PHASE TWO: The Aftermath of War
C.E 74 Battle of Messiah (Five Years Ago)
It finally ended. The Battle of Messiah and the destruction of the Neo-GENESIS were two operations that had been carried out successfully, in the sense that the battle was stopped and the Neo-GENESIS was fully destroyed. However, just like with the battle in Jachin Due two years ago, nobody smiled when the battle ended. Kira Yamato, still in Strike Freedom's cockpit, watched wordlessly as several parts of the fortress exploded fell from its orbit, the destruction quickly taking place from inside. There was nothing he could do about Chairman Durandal but he, and his close friend Athrun Zala, had left Captain Talia Gladys and Elite ZAFT Soldier Rey Za Burrel to die inside the Neo-GENESIS, along with the Chairman. It was yet another unnecessary sacrifice due to war.
Kira turned his eyes on Athrun's Gundam, the Infinite Justice, and knew that his old friend was perhaps as torn as he was – maybe even more. After all, Captain Gladys and Rey had been his comrades when he had rejoined ZAFT. Kira was sure that Athrun was feeling more at lost than he was. They listened to Lacus's statement to stop the battle and watched as the mother ships released their signals that all mobile suits should withdraw and return back to the ship. Even the Archangel and the Eternal launched their signal flares, and Kira exhaled slowly. It's truly over now.
"Athrun," Kira said, his Freedom's hand moving to rest on the Justice's shoulder. "Let's go."
"Ah," Athrun responded. Kira could hear the dullness in his tone.
They moved, watching as the other mobile suits returned. The communications channel was quiet – everyone was lost in their thoughts of the aftermath of war. Kira watched as the Justice suddenly moved away and spotted two elite ZAFT soldiers standing on the moon. Understanding swept over the young Coordinator and he moved the Freedom at full-thrust back towards the Eternal where he knew that, as always, Lacus was waiting for him.
Athrun saw the two Gundams before he saw the pilots, but even so, he knew that they were there. He had been responsible for the damage to the Destiny and Impulse after all. Wordlessly, Athrun landed in front of them and crouched forwards, offering his hand for them to get on, almost similar to how he had offered his hand to Kira at the end of the battle in Jachin Due two years ago. That had always seemed to be his role, somehow: the one who offered the chance to move on, always fighting for his comrades and never forgetting those who had died. Yet, with this war, he had been foolish – extremely so. He had wanted to believe in the Chairman so much that he was willing to fight against Kira again, just to ensure that they had their peaceful lives again. That was what he had told everyone, but both Cagalli and Athrun knew that it wasn't the full truth. Even the Chairman knew that... even Kira knew that. Athrun had been such an open book to read after all.
For two years he had tried to hide himself and hide his identity of being Patrick Zala's son. For two years he had been under the alias of Alex Dino, Cagalli's personal bodyguard. It was ironic how in times of peace, he had blatantly refused to join the military under Cagalli, but during war, he had no second thoughts of joining ZAFT. He remembered what Cagalli had said to him before the Archangel disembarked to space – what Cagalli had said before taking off the ring that he had given to her before joining ZAFT:
"You're very unstable, Athrun..." she had said, echoing the words she had once said after finding out that Athrun had destroyed the Strike by self-destructing the Aegis. She had been smiling, but her eyes were crying. "I know you wanted to protect me... and Kira..." Cagalli trailed off, casting her eyes away. "You needed the power that only ZAFT could have given you at the time, but then you believed in the Chairman's words. Kira didn't because the Coordinators attacked Lacus, but you didn't know it at that time, and it wasn't your fault..." she said, sighing. "But even after we told you about the attack, you still refused to leave ZAFT. It's because you were searching... right? You were searching for yourself, and it's alright. I know that. I think even now, you're still searching..." Cagalli trailed off, the tears escaping from her eyes before she hugged him tightly. He had cried then because for the umpteenth time, Cagalli's words struck home.
Athrun remembered what the Chairman had told him when they had first met. If the name is false, then the whole identity is false. It was true... Athrun had been searching for himself. He had been searching so hard for what he needed to be and what he needed to do to end the war that he had forgotten Kira's words when they were involved in the First Bloody Valentine – that even they did not fully know what they were supposed to do, which was why they were still searching for it. Athrun had fully believed that he had found what he needed to do by following the Chairman's orders. Even though the attack on Lacus niggled at his mind, Athrun couldn't help but think that it was done by the same extremists who had upheld his father's views, the extremists who had tried to move Junius Seven to destroy Earth...
