Update: Tweaked/rewritten July 2020

True Friends?

"Hey FS, what happened to LE? I thought that she had self-defense class with you?" Stray asked, setting down his tray next to his roommate and pulling out the seat.

FS was staring at his plate, shuffling a few peas around for what looked like a desperate cry for entertainment. He sighed sadly, but never responded.

"Uh, FS?" Stray asked again, poking him with his fork just to make sure he wasn't stuck in one of his realistic dreams. Unfortunately, he might have poked a little too hard. Stray felt the fork puncture the skin under his shirt, but not enough to draw blood, of course. Just enough to cause a yelp of pain.

"Ow! Hey, Stray, when did you get here?" FS rubbed her shoulder, scowling a little as he did. "It's not nice to stab people y'know."

Stray blinked, looked at the fork and then poked him again.

"Ow! Stop that!"

"Just making sure it was actually sharp." FS just shook his head at Stray's innocent smile. Stray was just happy to see him react. "Where's LE?"

FS paused. Based on the expression that crossed his face, FS had been thinking much the same thing as Stray himself. If he hadn't had seen what had happened to MR the night before, he may have thought it was just a matter of being late for dinner, but he was quickly getting worried. "I don't know," FS admitted, "she left the class early. The instructor said that Captain Vindur wanted to see her."

"Really? I wonder what that was about."

"Me too," FS muttered quietly, Stray noting the way he pushed his tray to the side when he started eating. Stray was very aware his antics often disturbed his friends, but he had been eccentric long before he came to this facility. Somehow his one attempt at acting out against his family had turned into a character trait he had come to enjoy.

"Oh, some soldiers came into our room today and cleared out MR's things."

"Huh? What do you mean cleared them out? Where'd he go?"

Stray shrugged and began scraping the mustard off his turkey sandwich and putting it off to the side of his plate. Only seconds later did he take that same mound of sauce and put it on the other piece of bread. "They wouldn't really tell me anything. One of them got a little pale and the other one just kind of laughed, but whether it was at the one who paled or something else I'm not sure."

"Hm, it's all really suspicious, don't you think?"

Stray shrugged but didn't disagree. "We could always talk to the captain. I'm sure he knows what happened."

"Yeah, he probably does know." The table went silent as Stray finished his meal. There was nothing said aloud, but it was clear they were both thinking the same thing. Something was wrong, but what they had no idea.

"Very well done, recruit," Vindur praised after he unlocked the door and walked back into the room with Eclipse and the body. Eclipse could hear the light tone of his voice and it made her stomach churn angrily. "Didn't take you that long at all. Some would wonder if you had even done this before." She felt his hand on her shoulder but made no reaction to his presence.

She could only stare.

The pink strand of hair that fell out of the hood had numbed her to him and his proximity. MR? Oh—please no—did I just kill MR? N-no. That can't be. There are plenty of people around with pink hair, right? R-right? There has to be! There's just no way.

"Lunar Eclipse?" the captain pressed, squeezing her shoulder a little harder.

She still ignored him, or rather she didn't hear him. No, there's no way. MR? Her hands quivered as her knees sunk to the floor, painfully hitting bone against cement, but her mind could register nothing other than the body in front of her.

And that pink strand of hair.

She slowly reached for the hood. MR?

"Recruit!" Vindur snapped, this time using his grip on her shoulder to jerk her back and away from the body. "What do you think you're—" He stopped. She wasn't sure what had caused him to pause, but her eyes narrowed in annoyance. The only things she could register was that, for some reason, this man who was clearly her superior looked… scared.

And he was between her and her objective.

"Move."

"Y-your eyes—what? Your pupils are gone. H-how?"

"Move."

Vindur's mouth moved to form a word, but she didn't hear it.

She was furious. Vindur had finally snapped her back to reality when he pulled her aside, but what she came back to was just more anger and not sadness. She had just killed someone, that she knew, and it was probably someone she had only just begun to know—just begun to care about. How dare someone make her do that. How dare they make her shoot someone who had only shown her kindness and treated her like a human in this little world of weapons.

How dare they.

"Who was that?" she asked when he didn't move. Her voice was calm and the sharp edge to it impressed even her, but she was more interested in how her words affected him. He was starting to get agitated and his fear was palpable.

"There's none of your concern," Vindur responded. "Now go. Return to your classes."

Eclipse didn't move.

"That's an order, recruit!"

"Who was it?" she asked again.

"That kind of information is not giving out to trainees like you. Now, this is the last time I'll tell you. Go back to your classes, Lunar Eclipse."

