Running through her home, she frantically scavenged around in search for her car keys. Lacus flipped over every pillow and every cushion; she looked behind every piece of furniture and under every sheet.

"Where did my keys go?" she cried out, she knew that with every passing minute, the likelihood of her seeing Kira was shrinking and shrinking rapidly. Disgruntled, and upset she grabbed the ends of her beautiful pink locks and began to gently twirl the ends with her fingers. It was something she always did whenever she felt, flustered, overwhelmed or frustrated.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she carefully scanned every inch of her room in the hopes that her keys would magically appear. "Please, I don't have much time".

When suddenly it came to her "Laundry!" rushing out of her room, she quickly made her way down the stairs, through the kitchen and down another set of stairs that hid behind a closed door.

Kneeling down next to a pile of dirty clothing, Lacus rummaged through the pile in search for the pants she wore yesterday. Lacus was always known to be a very clumsy and forgetful. No matter how hard she tried, she would always find something to trip over, she would always forget something.

"Found them!" she cried, Lacus immediately got up from the floor of the basement and quickly began to make her way to the front of her home.

She slipped the back of her shoe over her heel, and pushed the door open. This didn't go smoothly, however, as she managed to trip over her own two feet. "Ow" Lacus said wincing from her sudden fall out the door "I don't have much time".

She pushed herself off the front patio of home and rushed over to her car, she started the ignition "Please let me make it" she said to herself.

"Even if for a few seconds, let me have one last chance"

Lacus gripped the wheel tightly and turned out her driveway and hastily began her drive to the docks.

Kira was sitting on a bench facing the window of the receiving dock, he was waiting for the dock officials to pull the Archangel into its boarding position. He leaned forward and looked out the window. His eyes watched the men and women down below him, these were the member he would be leading on their mission. From where Kira sat, everyone below him looked like ants, all of were working diligently to ensure that they had all the equipment needed for their upcoming tour.

He knew this mission was coming, he knew that he would most likely be the commanding officer on the mission; but he had secretly hoped that he wouldn't be the one sent on it. This was his last time on the surface of the planet

"Are you ready to go?" asked a voice beside him

He turned his head "No"

His mother smiled at him "That's okay, I know you are" she handed him his coffee

Smiling, Kira happily accepted the coffee and began to take sips from the cup.

"It's going to be a long 8 months" he said

"But I know you'll do well"

"Thanks mom"

"Will you be travelling alone?" she asked

Kira shook his head "Those two will be coming with me" he said pointing at the two Rear Admirals assisting down on the dock.

His mother looked out the window "Are they newly appointed?"

"Yeah" he replied

Kira let out a long drawn out sigh as he leaned back on the palms of his hands.

"I was too late mom"

"I know my love" she wrapped her arms around her son and gave him a hug

She pulled away "Did you say goodbye to her?"

He tilted his head up and looked at the ceiling, he faintly smiled "Yeah. I did"

The roar two large engines rocked the receiving dock, and the site of the Archangel slowly began to come into view "Oh look" Kira said standing up "I guess we're early"

"Are you going to leave early?" she asked

"We'll see" he replied

Driving into the parking lot of the dock, she frantically drove up and down the lot in search of that elusive parking space "Come on, come on" she whispered to herself. Her eyes scanned left to right, then right to left until she came to an empty spot.

She pulled into the parking space, quickly she turned off the ignition and jumped out of her car "Okay".

Lacus quickly hurried her way to the entrance of the receiving dock. Normally, the receiving dock is open to the public. It was a place of heavy traffic, with passenger vessels and military ships constantly coming in and going, it was normal to have people waiting in the receiving dock for boarding. However, today that wasn't the case.

She ran down the sky bridge that connected the parking lot to the receiving dock. At the end of the bridge, her eyes made out a familiar figure that stood with a few others in similar uniform at the entrance of docking tunnel. "Wait, Kira," she thought to herself.

Once she made it to the end of the sky bridge, she was met by two Orb military personnel standing at the mouth of the opening – blocking anyone and everyone from entering the dock.

"Hi," she said standing in front of them

"How may we help you?" of the guards said

"I'm here to see Kira" she replied

"Sorry ma'am but no can do," said the other

Lacus looked at them with a confused expression etched on her face "I still have three minutes" she looked past the two military personnel and pointed at Kira who was leaning against a wall as he talked to his officers "He's right there"

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you see him, an order was issued restricting visitors to one per military personnel"

"Please, I need to see him" Lacus begged, she took a few steps forward and tried to squirm her way past the two military officers who blocked the entrance. The two officers grabbed her firmly by the arms and held her back "Sorry ma'am, but we can't let you through"

"Please" she screamed, she looked up at the clock that stood far in front of her and saw that the clock now showed 10:00 AM. The figures that stood at the entrance of the docking tunnel began to one-by-one file into and down the tunnel.