Most of all, Athrun knew that the ultimate reason why he joined ZAFT was to protect Cagalli and Kira. He had seen Cagalli cry too many times during the previous war, had suffered greatly when Orb was forced to burn itself rather than hand themselves over to the Earth Alliance. When he had joined Kira on the Archangel after obtaining the Justice, Athrun had been woken up too many times upon hearing the other Coordinator's painful cries in his sleep. He had seen the effect of the war on Kira, and he feared on what might happen if Kira was forced to fight again. He had wanted to believe in the Chairman so much because doing so would mean that Kira and Cagalli did not need to fight anymore... He had tried too hard, and he wanted too much, and at the same time believing in the wrong person when he should have trusted himself.
Could he blame himself for it, though..? Last time he had trusted himself, he had joined ZAFT, hated the Naturals, and came face-to-face with Kira. Last time, he had bounded the Aegis to the Strike, self-destructing his machine in a real attempt to kill the one individual who, at the time, had been someone Athrun had cared about the most. Athrun had cried endlessly after that, often questioning his father and the war itself. If even close friends were forced to fight against each other, then who was responsible to stop the fighting?
Athrun knew now, however... He was Athrun Zala. He couldn't achieve peace if he allowed himself to follow orders without knowing why. It was as Kira had told him after he had escaped from ZAFT's Gibraltar Base in the GOUF; it was when he had first opened his eyes to see Kira, whom he had previously believed to be dead:
"It's okay, Athrun..." Kira had said, the gentle smile never leaving his lips as tears flowed freely from the other Coordinator's cheeks. "If you fight for the right thing, your comrades will come to you. If you believe in the same thing, you'll fight with them eventually, even if you're not a soldier. Together."
He wanted to return to Orb... He wanted to take Cagalli in his arms again and stay by her side as Athrun Zala. He wanted to protect Orb's ideals, to live peacefully with both Coordinators and Naturals.
Athrun shook his head and cleared his thoughts, watching the two elite pilots who were still standing in front of him. It was funny how he could understand Shinn so well, perhaps because he could see himself in the black-haired Coordinator. Two years ago, he had been fighting for Junius Seven just as how Shinn had been fighting for his family. But no matter how many Naturals he killed, he could never get his mother back, as painful as it was. The only option he had was to protect those who lived, and continue protecting them – he had been unable to do so with his mother, but he was able to do that with Kira and Cagalli.
"Shinn..." Athrun said quietly, watching as the other Coordinator raised his head to look at the Gundam. "Let's go home."
Home. Orb.
It was funny how, even after all these years, Shinn Asuka had always associated the word 'home' with 'Orb'. No matter how long he lived in PLANTs, no matter how much he told himself that PLANTs was where he belonged, it was always Orb that came to his mind whenever he heard the word. Shinn knew that Athrun was talking about Orb. He knew that it was Orb that Athrun was most protective of, which was why he had disappeared under the name Alex Dino. But to hear even Athrun calling Orb his home, Shinn remembered what Athrun had said to him before...
"Think back, Shinn. What do you really want?"
"Hi! Mayu here! Sorry, I can't talk to you right now. I'll call you back later. Please leave your name after the beep!"
"Shinn... protect Stellar..."
He wanted his family back... All this time, he had been fighting for that... For his family. For Mayu. For a very short time, he had been fighting to protect Stellar, and even with that he had failed. Maybe, deep inside, he had been fighting to protect Orb as well. No matter how much he hated that place, no matter how much he wanted it to be destroyed, it was still the one place he always remembered. Shinn's knees buckled under him and he cried, not caring that Athrun was watching, not registering Lunamaria who hugged him from behind as she, too, cried for the war. He did not even know that in the Justice, Athrun was also crying.
C.E 74 – PLANTs
A few weeks had passed and things were finally beginning to calm in PLANTs and also on Earth. Lacus had agreed to join the ZAFT Supreme Council, but through the loyalty of the Coordinators and the faith they had, she received the position as Chairwoman of PLANTs. She did a thorough military clean-up in ZAFT, firstly by immediately promoting Yzak Joule as her private personal advisor, earning him the rights to personally accompany her in international relations. He was the youngest to receive such a position, yet it was one he deserved due to the warning he had issued to the Eternal before the Requiem fired.
