Phase 31: The Eye of the Storm

Time has a way of making things seem more hopeless than they are and as time went by the PLANT and ORB forces were locked in a stalemate. For a month it had been the same way, the PLANT council issued warnings and threats to ORB and then the would attack. The ZAFT forces were shaken to the core by the strength that was left in ORB. Morganrate increase weapons production and released new mobile suits to fight alongside the Dreamer, which in and of itself had proved to be a force in ORB's favor. Within that month it seemed that Yaro's power and abilities were increasing. The PLANT's attacked ORB outposts not wanting to directly attack the homeland yet. After two weeks more of battle Athrun defended against the one attack on the homeland in his new mobile suit, the Truth. His mobile suit dealt another powerful blow to the PLANT forces.

Though the battles had reached more of a stalemate than anyone had predicted Lady Cagalli was disheartened by the amount of death that this war was bringing. Yaro Yamato was becoming a frightening force on the battlefield because he was more unpredictable, sometimes he disarmed but more and more often he killed.

A month and a half of fighting, no end in sight.

To Jayley this was just the beginning for she was biding her time and waiting for the right moment, she knew it was soon though she felt a slight bit of fear; for the boy in the Dreamer was becoming a nightmare.

The machines hums began to annoy her as she sat on top of the production crates checking off the supplies that had just arrived. She could probably get away with doing nothing in this base but she was tired of feeling useless. Two weeks ago communications with ORB had ceased because Lacus was worried the PLANTs would be able to trace their current location, so Leyas was anxious about what was going on on earth. Apparently after Yaro had made his debt in battle the PLANTs doubled back for a whole week before trying to attack another base. Kiran and the Minerva had been sent to protect the homeland, so she was glad her twin brother had been removed from the main portion of the battle, however this information was two weeks old.

The silence order was not without it's backup measures, if ORB was in terrible danger Cagalli would still be able to call upon Lacus so they assumed that ORB was still standing strong. The machine hums seemed to get louder as more supplies passed. She yawned jumping off the crates and running toward the other side of the large hangar as she saw her father enter, but before she could get to him she saw that he was headed to his unfinished mobile suit. He probably had so much work to do and so much on his mind she thought it best not to bother him. Instead she walked over to where Trey sat working on some sort of program and sat on the empty chair beside him. She looked at her clip board and added up all the numbers in her head quickly writing totals at the bottom of the page. Their weapons supplies were growing quickly as if they were going to war soon and she wondered if her mother was closer to making any decisions.

She glanced at Trey as he seemed to be concentrating really hard. He breathed in and turned to her.

"This is just not coming now," he sighed, "my calibrations are way off and I can't seem to get this thing to work." She knew what he was working on. He had been analyzing battle data from the Hatred for awhile now trying to decrypt some ROW backup measures installed into the suit, he had a hunch that he could unlock the technology behind the S-System if he worked hard enough. She glanced over at his work reading the errors he was getting and she reached over to the keyboard and started typing.

Some energy flowed through her as her fingers moved on the keyboard and she didn't know what drove her on as she began to logically reason out what he was dealing with.

"What exactly are you doing?" he asked as she hit the enter key and the computer screen changed as the code complied and revealed a data plan that he had never knew existed; hidden in the encrypted files of his machine.

"What?" he said shocked and she looked at him confused.

"It was a simple cypher, created to throw off more advanced programmers," she responded, "the letters are stored within a vector to hide a keyword, I just traversed the data to unscramble the word and run it against the rest of the code." He should have been able to figure that out, it wasn't too difficult. The day of working on this was probably getting to him, he really needed a break.

"Come on," she said standing up as if reading his mind. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the chair, "you've been in here all morning, time to take a break."

"Alright," he responded knowing that she was right, he had been in there for hours. He was led by her through the halls of the base to a lookout into space. It was here that they often came when the work of the base got stressful. Over the past six weeks the two of them had began to work together quite a bit, and as many people still found it hard to accept an ex-ROW agent she was one of his only friends. He had learned quickly how sensitive she was, and he knew she still felt hurt from all the events that had taken place, and how her big brother had left them. He knew how the silence from ORB was killing her, and she knew how his past pained him.

