talking with Kitsu right now?" Mizutri shook his head, "No, she has to figure out how to do her own spiritual ability before Kitri speaks with her." Mizu nodded his head. "Oh, and I almost forgot, this is for you," the original Hukari said as he removed a pendant from around his neck. It was a small white orb that shimmered silver attached to a thin silver stain. "Here, take this," Mizutri told the other boy, and shoved the orb in his hand. Before leaving, the boy saluted playfully, "See-ya Mizu," and everything went black.

Opening his eyes, Mizu felt weak. He groaned, and felt two arms around him. Looking up, he saw the face of Kira. "Kira?" he asked, and felt something in his hand. Looking towards it, he saw the white orb. "Mizutri's orb," he recollected, but then sat up from the man's arms wildly. "Miss Lacus!" he shouted, looking up towards the plateau. Kira widened his eyes, and let go of Mizu to stand. Lacus was falling, but how? "LACUS!" he shouted, and ran to where she was falling. He caught her just in time, and fell to his knees as the girl lay in his arms. Her eyes slowly opened, and she smiled up at him. "Kira, I'm glad to see you're okay," she whispered, before his lips were placed on hers.

Mizu was blushing madly and he recollected what happened sooo many nights ago in the destroyed Sakura Village. "OH LORD NO! NOT AGAIN! Not those memories, oh please kami make them stop!" he shouted and covered his eyes. Dearka and Yzak watched the eleven year old with amusement. "What do you think he saw?" Yzak asked Dearka. The blonde smirked, "I think he saw," but Yzak widened his eyes in realization and shouted, "DON'T EVEN SAY IT!" This got a laugh from Dearka, and Mizu continued to mumble to himself weird things to keep his mind off of what happened in Sakura Village.

Lacus broke away from Kira and stood shakily. "I'll lead you all back, but we have to hurry," she said, glancing nervously up at the plateau. Kira followed her gaze, but didn't see what she did. 'I'll ask her later,' he told himself, and followed the girl with the three other guys back to the entrance to the valley.

When they reached it, Cagalli flung her arms around Kira; tears looked like they had stung her eyes. "You god damn klutz, you could have gotten killed," she mumbled into his shoulder. Kira smiled and patted her back, "I'm fine Cagalli, thanks to Mizu," he added, but the boy wished he hadn't. Cagalli pulled away from her brother and looked towards the kid. "That reminds me," she said and rolled up her sleeves. Mizu started backing away from her. "Hey! Cagalli! Don't touch me! I saved them, remember?" he asked hopefully, but it didn't work. Cagalli ran after him, but the kid was smart and ran behind Lacus and hid his face in her kimono. "Miss Lacus! Cagalli's trying to killll me!" he whined, and Cagalli got a playful glare from the pink haired girl.

Lacus then reached into her sash and pulled out the pouch holding the thistle root. "It'll take me all night to brew this, we might as well set up camp here tonight," she suggested, and they all agreed. Kira wasn't sure, but when Lacus mentioned brewing the potion from the flowers, another grim expression fell across her face. He'd have to make sure she didn't try anything like last time.

Everyone got ready preparing two fires: one for Lacus and one for the others. It was easy, and then they sat down to eat a small dinner. Stellar pulled out several bottles containing water, and passed them out to everyone. Shinn took out dried meat and bread from another bag, and did as Stellar had done with passing it out. Athrun gave a silent whoop for joy when Kitsu decided to sit next to the assassins. Cagalli sat next to Athrun and watched the fire's flames swirl around the dead logs. Dead wood did burn nicely. "Cagalli, are you okay?" the blue haired man asked softly as he took a sip from his water. The woman looked towards him and smiled, "Yeah, just a little…unnerved, I guess." she replied as she took a bite out of her bread. Athrun smiled at her as she grinned at him.

Shinn watched and listened as Stellar told Mizu a story she had learned many years ago of a prince and princess who mysteriously disappeared from their kingdom. They had left because the current emperor, their father, wanted to have his daughter killed to make his younger son emperor when the old man died. But the prince loved his sister enough that he and she took a small boat and sailed into the Sea of Tears to try and escape. No one ever heard of them again.

Shinn sighed silently from the tale; he knew it all too well. "Shinn? Are you all right?" the blonde girl asked him, her magenta eyes filled with worry. The black haired boy broke from his train of thought to smile at her. "Just fine," he answered, trying to relieve the tension. Stellar smiled back uncertainly, and continued to tell other stories she knew to the brown haired boy. Shinn looked down at his water and then to the sky. Some stars were visible in the patches of sky where no smoke filled the air. It looked black, and shimmered where the stars hung. Gem, I wonder how you are now…I promised to come back to you, but I don't know if I can…

Yzak and Dearka sat eating silently, but the silver haired freak, I mean ninja, kept glancing down at the five year old sitting next to him. She kept staring at him, with her big, white eyes. Her gaze made Yzak feel uncomfortable. He finally got angered enough to shout at her, "what the hell are you staring at!" the little girl seemed unfazed by his outburst, and blinked once. Yzak's left eye twitched, and he was about to say something, when Kitsu pointed at his hair. "I like your hair. It's pretty," she said, and smiled a big, huge, gianormus, smile. Yzak inched away from her, all the while giving her a strange stare. She just happily stood up and walked in front of him. Then, she sat down in his lap and munched ob her bread. Yzak felt every single one of his hairs tingle from the unwanted contact. Athrun was silently laughing his head off at Yzak. As long as he's around, she'll stick with him! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! He thought victoriously.