Much to Yzak's dismay, Dearka Elsman was then promoted as a Captain, earning him the black ZAFT uniform. The blonde Coordinator was also placed as second-in-command under him in the Joule Squadron – something that Yzak believed Lacus did just to spite him. In return for accepting Dearka (though everyone knew Yzak was actually grateful to have his old comrade back), Yzak had demanded that Shiho Hahnenfuss remained with his team though he refused to give a reason why.
Kira Yamato also agreed to join ZAFT and was ranked as a private ZAFT Commander who led special cases instead of commanding an elite team. Yzak and Dearka had already known, of course, that Kira was the pilot of the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom, but that fact was hushed to the public. Most of the military personnel in ZAFT wondered about Kira's sudden appearance, but they later learned that Kira had been working with Lacus Clyne since the first war, finding out harsh truths and working hard to oppose both sides of the war to obtain peace. They assumed that Kira was a follower of Lacus Clyne, in which case having him as a trustworthy member would be no surprise. The story wasn't exactly a lie and since the end of the war, Kira had been carefully monitoring the works of all the PLANTs, ensuring that nothing breached the new treaty.
Once the peace treaty was put in full effect over the Earth Alliance, the Neutral Nations and the ZAFT Territories, Lacus Clyne dismantled the FAITH Special Forces unit. She made a public speech in which the world was now to recognise the Archangel and with it, the Freedom, as an independent peace-keeping force. Members of the Archangel were given badges in the form of a flying white bird, signalling their position. Similar to FAITH, they had the power to act on free will if they were under the military. Both Kira and Athrun were awarded the Archangel badge, as well as the original crew members: Murrue Ramius, Mu La Flaga, Dalida Lolaha Chandra II, Jackie Tonomura, Miriallia Haw, Arnold Neumann, Romero Pal, Kojiro Murdoch and a handful of others. The names of the Archangel members were not revealed. The pilot of Strike Freedom was still a mystery to mankind.
The Earth Alliance, who was least agreeable of having members who could perform out of their own free will, only accepted and acknowledged the Archangel unit once they found out that none of the Archangel members were from their military. However, it was common knowledge for the Earth Alliance that the captain of the Archangel, Murrue Ramius, and a mobile armour pilot, Mu La Flaga, had been from their own military. They were also aware of the fact that many of the original Archangel's crew members were Earth Alliance soldiers to begin with. It was not known to them whether the original crew were still with the Archangel or not, and the EA acknowledged the Archangel unit though nobody believed that they were needed any longer.
Surprisingly, a large number of people from the public of all three territories voiced out their support for the Archangel after witnessing the Battle of Messiah, thanks to Chairman Durandal who had insisted that the public see the truth with their own eyes. Highly strong supporters of the Archangel gave out their own badges to signal their support – a duplicate of the original, only silver instead of white. Among those who faithfully wore the badges were Lacus Clyne, Cagalli Yula Attha, Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, Shiho Hahnenfuss, Shinn Asuka, Lunamaria Hawke, Meyrin Hawke, Andrew Waltfeld and many more.
Managing the PLANTs took a few weeks, and Kira was unable to see Lacus due to the workload they both faced. He was also responsible for contacting the Archangel crew, but that was a simple task – they were all in Orb, after all. Disembarking from the shuttle, Kira had barely tasted the fresh air of Earth before he was nearly thrown off balance by his sister. Cagalli hugged him tight, her eyes shining with happy tears as she fussed over him. Athrun stood behind her, a smile carved on his lips – he was wearing Orb's admiral uniform.
"It's great to see you, Cagalli," Kira said, the joy unmistaken in his voice. This was unlike the aftermath of the first war – this time, they all knew their position in the world and the role they needed to play. This time, nobody was lost. "Hello, Athrun," Kira greeted his old friend. Torii, who had been circling them since Kira had disembarked from the shuttle, perched itself on Athrun's shoulder.
"Everyone's waiting at Captain Ramius's house," Athrun said, placing his hand on the other Coordinator's shoulder as a sign of greeting. He regarded Kira who was dressed in ZAFT's white uniform approvingly. Kira had come alone.
