Hello again~
To answer Latias24's question, this is an AU.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed Destiny or any of its characters.
Enjoy! :)
Importance
[Kira's POV]
The bed creaked as I tossed uneasily. A sigh escaped my lips. I twisted around and shut my eyes tightly, hoping that I would fall into a deep slumber to rest my aching limbs. It was in vain. It had been at least four hours since I crept into bed, exhausted after the day's events. Sighing again, I stretched my legs and sat up, hugging them.
How ironic. I had never forgotten this position of mine on my bed. How long was it? Six? Seven years ago? I remembered all too clearly how I would freak out in the middle of the night, thinking that there was something under my bed. Like most children who had developed the same fear as mine, I would be unable to fall asleep, too afraid to even open my eyes. This irrational fear of mine began since the moment I was born, I was sure. I couldn't remember a night when I was young that I wasn't crying into my bed sheet.
But all that crying stopped when he came. When he came and changed my life. His appearance just made all the difference. The first time I saw him, I had thought that he was one of those rich, stuck-up kids who thought the world of themselves. The only thing that was missing was the arrogant air that should have been around him. He walked into the classroom with a kind of grace that I had never forgotten; how he placed each foot with not a stride neither too big nor too small before him; how his left arm swung lightly by his side with his right arm clutching his bag; and most of all, I would never forget how his cool, soft emerald eyes grazed mine as a bright smile danced across his lips.
He had this friendly attitude which made him fast friends with anyone he met, including me. Being the shy and timid person I was, I found it hard to make any friends. It was during our half hour break when I was eating my lunch alone at a secluded corner. I didn't know if it was sympathy or just out of curiousity that he actually left the group of friends he was playing with and came to join me. He was the first close friend that I had ever had.
Whenever I was bullied or afraid, he was always there for me, patient and kind. I remembered how afraid I was when I punched in the numbers that would call him at night. I was utterly convinced that there was something under my bed.
[Flashback]
"Kira? What's wrong?" his cool voice was unsurprisingly alarmed. It was about 2 in the morning after all.
"Ath-Athrun..." I sniffed.
"What is it? Come on, Kira. Spill it already!"
I hesitated. "I-I think..." I gulped and the words rushed out of my mouth. "I think that there's something under my bed!"
I could hear his steady breathing on the other side of the phone as I waited for his response. Suddenly, I heard muffled laughter. I was aghast. His friend was freaking out over the fact that something might lunge out at him without warning and he was laughing?
"Athrun! It's not funny! My life is in peril, you know!"
His ceasing laughter erupted into a new round of giggles. I scowled as he slowly regained his composure.
"Okay. Okay. Relax, Kira. There is absolutely nothing under your bed. I'm positive of that. If you're not convinced, why don't you poke your head and peek if there's some one-eyed furry monster under there?" he suggested in a solemn voice that would have made me laugh if I wasn't having an anxiety attack.
"You want me to POP MY HEAD UNDER THERE? What if it grabs my head and eats me for dinner!" I all but shrieked.
"I was just kidding, Kira," he laughed infuriatingly again. "Do you want me to come over?"
"Would you?"
"Of course I would. My mum wouldn't mind. She knows that I have this incurable sense of kindness and compassion inside me that's just longing to burst out."
"Yeah, right..." I agreed sarcastically.
"Come on! Surely you see this kind, compassionate, caring, selfless and so much more person in me!"
"So much more being proud and arrogant, you mean."
"Of course not. In any case, you must be really happy to be friends with me, huh, Kira? Well, I'll be down in a few."
Athrun Zala. He was my best friend. Not once did he make my nightmare come true. I used to have this nagging feeling inside me that constantly reminded me that he wouldn't be my friend for long. That, one day, he would be bored with me and find some other new friends. I mean, who was I anyway? Just some shy kid who didn't have anything in common with him that I knew of. Yet, he befriended me, choosing to stay by my side instead of all the other friends that he had become acquainted with. He never left my side until the day he was forced to return to PLANTs.
He had given me Tori, a mechanical bird which I was deeply fond of. It was an object of sentimental value. He had never tried to hurt me in all the time that I knew him. Not intentionally, anyway. The day that he had ended Tolle's life, he wasn't in complete control of himself. He was the ideal friend that anyone could possibly want. Yet, I had hurt him in a blind fury.
The small screen beside my bed lit up suddenly, displaying the Captain's face.
"Kira-kun," she smiled. "You're awake. Would you please come here for a minute? We have something to discuss."
I was already on my feet as I replied. "I'll be there in a moment."
"Kira, you're here," the pink-haired songstress greeted.
I nodded and moved to stand beside her. "Where's the Minerva?"
Murrue-san took a sip of water from her cup before replying. "I'm not sure. In any case, this is not the reason why I called all of you here. It's been such a tedious time for all of us. So, I thought that we should all relax while we can."
The rest of the room occupants (Cagalli, Lacus, Milly and etc.) smiled at the Captain's suggestion. All but me. I couldn't bring myself to smile now. Not after what I had done.
"What's wrong, Kira?"