"I wonder what is happening down there," Leyas said sitting down against the wall and looking toward the earth, "It's hard to believe all the bad things that happen there when it looks so beautiful from up here."

"It's like a jewel in the sky," he said thinking about the many times he saw earth from the view of a battlefield and from the vantage of a ROW base or ship, "and honestly I don't believe that it will remain this hard forever."

"I know," Leyas replied thinking about things that she felt inside her heart. "I don't know why but I feel like everything is changing, like there is something stirring down there. Do you think that it could be possible that ORB will be able to beat the PLANTs without our help?" Trey thought about it and he wasn't exactly sure, the PLANTs were known as a large force, but under Lacus the military had downsized because they were living in a time of peace.

"Anything is possible," Trey expressed thinking on it more, "I suppose they could but I really do not know." He turned to her and saw that she was wearing a slight smile and a thoughtful expression.

"Then peace will come," Leyas said with a even larger smile, "for if the PLANTs loose to ORB the people will turn away from Jayley; then my mother can get through to them and with the PLANTs on our side we will be able to defeat ROW." She let out a short laugh and he knew that she was saying this to try and convince herself that it would all work out.

"Whatever happens I'll be right with you Leyas," he said reassuring her and putting an arm around her, "One way or another this war will end." She smiled at him.

"I know," she said.

He fired his cannons with a new level of strength as a blue glow surrounded him once again. The adrenaline of battle rushed through him and he felt strong as he fought the field. The ORB forces cheered their champion on as Yaro began to turn the tide of the battlefield with his strength.

It was then that they lifted their eyes in even greater joy as the Truth entered the battlefield along with the Destiny and Impulse. Athrun Zala and Shinn Auska had arrived. The PLANTs had decided to attack with their strongest forces yet trying to destroy the outpost closest to ORB in order to secure their own troops there which would give them a station to attack the homeland from. This strategy was picked up by ORB's leaders who responded accordingly. Athrun watched Yaro's movements with a bit of sadness, this boy was taking the battlefield in the way of a true warrior and Athrun knew that road would lead him to much pain and hardships.

"Shinn take the right field with Lunamaria, I'm going to give Yaro backup," Athrun said in his instructing tone.

"Be careful Athrun," Shinn replied, "and watch those ships, I hear they may be more ready for us that we expect." Athrun knew he was responding to the rumors of harsher weapons installed on the ZAFT ships. He wondered if it was true. Before he could respond they both witnessed a large blast issuing forth from one of the ships and streaming through the outpost taking down everything in it's path.

Before saying anything Athrun shot off to where Yaro was, he knew they had to act fast to take out that ship and the Dreamer was more equipped for it than the Truth. The dreamer was built as an all around suit where the Truth was made with different attachments. As Athrun had it now he was ready for mobile suit combat and the Gundams that the ZAFT forces had sent out against ORB many times. As Yaro improved in his mobile suit abilities it seemed that those guys were getting better as well.

"Yaro we need to take out that ship," Athrun said urgently contacting his nephew, "you need to use the Dreamers cannon, I'll back you up."

"Roger," Yaro said and the two's movements synced as they worked their way toward the large ship. Athrun watched in amazement as Yaro transformed the Dreamer, it never ceased to stun him how they put so much firepower in that machine.

"Targeting," he heard Yaro say as he defended the Dreamer's weak side, "firing." The blast from the Dreamer tore through the side of the ship and it exploded quickly. Lives once again lost, but what choice did ORB have this time? The PLANTs were playing a dangerous game. As the ship was exploding Yaro transformed back into the Dreamer and shot off into the battlefield fighting through the swarm of troops, even though it was clear they would be falling back soon, there was something different about him on the battlefield. Something Athrun could not place, something he would never be able to understand.

She slammed her hand on the desk in front of her as she read through the report again; no matter what she threw at him, the pilot of the Dreamer kept getting in the way of her plans. The PLANT council was getting anxious about the ability of one mobile suit to throw them off so much but it was not like he was doing it all alone. He had others with him, Athrun and his lot. The troubling mystery to her was how this pilot kept getting stronger.