"How is everything in Orb?" Kira asked as they walked, glad to see that the place seemed peaceful as ever.
"Everything is fine. Orb seems to have suffered the least in the last war," Athrun replied. He paused. "Kira... Did you think it was a good idea that the Archangel is acknowledged in public?" he asked. It was one thing he had been thinking of for a while now.
Kira smiled. He, too, had been surprised when Lacus had revealed the idea to him, but the songstress's words had been firm. He repeated Lacus's words to them, hopeful that they would understand; "Back during the war – both wars – there were soldiers who didn't want to fight against us but they had to because it was their duty to serve the military," Kira paused. He and Athrun both knew the feeling of fighting against themselves for the sake of following orders. "When Orb's Murasame units fled to us after the Takemizakuchi sunk, we learned that many of their soldiers did not want to fight," he stopped, glancing at Cagalli.
The Orb Representative was thoughtful. "Many civilians didn't agree as well... Most of the soldiers trusted the Archangel to put things right like they did with the previous war," she said quietly.
Athrun wanted to argue and say that even back then, people were already aware of the Archangel, but then he stopped himself. A small, dark chuckle escaped his lips as he finally understood what both Kira and Cagalli had really wanted to say. Typical Lacus... Athrun thought, shaking his head slightly. He remembered Lacus's words loud and clear during the first war, when he had been unable to accept her as a traitor:
"On the battlefield... and even on PLANT, to which you have recently returned... Have you not seen anything? What do you believe in and fight for, Athrun? Is it the medals? Your father's orders? ...If that is true, Kira may become your enemy once again... And I as well. If I was your enemy... would you shoot me? Athrun Zala of ZAFT!"
"I understand," he said, and this time, he meant it. The Archangel badge wasn't a symbol of power or the ability to move without following orders. The Archangel badge was a symbol, a reminder, to follow one's own heart and judgement. Unlike Athrun, who had previously followed Chairman Zala and then Chairman Durandal, Kira had always followed his better judgement. The Archangel badge was to symbolise individual free will – that even if opinions clashed, there were still others who supported it. It was as Kira had said;
"It's okay, Athrun... If you fight for the right thing, your comrades will come to you. If you believe in the same thing, you'll fight with them eventually, even if you're not a soldier. Together."
"I understand," Athrun repeated softly.
C.E 74 - Orb Union
The meeting was cheerful, all the members of the Archangel finally rejoicing the fact that they had peace once again. They talked and laughed, and at times they spoke of their losses and allowed their thoughts and sadness to consume them before they comforted each other and laughed again. Kira stayed for three days, observing the Orb's military as it strengthens itself again, spending time with Cagalli, Athrun and his close comrades. After three days, Kira finally asked to leave, giving the excuse that he had done his job – but they all knew that Kira wanted to see Lacus. It had been weeks since he had the opportunity, after all.
Athrun decided to join Kira, wanting to see the condition in PLANTs himself as well as to consult Lacus. Cagalli hugged Kira tightly, apologising to him because this time, she couldn't accompany him to his shuttle and told him to take care. Kira replied by telling her not to worry, and that he would visit soon – and regularly – with Lacus as soon as things were really calm once again. He turned and walked ahead, allowing Athrun and Cagalli to have a moment of peace for them to exchange words and embrace each other. Athrun left to follow Kira a few minutes later, leaving Cagalli alone with the lingering feel of the touch of his lips against hers.
They walked together, talking and reminiscing before Kira suddenly stopped in his tracks, spotting the previous pilot of Destiny. With black hair and fiery red eyes, Shinn Asuka also stopped, blinking in surprise at the sight of the Freedom's pilot dressed in ZAFT's white uniform. He had met Kira before at the memorial stone of Orb, but he didn't expect that they would meet again. He never expected to see Kira Yamato in a ZAFT uniform, especially not a white one. Lunamaria asked why they had stopped walking before noticing that both Shinn and Meyrin had their eyes on Kira and Athrun. Then, she too raised her eyebrows in surprise, unable to greet either of the two Coordinators.
Kira glanced at Athrun and smiled, moving slowly towards the three who were standing there. "Hello, Shinn Asuka. Meyrin," Kira greeted them, then turning his eyes on Lunamaria. They had met previously, but they had never been formally introduced to each other.
"Lunamaria Hawke," Lunamaria offered immediately.