I glanced at Cagalli and offered her a small smile. "It's nothing."
"Right... And I'm not Cagalli Yula Atha," she snorted.
"It's really nothing. I'm just tired, I suppose."
"Kira," Lacus looked at me with her probing, soft blue eyes. "Are you thinking about Athrun?"
I hesitated. It was just like her to guess the problem spot on. "Well, yeah..."
"It's okay, Kira. You had to take him down. I'm sure he won't blame you in time," Lacus soothed.
"But I said some words to him that day. Harsh words that he didn't deserve to hear. I don't think that he'll ever forgive me."
"What did you say to him?" Cagalli prompted.
I rubbed my forehead wearily, aware of dozens of eyes on me. "I told him that... that he had a higher chance than anyone I knew to follow after his father's footsteps because he was a Zala. I can't... I can't get the image of his hurt face out of my mind. He looked so shattered," I whispered.
The room lapsed into silence.
"Why?"
My eyes flicked to Cagalli as she stared at me, horror-stricken.
"Why did you do that?"
"I was angry with him. H e just couldn't understand," I answered dully.
"And, so you tried to force him to understand? By using such a despicable method?"
"Cagalli, he isn't happy with what he said either," Murrue-san interjected. She turned to me and asked, "Kira, what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know. But I do know that I will try to make it up to him someday." Even if it's the last thing I do, I added silently.
[Athrun's POV]
Three long hours. That was how long I had been cooped up in my room after Shinn had left. It would have been fine if I had something to do but even my laptop held no interest for me. I groaned. I never knew why I became so energetic after every time I cry my heart out. I mean, don't people usually feel utterly spent after crying for so long? I cried for more than 2 hours, for goodness' sake!
I wanted so badly to go out and have a walk maybe, but what if I ran into Shinn? I grimaced. It would be undoubtedly awkward between us if we bumped into each other. It certainly didn't help that both of us were socially awkward. Well, in Shinn's case, he covered that problem by getting on everyone's nerves. As for me, I simply pretended that nothing was amiss if I ever lapsed into silence in a conversation.
I groaned inwardly. I couldn't do this anymore. I jumped off the bed and proceeded to the dining room.
[Shinn's POV]
I made my way into the brightly lit room, conscious of the scowl upon my face. I noticed Luna and Meyrin near the other two guys.
"Are you okay, Luna?" I asked when I saw the cast on her left arm.
"I'm fine. Shinn," she hesitated. "Have you seen Athrun anywhere recently? I heard that he was taken down. But I didn't know that the Saviour was that messed up."
I hardly glanced at her as I pulled out the can drink from the machine. "Athrun? He's probably moping in his room right now. You know, he's not really all that strong. Maybe he was once upon a time but he certainly isn't anymore."
There was no way I'm going to even let them suspect that I was being nice to Athrun about his fall. I wouldn't be able to bear the sheer embarrassment alone.
"So maybe I'm not. What are you going to do about it?"
I swiveled around and found the green-eyed teen walking in nonchalantly. I could have sworn I heard amusement ringing in his words.
"Athrun-san! Are you okay?" Luna exclaimed suddenly, probably to prevent us from squabbling.
"Pretty fine, thank you," he answered, a bright smile lighting up his features. Well, that wasn't something you saw everyday. He didn't usually smile that way. Che. Doesn't he think that there's a better time for him to smile that brightly? That idiot just lost a battle!
"Of course you're fine," I muttered, glaring at him. "Aren't you even ashamed appearing before your subordinates after being defeated like that? If I were you, I wouldn't appear before anyone for the next decade."
"Shinn!" Luna said anxiously, her eyes on our commander.
"Che. Commander," I mocked.
He eyed me curiously as he walked pass to buy himself a drink. "Well, at least this commander of yours didn't kick someone without any reason just because he's in a bad mood. Or landed himself in detention for refusing to come on time for training. Or make things difficult for everyone just because he didn't want to drink Sprite instead of Coke. And, I'm pretty sure this seemingly useless commander didn't refuse to comply with a superior's order just because he wanted attention," he said solemnly.
I felt heat rush into my cheeks as he spoke. "What are you talking about? I never did that!"
He arched an eyebrow as he sipped his water without a care in the world. "Never said you did. Or are you admitting it?"
"I'm not!" I protested. "Ugh. How the hell did you become our commander?"
"By not doing all those things that I mentioned," he answered in amusement.
"Are you saying I'll never be able to reach your rank?"
"No, I'm not. Not unless you're admitting that you did do all those."
"Damn it! Can't you shut that mouth of yours for once? If I could go back in time, I would have left you in the ocean!"
"Nope, I can't shut my mouth. It simply longs to move and I've no idea why. And no, you wouldn't have left me there. You simply don't have the heart," he teased.
"When did you become so annoying?" I snapped in irritation.
"Since I found out that you actually had the nerve to hit someone when we were on our offshore break. How am I, as your commander, going to answer to the complaints?" he held up some pieces of paper in his left and waved it into my face.
I ignored the papers and glared at him. "So, worried about your image, huh?"