"It seems that you are running out of options," she heard Gera's twisted laugh and turned to see those deep dark eyes, "you know what you have to do Jayley. I have reached a level that even Meiko Virea couldn't touch if she were still alive. Please let me face him." Jayley didn't like the darkness in the girls eyes but she knew that she was running out of time to figure things out. Gera's mobile suit had just reached it's completion stages and even if she couldn't destroy the Dreamer she could stop him long enough for the others to break through. Jayley shook her head as she glanced back at the PLANT's report, it seemed that they wanted her to give the next attempt her all, to send everything they had into battle. She realized now was the time to see how ORB responded to this. An angry look rose on her face and she turned back to Gera.

"They will feel our wrath," Jayley said angrily.

"I'll make sure of it," Gera replied with a dark expression and a twisted laugh. All of ORB would tremble now, Jayley turned to her computer screen as she realized now it was her turn to call all the shots. No more weak attempts; strength and strength alone would prevail.

Kira stood in front of the large machine typing in more and more instructions; he was getting closer to cracking the algorithm to get this program right. His mobile suit needed to be ready soon and he wasn't sure if that was possible with the setbacks they had been experiencing. It drove him on in his work, he had to connect the dots to the machinery and to try harder now. He spent countless hours in her perfecting everything they had worked on and it seemed that they were still far from being finished.

"Daddy I need to talk to you," Kira turned away from his mobile suit to see his youngest daughter Kayla standing behind him. She looked scared and frightened. He locked his work and knelt down to her.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" he asked wondering what could have frightened her so.

"Not here," Kayla replied with a slight whine in her voice. He stood up understanding, there were plenty of engineers about, this was not a private place. He nodded to his daughter and took her hand. She was so small still, he wondered how she was able to stay strong with all that was happening around her. No child should be forced to endure this. So much dark and uncertainty. He knew that he had to be sure to protect her, his little girl. He led her into the family's private suite and as she sat down on the couch he sat down beside her waiting to hear what it was she had to say.

"Daddy, I'm frightened," he listened to her begin, "it's been happening for so long now I guess I should be used to it." He wondered what she was speaking of now when she clarified, "you know how I always try to give advice and it seems that I know things. Daddy, I can see things in my dreams, and they are real. I can see things that are happening, I don't know why but I can see the present and very rarely a glimpse of the future." Kira was not understanding how this was possible, this girl was just a child and the things she said now were not even plausible. How could a person have awareness of things to the point of being able to glimpse into the lives of those around them and even more un-plausible; how could any person see something that hasn't yet been determined for the future was made by the decisions of the present,

"Kayla these are just dreams," he responded when she interrupted him.

"I dreamed back then that a machine would explode the STING," she said, "I dreamed that Yaro would not return with us. I have dreamed so many things that I find out later have happened around me in the time that I was sleeping, as if I can enter into the mind of someone else and see their decisions. And when I see the future it's usually immediate, determined but now it's different Daddy." He listened as she spoke more.

"What I saw is different than anything," she looked at him with fear in her eyes shaking her head, "I saw Yaro fighting and I saw Meiko, the girl who died. I saw her alive. Daddy She's alive and I saw her and Yaro arguing. I saw Yaro fighting and I saw him dying inside, and last night I know that he's different. I saw his battle. I saw how he fights. I warned him daddy, I warned him before we left because the darkness wants him now. Daddy we have to go back, he have to save him." Kira was surprised by the things he was hearing now. If Kayla was right about her dreams that he suspected things in ORB were much worse than Cagalli was letting on.

The place she was in now was so different from anything she had ever known in her entire life, it was more than she had ever dreamed of in her entire life. Meiko Virea's recovery over the six weeks was not as rapid as expected, there were more super seed outbursts and troubling visions in her mind but aside from that she had never been happier. This house on earth was so beautiful and the people around her were kinder than she expected, they were nothing like the people in ROW. Everyone was so genuine with their kindness. She had been given a few tours and every time she was in the company of another person she felt safe.