"Kira Yamato," Kira said, offering his hand. He turned his gaze back to Shinn.
"Kira Yamato..." Shinn trailed off. "Freedom's pilot."
Kira smiled – he wouldn't have defined himself in that manner. "ZAFT is rebuilding itself... and we still need a lot of experienced pilots and fighters to protect and help the PLANTs... Come back to ZAFT," he offered, surprising all three of them, even Athrun. "Let's fight together... for the world that we all want," he said sincerely. Shinn cast his eyes away. Since he returned to Orb with Athrun after the Battle of Messiah, he did not know what he needed to do. But to be offered a place in ZAFT again, along with the pilot of Freedom no less... He had always been a soldier after all.
Shinn did the one thing he knew he would do, if not today, then undoubtedly in the future – he agreed.
C.E 74 - PLANTs
Getting Meyrin, Lunamaria and Shinn back in the ZAFT forces took a few more days of work, but it was a simple procedure. Shinn and Lunamaria were still recognised as elite soldiers, and Shinn proudly wore his red ZAFT uniform once again. When they both looked at each other, both clad in their red ZAFT uniform again, Shinn held Lunamaria's hand and knew exactly what he was fighting for this time. When Meyrin appeared with her green ZAFT uniform, followed closely by Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala, they all looked at the Orb Admiral and shared one thought – two of them were missing: Heine Westenfluss and Rey Za Burrel, the two elite soldiers who had fought with them. It was Rey's absence that was most clearly felt among them.
The group were greeted at the PLANT platform by Hilda Harken, the Three Ships Alliance's Trooper Team leader who was also wearing a red ZAFT uniform. She had bright orange hair and a black eye-patch covering her left eye. Along with her were two ZAFT soldiers clad in the green ZAFT uniform. As the elevator descended towards PLANT, Hilda announced that Chairwoman Lacus Clyne was already waiting which pleased Kira, but made Lunamaria and Meyrin nervous beyond belief. They, and many others, still saw Lacus as the popular songstress instead of the new Chairwoman of ZAFT. Kira could hardly contain his excitement as they descended, fidgeting nervously while Athrun held back his laughter – it was too long since Kira and Lacus had been kept apart from each other after all. The elevator door opened and Kira led the way towards the exit as the commanding officer – Athrun walked with him on his right while Shinn remained on his left.
The doors to PLANT opened and, sure enough, there was a small group of elite soldiers waiting for them. Athrun smiled upon seeing Yzak and Dearka among those who were there, and he also identified the familiar face of Shiho Hahnenfuss in the red ZAFT uniform. It was Lacus, however, that caught Kira's eye, dressed in the Chairman's black robes with her long hair tied back.
"Kira!" she called out happily and Kira raced towards her, embracing her tightly in his arms, glad that she was safe and that they were finally together again.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews, AsuCaga4ever, WaaWaa, hakuMeyen & PrincessOfDestiny14! :D You have no idea how happy it made me. Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter didn't cover what had happened to Kira. XD It's necessary for me to make things clear on what happened (in my interpretation) after SEED Destiny first – especially on Athrun's character and the positions of Dearka, Shiho, Lacus and Kira in ZAFT. Yzak will face another change in the next chapter. Publicising the Archangel to the public is also necessary. If things goes to plan, the next chapter will cover Cagalli/Athrun, Mu/Murrue/Andrew Waltfeld , Yzak/Shiho/Dearka and a few other characters before going back to present day. Anyway, this chapter covers the ending of SD's Final Phase and the OVA. The way I interpreted it, the OVA happened before the ending to SD's Special Edition. I hope nothing confuses you!
Also, if any of you have any requests/suggestions as well as ideas for character personalities or even weapons for Gundams, I welcome them. Maybe you have an idea for a specific Gundam, or even a name for it – there will be OCs in this fic, and I'd love it if you wish to contribute some ideas. Enjoy, and please review!
AsuCaga4ever: Unfortunately, Stellar died in Destiny. T.T I actually prefer Shinn/Stellar a heck of a lot myself, but there's nothing I can do about it considering that Shinn and Lunamaria did get together towards the end of SD. I'll see what I can do about Yzak/Shiho – I actually never fully noticed her in the canon due to her lack of lines, but pairing Yzak with her sounds like an interesting twist to the story. Thanks for the suggestion!