Lacus was staring at the thistle root as she split the woody stems with her dagger, a purple ooze gushing out of the plant. She then used a stone to grind the petals and dumped them into the small basin of water boiling over the fire. She used a wooden spoon to stir the concoction and added various herbs from her bag, and other pouches she kept. It smelled sweet and warm, just like any good poison. Her eyes held no emotion as she stared at the glinting metal of the dagger as she brought it closer to her wrist. Kira looked up at her, and his eyes widened. Before the girl could slice her tender flesh, the man had swatted the dagger away from her. "Lacus! What do you think you're doing?" he demanded from her. She looked up to him with guilt in her eyes, and Kira softened his gaze. "I'm sorry Kira, but the cure needs a blood sacrifice, and using my blood is probably the smartest decision," she added. Kira frowned sadly, he knew she was right. But he didn't want her to hurt herself for the well being of others. "But Lacus," she smiled at him. "It won't hurt Kira, I can always heal myself," she lied. She could heal others, but her powers would have no effect on herself.

Kira nodded reluctantly, and allowed her to cut her wrist and hold it over the basin, the dark red substance pouring from her with what looked like no end. Kira winced, she was getting hurt, and he couldn't do anything about it, or kill who was hurting her. Lacus herself had an empty gaze as she slowly tore another strip of cloth from her kimono skirt and wrapped her wrist. 'Kira won't notice I didn't heal myself, I hope..' she thought to herself, or he'd probably never let her take a step without making sure it was safe. She had to be strong for him, and for herself, or a sick princess could die.

That's the end of the chapter, but below I have a preview of upcoming chapters. I hope you enjoyed the chapter because I think I did a great job of making Lacus look strong. I'll never let Lacus look or act weak and totally protected in my fics. I'll update ASAP cause I get out this Friday for Winter break, whoo hoo!

Sam

Previews

A cold, almost metallic like voice met her ears, causing a cold shiver to race up her spine. "Don't come any closer," he replied. The blonde girl froze in her tracks. Cagalli looked towards her brother sadly, he stood there, staring at the moon, it wouldn't save Lacus, but he thought it was his fault.

She ran towards him and kneeled down next to him. "Are you all right?" the girl asked, her dark pink eyes filled with worry and her long magenta hair pulled into a ponytail. Mizu looked down at her hip, and saw a sword, and looking up to her face he smiled. "Yea, it doesn't hurt that bad," he cringed when she poked his leg where the arrow had struck. "See, never trust a boy to tell you he's all right," she mumbled as she tore a piece of cloth from her kimono skirt. Mizu watched as she wrapped it around his leg and saw there was a rose tattoo on her upper chest. 'The eighth Hukari?' he asked himself.

"Houseki?" Shinn asked the woman behind Yzak who looked at him with the same red eyes as him. "Houshu?" she asked quietly, causing the black haired boy to tremble. She ran to him, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders as she pulled the boy into a tight embrace. "Jewel," she mumbled as tears came to her eyes. Shinn's arms also wrapped around the older girl's waist as he whispered, "Gem, I kept my promise," she looked at him through tear filled ruby eyes. She looked over to Stellar, and stellar realized who she was, "Gem!" the blonde shouted.

"Please, help me," she begged as Tolle held the girl in his grip, the dagger at her throat drawing a thin line of her blood. Dearka, outraged, ran at the guard, his sword unsheathed. He lunged, and flipped over him. Then spinning around, he shoved his sword into the other man's back just far enough that it didn't touch the princess. She fell from the dead man's grip, and looked up at the assassin, her eyes filled with fright, sickness, and gratitude, and then she passed out.

Kira's face became distraught with horror as his sword's blade sunk into Lacus's chest. "L-Lacus…?" he stammered in a horror stricken voice.

The girl simply smiled before closing her eyes and falling forward. Kira removed his blade before she fell and caught her in his arms. Tears were building up in Kira's eyes as he looked down into the girl's peaceful face. "Lacus, why did you get in the way? Why?" he shouted to her stilled body. A small trail of blood was coming from her mouth, and her eyes trembled. Opening them only half way, she smiled up at Kira, "I'm sorry Kira, it was a trap. Please, live on, even if it has to be without me," she chocked out before she coughed and blood spilled from her lips. Kira howled in rage, and looked back to Rau. "You did this!" he shouted angrily, and stood, drawing out the Freedom.

Do I have you biting your nails to figure out which chapters these are from? I bet I am… And guess what the fun part is? You have to review to find out, Mwuahahahahahahahaha! I am sooo evil, hehehe...