She did not miss the nervous feelings she used to always have in the past. Here she didn't have to be on edge, for she was beginning to understand that this place was the opposite of everything that ROW was and that was the reason why they were so determined to stop ROW. She hadn't seen much of Milady in the three months, and the times she did see her she felt that the woman was so strange and so familiar yet she couldn't place it. It was Milady who made her feel the most safe, she had given Meiko so much and had let Meiko know that she was welcome to stay with them for as long as she wanted and that she was free to leave if she ever felt the need. It was different having options in life.

Everything was so unreally beautiful and though she felt that the people here were amazing she did spend much of her time alone in the gardens of the island underneath the trees and in the peace of nature.

She was in peace but still there were times of darkness when she let the images of her visions fill her mind and she wondered what trouble lay in the outside world. She didn't understand what these meant and what warnings they carried but she knew that they were all so dark that something huge was going on and that some force was begging her to do something about it even if the people here seemed content to let her life in perfect peace.

Redemption was a strange organization, they did carry out anti-ROW operations but they never spoke much of them. She heard rumors of wars outside but it seemed as if the people were unaffected by it all yet still concerned. A delicate mix of peace and responsibility; she wondered every day what her place in it was and what expectations they might have.

As the days went by her thoughts became very scattered, thinking on everything around her, everything within her and everything in the outside world. The people that she cared about were still out there and she wondered if they were safe and what had really happened to them all. Had they escaped the explosion? She had no doubt that she gave them enough warning, the one she really worried about in this was KIra Yamato as he had been with her to the near end, but she knew that these worries were useless and she assured herself of who she was thinking about. Kira Yamato was one of the greatest if not the greatest mobile suit pilot of all time, if anyone could get out of a bad situation it was him. He probably could have done more than she did but she was different so she made it out of an impossible situation. It still pained her inside that some of the ORB soldiers and Clyne faction could have been destroyed with the explosion she caused. Her heart ached to know what had happened but she never gathered the courage to bring it up to the people in this place.

Her thoughts turned to Yaro Yamato; how did he take everything if he was alive still? He had lost Uzumi and then she knew that she had lost him with her actions, he was probably very different now than the boy she knew before. She longed to understand and to see him again but she wondered if he would believe it or if he would be happy or not. She had been here three months now, a long time apart, no doubt any pain of her loss had passed from him. She hated thinking of it but it plagued her sometimes along with her visions for every time she saw him through the power of the super seed she saw a coldness around him; it had not taken him over completely but it lingered with him.

Sometimes she wondered what would happen if she returned to ORB but some gut feeling told her not too. She was finally near full recovery and without relevant excuse as before she believed it would be safer to remain here during recovery. What would happen if she moved now.

"Thinking on the past or the future?" she turned to see Yzak Joule behind her, of all the people in the base he seemed to be the most different. In a way he wasn't as readily kind to her, he was more offbeat than the others. Whenever she saw Milady he seemed to be around, it was as if he was the most trusted of the people in the organization and probably more than that.

"Everything," Meiko responded to his question not giving any details, she hated thinking on everything but as time went on she ran out of things to do. Yzak watched her expression carefully and knew what it was that it meant, this girl was concerned about everything she didn't know; she was very much like he expected her to be. The past six weeks he knew that leaving her in the dark would be hard on her but Milady seemed determined not to speak of the things that plagued the world, she was determined to let Meiko have some peace while the battlefield was still scattered and divided.

This Yzak followed but he didn't really agree with everything, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the truth of what was really happening and if he couldn't ignore it he knew that he would have to join the fight.

"I know we haven't spoken much about the world around us," Yzak said looking around him, this place that they now saw was beautiful in the midst of Milady's gardens, he knew it to be a good place to think, "but it's a heavy load to know everything and to be unable to do anything for I await the orders of Milady as much as you await a sign on which path to take." He saw a slight coldness in the midst of her eyes and knew that it was not from feelings she had toward him but rather from the dark that she was forced to endure her entire life, it was truly a miracle that there was an shred of humanity left within this girl, it was something that he had not expected even though he should have realized it when thinking about her past. Milady always believed in it because she believed that Liene could not change the fundamentals of who Meiko was; the genetics that came from her parents controlled her destiny more than anything he could do to try and change her.

"Meiko if you have any questions about the world you can ask me, I know Milady ignores the real issues but I will not," he said, he knew now that their alliance with this girl was the most important thing they could do for she was the only one of the bearers of the super seed who had really manifested.