"No, you will tell me who I killed and then you will tell me why." She finally rose to her feet, brushing off her pants as she did.

"You can't—" Vindur began but stopped when she glared at him again. Was it her eyes again? Or did he know something that she didn't? "Fine. Go and look for yourself if you're that determined."

Brushing past him she knelt back down near the prisoner. She grabbed the strand of hair that fell out and rubbed it between her fingers of her before using her other hand to pull off the hood.

"There she is!" Stray announced from the doorway, pointing down the hall when he saw Eclipse pass by. The two had been waiting for her to return in order to see what had happened and staring up at MR's empty bed and missing belongings didn't help their nerves. She seemed normal enough, which came as a rush of relief to FS who was the first one at her side.

"LE, what did the captain want to talk about?"

Eclipse paused before she spoke, walking through her now open door. "Nothing much." She wouldn't look at him and it wasn't until Stray also joined them did he press further about her condition.

"Nothing much? Really?"

She looked at him then briefly before walking inside, but FS caught very little. Her eyes seemed a little bloodshot and her face slightly pale, but while it didn't see life threatening, it was worrisome.

"LE, what happened?"

No response.

"You too?" Stray asked in a quiet voice, the guys following her into her room and barely registering that her door had closed behind them.

"Relax, guys, I'm okay. I just need to lie down for a little bit." Holding up her hand, she gave a motion for them to leave. "Really, I'll be fine. It's past curfew anyway."

"No, I'm not convinced. Something's wrong." FS directed her to sit on the bed as Stray hurried to the bathroom to get a glass of water. Eclipse took the glass with a partial smile, but that small gesture was doing nothing to comfort the panic that was rising inside FS's chest. MR had come back to the room last night in a similar state and now both him and his things are gone. Was that a foreshadowing for Eclipse? He cursed quietly but didn't have much time to dwell on the thoughts. Eclipse, sitting on the bed next to him, had dropped the glass and her hands cupped over her mouth. He cursed again, but Stray was the faster of the two and managed to snag the trash can.

She retched.

They sat with her through the whole ordeal. Stray would look outside the door every five minutes to make sure that the guards weren't coming for curfew and FS had been stroking her back in an attempt to make her feel better. But there was nothing that could make her feel better. In that moment her body wanted to vomit every memory, every moment about the ordeal from her mind. Biologically she knew that was impossible, but that didn't stop her body from trying.

The guys should have left a while ago and based on the quiet discussion they were having, they were having the same debate. She had been punished only the night before for breaking curfew. What would happen if she did it again?

Her stomach heaved.

She wasn't sure when the trauma had stopped, only that her body was starting to calm down and based on the amount of vomit in the can near her feet, she hadn't eaten enough that day. She gagged at the thought and Stray snatched the bin away before she could get sick based on the visual. Leaning forward, she rested her head in her hands, recognizing the distinct sound of a toilet flushing.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" FS asked next to her. She felt a cold washcloth then on the back of her neck and her nerves were slowly starting to calm down.

Except that was when reality started setting in.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She felt pressure on the back of her neck as FS pushed down on the washcloth. "There's no need to apologize."

Eclipse's heart stopped. Of course there was. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know what she did. He didn't know anything.

"I'm sorry. S-so sorry."

She saw a shadow form at her feet and glanced up to catch sight of Stray. His head was cocked to the side innocently, the hint of a smile on his lips. "Nothing to be sorry about," he stated simply.

"No, I'm not sorry for that." She gestured to her mouth. "Well, I am, but I mean—It's—" What did she mean? Should she tell them? Feeling FS's strong presence next to her and Stray's warm smile at her feet—could she even say the words. I killed him.

"Guys, I—I—"

"You had to, right?" FS interjected, flipping over the washcloth and returning it to her neck. "They made you do it. It's the same thing we told MR."

Her hand cupped her mouth again at the mention of his name.

"S-shit! I thought you were better. Stray—"

Shaking her the nausea away, she got to her feet quickly and stepped away from them. She had arisen too quickly, however, and the head rush nearly floored her, but she caught herself on the desk before that happened. Holding out her hand, she said, "No, stop. Don't."

Eclipse couldn't figure it out. Why were these two paying so much attention to her? Why were they being so nice? Haven't they only known her for a few days? "W-why?" she asked quietly and only when they didn't respond did she repeat the question, just louder. "Why?" They looked at her with a confusion her mind couldn't comprehend. It was as if their being in that room at that time was the most natural thing in the world. It makes no fucking sense. She sank to her knees and was unable to keep the tears from falling this time.