"I doubt there is a person alive who doesn't care about his image. In any case, this isn't what I'm worried about. How am I supposed to deal with this matter without getting anyone in trouble?"
"I don't know. Maybe throw the person who complained off a cliff or something."
"Right. Nice idea," he said sarcastically. "Why don't you do the honours?"
"In your dreams. You're the commander. Your responsibility."
"You just said I wasn't cut out to be your commander. I must say, your standards must be really high since your commander isn't allowed the option to fall at all."
"Yeah, and you don't rise up to the expectations," I sneered.
He shrugged. "More so than you anyway. I'm pretty satisfied with that already."
"I didn't lose to some pilot out there like you did!"
"Ah, but it wasn't some pilot out there. He was the pilot of the Freedom."
At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to take anything hard and solid to throw into his face. My temper only sharpened when I saw Luna and the rest giggling madly.
"What's so funny?" I growled menacingly.
Luna shifted her awed gaze from Athrun to me before bursting into a new fit of giggles. "Oh, come on Shinn!" she gasped in her amusement, trying to catch her breath. "I can't help it. It's just so... so funny!"
"As if it is! Whose side are you on?" I muttered.
"Seriously, Shinn. You need to wipe that scowl off your face once in a while. You'd look kind of nicer, you know that?" that commander piped up.
I was about to mouth a retort when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I turned as Rey walked past me to the machine. Everyone was quiet as he helped himself to some tea.
"Well, Shinn," he suddenly spoke up, locking his sky blue eyes with mine. "It seems as if both you and Commander are having a nice time -"
"No, we're not," I interrupted.
He stared at me as a small smile crept into his features. He slowly turned to Athrun. "Commander, I hope you're not too discouraged by your fall previously. The Chairman has heard of the battle and knows of your... predicament. I'm sure you will receive a new mobile suit soon."
"The Chairman knows already?" Surprise evident in his green eyes. "That was fast."
"Yes, he contacted the Minerva just moments ago and was told of the battle. He asked for you to be told that you should not give up. As long as you continue believing in your beliefs, you would be sure to see the world you long to see. Those were his exact words. In any case, the Freedom did wrong by taking you down like that. We will not let something like that go without a fight. If you were at unease in fighting him, leave him to Shinn and me. Despite him being your ex-comrade, his reason for fighting is wrong. The Chairman wishes for the best for everyone and yet, he cannot see that. I hope that you will continue fighting without being affected by this setback. Though, from what I see," he flicked his gaze towards me. You seem pretty unaffected by that battle."
I couldn't help but snort at that. "Yeah. And I'm a girl."
"If you insist on being one, then I cannot say otherwise," Athrun smiled teasingly, before focusing his attention on Rey. "I've more or less forgotten that battle. And, yes. I won't stop fighting."
Rey nodded. "That is good, then."
[Lunamaria's POV]
I stared at the two teenagers bickering in both disbelief and amusement. I had thought in dreaded horror that they would start fighting. Violently. But I was proven wrong. Who would have known Athrun could behave like that? I must admit, I like him that way. It makes him seem more as a friend than a commander.
I couldn't help but think that the battle had something to do with Athrun's change of attitude. I wonder why. That pilot of the Freedom... It's that guy Athrun calls 'Kira', right? The scene that I had seen a few weeks back of Athrun confronting the crew of the Archangel replayed in my mind. I did try to follow the Captain's advice to forget all of it, but I couldn't.
Who was the Lacus Clyne working for the Chairman? Athrun didn't seem that surprised when that Kira mentioned her. He knows that the Chairman is lying. But why would the Chairman lie? It was understandable if it was for political reasons. But the real Ms. Clyne was almost killed.
I sighed. I wasn't going to be able to figure it out. I just have to put a vast amount of trust into the Chairman and in Athrun to do the right thing. I was just another average soldier, after all.
CONDITION RED ISSUED. CONDITION RED ISSUED. ALL PILOTS SHOULD STAND BY THEIR RESPECTIVE UNITS. I REPEAT, ALL PILOTS SHOULD STAND BY THEIR RESPECTIVE UNITS.
I looked up in alarm as everyone scattered to get into their respective positions. The screen near us switched itself on.
"Athrun, I know that you are without a mobile suit right now. Although, I'm not in the position to command you, I hope you will stand ready to give them advice should they need it," Captain's voice blasted through the speakers.
"Yes, Captain," Athrun replied. He turned to us and smiled. "Well, I'll just give you guys moral support. Ask me if you have any... questions. All the best."
I smiled gratefully at Athrun as Shinn, Rey and I made a beeline for the changing room.
[Athrun's POV]
"Oh, Captain?" I asked slowly.
"Yes, Athrun?" she looked at me expectantly.
"Who are we fighting against?"
I felt my eyes widen in dismay as she answered, assessing my reaction carefully. I lowered down my head, my untamed hair falling across my face.
"Are you okay with that? I know it's hard to accept, but there's nothing we can do about it. Do your best."
With that, the once brightly lit screen switched off, a foreboding colour creeping across it.
Kira...
We're about to engage in battle with the...
Archangel and the Earth Alliance.