"Who is she really?" Meiko said finally speaking, giving the question that had been burning in her mind for so long, "for she is so strange, it's like I've met her before and when she speaks to me I feel compelled to listen. I think in these months she has been something to me that I thought I would never have and she has cared for me through this all personally." Yzak looked down thinking about all the questions the girl could ask, she had to ask this one and he was compelled to answer.

"Milady Redemption," Yzak spoke beginning, "it is not a name but a title, for it is everything she sought; I believe you know how that is." Meiko nodded and he continued, "She was just a girl during the first war, and she lost everything like so many others, everything she loved was torn from her. The people she loved died and the way she describes it her soul was filled with anger by it all, so much so that when she met John Liene he gave her hope of a new world. I know that must sound twisted to you, but there was a time when Liene genuinely wanted peace, darkness has since twisted his soul. Milady gave her all to ROW and in the end he betrayed her and tore away all that she had left of the past from her. I know that's general but that is how this story must be told. She was known by many names, Rayla Frost being the most common and she turned against ROW but it was too late." He stopped thinking about everything Milady had told him the first time she opened up, all the doubt and guilt and pain that she had gone through.

"Too late for what?" Meiko asked willing him to continue.

"Too late to stop Liene," Yzak responded though he wanted to say too late to save you, but he knew that Milady would rather not give Meiko anyone to blame for what happened for it was out of her hands. Meiko was just one of Liene's projects then and she had to run if she wanted to be alive to stop ROW. If she had not have left that day she would have been killed and ROW would have surely won by now. She justified her abandoning of Meiko by telling herself it was the world or a little girl and with a little patience she could have both. Rayla had hope that Meiko would make it out, and her hope had proved right so therefore the choice in the past had been the right one.

"She created Redemption and abandoned the name," Yzak claimed. Meiko listened intently knowing that she was so much like Milady herself in how she had abandoned ROW but in doing so she had almost had to destroy herself. She believed in this organization of Redemption but Meiko began to doubt she could ever fight under it's banner, she was finally free and she had begun to think through the past few months about fighting alone.

"What about the world outside?" Meiko asked as she felt a sadness fill her thinking about everything again, she wished she could forget it all but it was there, it was the reason she was here now. She had escaped ROW but in doing so she had erased all the hope she had for the future in death and even in that things were twisted and here she was alive. "What I really want to know is did everyone survive?"

"They survived," Yzak responded, "and they split. The Clyne faction left ORB to regroup, but last I heard they are all still alive and standing strong against the many threats that nation faces."

"But I see them in my visions," Meiko replied remembering the darkness, "they are in danger, and they are in pain. There is darkness around them that threatens to close in on them, it's as if they are calling for me to come help them but I don't know what to do Yzak. I am not ready to fight and I have no mobile suit, please just tell me if they are in danger. I must know the truth." He looked at the frantic expression in her eyes and knew he had to tell her the truth, for in her eyes was a depth that he had never seen before and he realized now that the prophecy had indeed been realized and the girl that sat before him was the Phoenix they had been waiting for; Milady had been right once again.

"They are in danger," Yzak replied, "the PLANTs have declared war on ORB, though so far no major battles have been fought, I fear for the country." The words did not surprise Meiko, she turned her head toward the wind as if blew and she looked up toward the sun as she saw her path clearly now. She knew that somehow it would lead her back to ORB, and she would have to fight; for the world and for herself.

Lacus watched from a window as her eldest daughter and Trey Likra Day worked together on the fine tunings of a machine under the watchful eye of one of the head mechanics. She was becoming a bit concerned about the amount of time that her little girl was spending with that boy. He was once a member of ROW and no matter how much he had changed it was hard for her to think of her daughter and him being close; maybe it was just a situational friendship, they were both young and thrust into the same atmosphere to work so it was natural for them to go about things together. He was also four years older than her, he could hardly see her as anything but a little sister. Lacus calmed her fears turning away to where Kira sat typing away as he worked through the fine tunings of his mobile suit again. She knew he was getting anxious about ORBs situation and his inability to join the fight without a machine.