Kira turned towards his mother and gave her a tight hug "I expect a big cake when I come back"

His mother smiled "Take care" she gave him a kiss on the cheek

He pulled away and returned the smile she gave him, he slipped his hands into his pockets, turned towards the mouth of the tunnel. Looking down at his feet, he let out a long drawn out sigh "I guess it's time to go".

"Kira, wait!" cried a voice

Unconsciously, he turned his head towards the voice "What is she doing here?" he asked shocked by the sight of Lacus frantically trying to wiggle her way past the two officers that stood at the front.

"Admiral, she's been driving us up the wall," said one of the officers

Kira placed his hands on the two officers "Mind letting her go?"

"But sir, we can't allow another visitor"

He gave them a hard stare "If I were you, I would let her go"

They immediately do so without question "Sorry" they said stepping back from the two

"Thanks," he said

Kira grabbed Lacus' wrist and gently pulled her past the two officers "Come" he pulled her away from the entrance, and off to the side of the receiving dock "What are you doing here?" he asked in a whisper

"Please don't go," she asked

He sighed "Sorry"

"Please"

"I can't stay for your wedding, Lacus"

She shook her head "No, don't leave me" she whispered

"I'm sorry," he said again. He gave her a hug "I wish you all the best"

Kira pulled away "I have to go"

"I don't know what to do" she whispered quietly as tears fell down her rosy cheeks

"I love you"

Kira brought his hands up to her slender face and gently wiped her tears away "Too late" he whispered back

She shook her head "But I want you"

The pain she felt when he uttered the words "too late" pierced her; it pierced her so deeply, unlike anything she has ever felt before. So much so that it hurt. Overcome with a swell of emotion, she broke down and finally allowed a fury of tears to fall from her slender face.

"I don't want to lose you" she cried looking up at Kira as she tried wiping away the endless flow of tears that fell from her crystal blue eyes.

"Please don't leave me al-"

A quiet stillness filled the room. Kira never liked seeing Lacus cry, it was the one thing he hated most, so he did what he had to do and silenced her with a kiss. The two shared a long kiss, it was only broken when Kira pulled away.

"I love you too" he whispered as he wiped what was left of her tears from Lacus' face.

"What am I going to do?" she asked burying her face into his chest

"I don't know," he said hugging her "I don't know"

She embraced him tightly "I'll wait for you"

"It'll be a long time" he replied

She buried her face deeper into his chest "It's okay, I just want to be with you"

Kira smiled "It won't be that easy" he replied

"I know"

Lacus leaned up and captured his lips with another kiss "Come back to me"

He only smiled. Kira gave Lacus a slight nudge signalling for her to let go of him. Which she was reluctant to do but ultimately gave into the request.

"I have to go," he said fixing his uniform.

"I love you" she replied lightly grasping his hand with hers

Kira squeezed her hand "I love you too" before letting go.

He gave her one last big smile and said "You should keep that ring I gave you"

"But it's yours" she replied

"It's my promise to you that I'll come back," he said winking at her

He kissed the top of her head "Until we meet again" he gave her a long stare, etching this moment deep in his memory. He turned towards the entrance of the tunnel and ran down it.

Lacus slowly approached the large bay window that overlooked the dock. She watched quietly as the tunnel that connected the receiving dock to the ship disconnected. The large roar of its powerful engines shook the ground as it slowly roared forward towards its mission.

She stayed in front of the window until the ship was out of sight "I made it" she thought to herself. Lacus turned around only to be met by Kira's mother who was standing right behind her. She immediately fell into her arms and began to cry as the storm of emotions took hold of her again.

"What am I going to do mom?" she whispered holding onto Kira's mother tightly

She gave her a comforting hug "I don't know my dear"

Kira's mother began to stroke Lacus' pink locks "One thing's for sure, I know you will do what's best for you" Kira's mother smiled and kissed the top of her head "You just have to be strong"

All Lacus could do was nod. She knew that she had a tall task to overcome now and a lot of questions that she had to answer. She didn't know if she was ready, or if the decision she was making was the right one. However, the one thing she knew was for certain was that she loved Kira and wanted to be with him. Little did Lacus know, that her abrupt revelation would come with emotional consequences.

Would Lacus be ready to confront the problems she now faces? Will she be able to wait until they meet again, can she wait for that one day? Or will everything come crashing down? With Kira in her heart, she was ready to try and that was something she was going to do.