There was a pause before they joined her, squatting down next to her rubbing her back and pushing her hair behind her ears. Why? Why are they so nice to me? "N-no. Stop! Just stop!" She got to her feet, pushing them aside and turned to stand out in front of them. They stared at her wide-eyed and confused, trying to figure out what her outburst was about. Did they really think what she was doing was odd?

"Eclipse—"

"I killed him!" she screamed. "You have no right to be nice to me! I-I killed him! Don't you understand?" She was wailing then; she just couldn't stop herself anymore. They had no right to treat her with such kindness. "It was me, okay? I killed MR!"

It was as if she was in her own little world, the only sound being the ugly sobs cracking through her throat. She was alone. She would always be alone. She knew that, she anticipated it. And yet it hurt so bad.

There's no way someone would accept what I did.

She dropped to her knees and pounded her fists into the floor. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! This place is barbaric! What monsters thought up this kind of program! Why are we here? I—I had no idea!"

Even amid her struggle she heard the guys walk up to her again—felt them kneel and resume their comforting gestures.

And Eclipse was too upset to even comprehend why.

Eclipse debated whether or not to skip the morning workout. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly up to doing that much after last night. Turning off her alarm she rolled over onto her side and stared at the wall.

Stray and FS left with a few words of comfort, but they were cut short when the guard finally came in and shooed them out. He promised punishments for them all because, technically, it was the second time that they were all caught past curfew. No doubt the guard had seen her tear-streaked face, but that didn't seem to have any impact on him.

The redhead heard the other trainees stirring and the loud clicking as the doors unlocked for the day. Many of the boys rushed out of their rooms for the bathroom, hoping to get there before a long line formed. Ridiculous.

The day just seemed… pointless.

She sighed and turned onto her back, knowing that she should get up and change, but her legs wouldn't move. She felt the pain in her abs as she lie there and absently she started rubbing her stomach. Images of last night flashed across her memory and none of them were pleasant. The only thing that she really remembered, besides Stray and FS's kindness, was the pain from dry heaving and the headache that had kept her awake. Any other time she would've thought that her sore throat and dry mouth were unnatural, but not now. Drinking a lot of water and just waiting it out seemed to be her only option, but seeing as she still felt a little queasy, even that looked impossible. The crawly feeling in her stomach began to stir again as she thought more on what she had to do. Turning towards the bathroom she waited for her body to tell her whether or not to make a dash for the toilet.

Why did they stay?she thought, thinking about her saviors from the night before as she forced her legs over the edge of the bed.

She walked over to her bathroom and reached down to turn on the faucet. It was then she noticed a jar of some sort sitting on the edge of the sink. She didn't remember it ever being there before and that thought alone caused her heart to skip in panic. That meant someone had come into her room last night. She stared at it as the water was running, combing back through the events of the night before to see if she remembered an intrusion. She didn't. Rotating the jar, she saw that there was no name, only instructions. "Take before every mobile suit training class and mission. Only then."

Mobile suit training class? I don't have any of those, Eclipse thought, turning the bottle around again to look for anything else. And missions? What do they mean by that? She kept thinking about the note as she changed and left her room, realizing that this was going to be another thing she didn't understand that morning.

Neither FS nor Stray was among the other trainees that morning. As much as she tried to convince herself that they must have received their punishment early, Eclipse started getting terribly nervous. Yesterday morning MR wasn't around and she ended up—

"LE!" Stray shouted, waving his hand as he ran towards her. FS did the same behind him. Their faces were both red and they were breathing heavily by the time that they reached Eclipse. Stray fell to the ground with a small laugh, holding up his hand to let her know he was okay. FS stopped near them with his hands on his hips.

"Ah, so you did start early," Eclipse stated, feeling a rush of relief.

"We didn't have a choice," FS muttered. He started taking deep breaths and they looked at one another. Half sentences were forming in Eclipse's head, but nothing seemed good enough to utter. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before FS spoke up for her.

"It's fine. We're fine. You're fine. Everything is fine."

She gave a small smile.

"Lunar Eclipse, the captain asked me to give this to you." A greencoat walked up to her and gave her a manila folder. "It should have your new schedule as well as the key to your locker."

"New schedule? Locker? What are you talking about?"

"Everything should be in there, recruit. Oh, you're exempt from morning workouts from here on out, but you will be required to keep fit in your own time." The guard saluted and walked off before Eclipse could ask anymore questions.