"Our forces are looking stronger each day," Lacus said trying to start a conversation, "we even had a few new recruits join up with us a few days ago. Andrew Waltfeld says the Eternal is near ready and the base is more fortified than ever."

"And my machine is all that we are waiting on before we go to help ORB," Kira responded with a sigh, "I've never had a problem I couldn't solve when it comes to Operating Systems yet this one keeps plaguing me. It runs, probably better than the Strike Freedom but there are still bugs that I am worried about when it comes to combat."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Lacus said putting a hand on his shoulder, "you always do."

"It's just figuring it out before the PLANTs make a bigger move than they have," Kira said, "Athrun and Yaro have done well up to now but I believe the PLANTs are holding back on something. They had those three gundams and they might have more. We need to be wary."

"Yaro defeated those easily their first battle," Lacus expressed looking at Kira with concern, "surely they pose no real threat."

"He defeated them the first time, the second and third and fourth he had help and I believe those pilots are improving with him," Kira replied, "Besides the fact that ZAFT could be producing new mobile suits with more power than those three and more super weapons like the ones they have tried to use. They are learning from their mistakes and throwing out new technology at a higher rate than should be possible, it all points to something else. They might be backed by ROW." Kira had thought this through over and over again, he knew what the PLANT military was capable of because he had been in it for quite a long time. Everything they did now just didn't add up; something was different about them and he wanted to know what.

"Everything always points to ROW," Lacus declared as tears filled her eyes, "Why don't they just leave us be?"

In the past six weeks he had lost no stride in tripling his moves in the world. He was certain that he was throwing things off balance. As the nations of the world turned their eyes to the battle of the PLANTs and ORB they turned away from ROW's advancements, it was the perfect opportunity. The amount of new technology they had discovered in one nation was astounding and in a record three weeks they had put the finishing touches to the next stages of his plan. Before him stood two young pilots, neither of which had a name to him. Both were from the program he had started years ago, their training was considerable and being coordinators with a special touch of his own research they were strong. Together they were a threat the world was already bowing to.

Their mobile suits were the same and their ability to work together was top notch with the help of some new technology. On top of these two twin warriors he had fine tuned the robotic units knowing that they were almost useless in the battle for ORB. But he was John Liene, the more people thought they could stop him the stronger he became.

He turned away from the units to Giligan Manchester.

"Good work," he said and the two began walking through the hangar overseeing everything else that was going on.

"Sir I noticed that you were going to Mars with Mike Shustre, has he returned from the PLANTs?" Giligan asked?

"Yes he has," Liene replied with a dark smile, "and we are going to Mars to check up on some information. All that is left of Meiko's files must be examined and I feel that the events in the PLANTs have taught me a great deal about expecting the unexpected." Giligan wondered what was in Meiko's files that was so important, the girl was dead surely finding a biological weakness at this point was of no use. Understanding Liene was near impossible but Giligan hated being out of the loop on the things that his leader was planning.

"Excuse my questions sir," Giligan began, "but Meiko is dead, what further use could we have with her files? Surely information on her background should be destroyed before anyone finds it."

"Meiko being dead has no bearing on the things that I am speaking of," Liene spoke dryly now as if uninterested in the question, "I am speaking of the studies on the super seed. I hope to search the world for any other I can find with that kind of power, and understanding that power is key. Besides who's to say that ghosts can't exist? We must be prepared for any angle, even though I would be shocked if she did in fact survive that. No one could have, not even her."

"And Mike is going with you because?" Giligan asked.

"I've had a feeling in the back of my mind for awhile," Liene replied, "A feeling that Mike Shustre is a traitor and I intend to get him as far away from this base and the field as possible until I know for sure. We can't be too careful, Meiko was like a daughter to him and my end treatment of her hit him hard, you never know which path someone will take when loosing something they care about." Giligan was not surprised by this, he had always been wary of Mike. There was something about him that was just too different to be a part of ROW. He was never willing to do what was necessary and in the end he was always getting in the way.