She blinked, looked at the folder and then turned to her two friends who both offered a shrug. "On your feet, recruits! Now's not the time to be taking a break. Maybe this'll teach you not to break so many rules." The boys jumped to attention and saluted while Eclipse gave another smile. They all shared a knowing glance before the guys ran off to join the others.

With a sigh Eclipse walked back to her room and sat down on her bed. She opened the folder and pulled out the papers inside. Let's see what's different. She glanced over the schedule, but didn't bother to take the time to memorize it just yet; there was another piece of paper under the schedule that had caught her attention. It was a letter from the captain himself.

Lunar Eclipse,

Again, I'd like to congratulate you on a job well done yesterday. Rarely do we see such protégées even among the normal recruits in the other ZAFT facilities. I'd like to specify that the real reason for this program is to strengthen such skills and make you as powerful as you can in both mind and body. That is why I have come up with a new schedule for you to follow. While the other one did stimulate the mind, I now know what you are capable of and feel that these classes will bring you closer to this ultimate goal.

Thanks to your current events class I'm sure that you understand what is going on with the war. The only thing that any of us want is to end this quickly with as few of casualties as possible. Hopefully, you will be able to help us with that.

Enclosed is the key to your new locker. I managed to find you one off in the corner of the locker room so that you won't disturb the others and they won't disturb you. In there should be everything that you'll need from now on. If you need any other supplies just let an instructor know, but don't count on getting it soon. Most of your classes will be closer to said locker room than to your room so you might end up spending more time there than in your own quarters.

I'd like you to take the morning off and begin classes after lunch. I know that you probably have a lot on your mind so please use this time to figure things out because after today, your training will be harder and will require a lot more out of you.

Congratulations,

Captain Vindur

"Congratulations?" Eclipse repeated aloud, wondering what she should be congratulated for. Apparently killing someone deserves such high honors. But wait, did MR get the same new schedule? That would make sense as to why he wasn't at the workout that morning, but then why did he end up— Eclipse paused, trying to put the pieces together. He must've tried to escape but was caught and for the punishment… Eclipse cursed and threw the folder at the wall, letting the tears fall along with the papers. MR probably didn't want to kill any more people, so he tried to escape and just because he wanted to save others instead of destroying them, he himself was killed for disobeying. He probably had the morning off like I do and used the time to plan some kind of escape. Maybe I should try—

She stopped and cursed loudly, knowing that such a thought was suicide and besides, she couldn't leave without Stray and FS. But wait that's it. Maybe if all three of us tried—No, no, no! Stop! That's suicide remember? The only thing that we can do is just survive this. Somehow, we have to. She saw the schedule on the ground and slowly picked it up, glancing over the new classes again. Yes, we have to get through this together.

Vindur looked at the copy of the letter he had sent to Eclipse, going over its contents one more time. He would have liked to know her mental stability that morning, but he would just have to wait to try and see her that afternoon. Adding the "congratulations" was probably a bit harsh, he knew, but he was still angry and embarrassed about how she had made him feel the day before. She was a recruit and he was her captain. She shouldn't have been able to scare him like that.

Leaning forward in his desk, he arched his fingers near his lips, lost in thought. It was an impressive thing that he had witnessed the day before, he knew. He had done a little more research as soon as he had returned to his office and what he had found matched what he had witnessed.

A berserker.

He had read about this phenomenon. The myth of those ancient warriors was familiar; the story about people who were well mannered and quiet individuals by nature but in battle they turned into complete monsters. He knew the tales, but never believed they actually existed.

And yet there she was.

The pupiless eyes had startled him and thrown him off balance. Her eyes had been pools of… nothingness and yet at the same time they felt feral. A shiver ran down his spine at the memory and he opened the drawer on his right, pulling out her file and placing it open on his desk. Grabbing a pen, he wrote "berserker?" over her image before closing the file and hiding it back in his drawer.

Yes, things were about to get interesting.

A/N: Hey, hope you like this chapter. I was looking along my little time line thingy and decided that (hopefully) there'll only be two more chapters until she finally meets the main SEED characters. I know that some of you are waiting for them to come in and don't worry, they'll get here soon. I hope this one didn't get a little redundant. It might just be me because my other stories are going along the same route, but if it is please let me know along with anything else that you think might need to be polished up.

Thank you all for your reviews. It really means a lot to me to know that you like the story and keeps me motivated to write more. Things'll start heating up here pretty quick so you have been warned. :)

Strata