No more was said on the subject as they were both deep in thought. No matter how people tried to stop them they always seemed to fail. Liene was more confident than ever, for if even Meiko Virea had failed then there was no one who could stand up to them. In the midst of his confidence when he thought about it hard there was something he could not forget; a prophecy of the Phoenix, a fear that it was Meiko and a fear that everything was not over yet. For fire and ashes had fallen, all that remained was for the fire bird to rise in vengeance for all that was lost. Liene always hoped that the prophecy would point revenge toward another faction but he never counted out the possibility of him being in danger. Backup measures were taken and something no one knew of was about to change. For Liene himself was more powerful than anyone yet knew and he would return to himself very very soon.

Murrue Ramius sat across from Yaro Yamato, his disposition strange and different than that of the boy that she once knew. She had been given the job of debriefing him on his various encounters with the PLANTs. As she sat there she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about something, the boy had changed and she knew not what to think about it. Kira and Lacus had been forced to leave him behind when he defied them, something to do with him wanting to fight the way he felt was right. She looked at the reports and the number dead by his hand in the past six weeks. She couldn't help but compare it to the amount who died by his fathers hand before Kira changed his ways in fighting. Kira had learned the value of human life and it seemed that Yaro digressed as he went and human life meant less and less to him the more he fought. The numbers grew and the fear he put into the PLANT warriors grew as well.

"I fought those three gundams in each battle," Yaro said as photos of the three new gundams went by, "the PLANTs seems to be leaning on them. I let them escape the first time and they came back stronger. I haven't been able to find a weakness to destroy them, even with the help of Athrun but scaring them off is easy enough." She nodded at this, his voice wasn't dark as many said it was on the battlefield, he still sounded like the same person he was before when he spoke; it was his eyes that told a different story.

"And what of the PLANT's cannons?" Murrue asked, "we have heard that they have upgraded them on some ships."

"Not much of a thread to the power of the Dreamer," Yaro replied, "I have fought backed by Athrun and Shinn and when I use the Dreamers positron cannon, backed by it's strong power generator I can destroy a ship in one blast. The system of the Dreamer is our weapon against those machines. I have no doubt that if the PLANTs don't pull out something stronger, victory is ours."

"Of course we think that's great Yaro," Murre said, "but what of your fighting tactics, there are some concerns that the PLANTs may stir up propaganda using the number that have been killed on the battlefield. The PLANT council instructed pilots to be a little more wary of this yet you seem to increase the number you kill each time you enter the battlefield." He looked at her, expression unchanged as if he didn't care what it was she was saying.

"I understand Murrue," Yaro responded leaning back, "naturally I know what you are saying, but I also know the number that have been killed from our side on the battlefield. I have discovered that the more I stop the better chances our soldiers have so I try to stop as many as fast as I can. Surely you understand that it is faster to completely destroy a machine than it is to disarm it? The amount of ORB soldiers I have protected with my actions is worth what I have been doing, the way I have been fighting no matter how ruthless it is. And don't forget if they had the chance they would kill, I just decide not to give them that chance." It was something she understood, it was every solider's excuse for fighting and for killing but she didn't like it, she never liked it and she didn't like that Kira's son was the one saying this now.

The changes she saw now in Yaro were terrible, he was becoming a solider more and more everyday. Surely he would have to change his ways soon or he would become the target of every angry PLANT citizen.

"I understand," she responded, "but it still doesn't make it right."

"Did you call me here to do your job or to reprimand me?" Yaro asked with a hint of sadness in his eyes, "because I know when I've done something wrong, and I know that every life I take is wrong. I'm not inhuman, I just am beginning to understand the gravity of our situation; we can fight with our ideals but they aren't going to have the same standards. They kill hundreds of us not caring to preserve life, so I justify it even though I know I shouldn't." Seeing his war eased her mind, the coldness in his eyes hadn't taken over. He was still Yaro, he fought to protect what he believed him even though it still tore him inside.

"I know it's a tough decision for you Yaro," Murre replied as tears filled her own eyes, "but you need to understand that the PLANTs are using this as propaganda, and if they find out that it is you behind it all there will be consequences. I am asking you to be careful." He understood what she said but he also knew how hard it would be, on the battlefield he was a different person. At times he reviewed the things he did and he did not remember them, as if something took him over. It was strange.

"I will try," Yaro said, standing up. She dismissed him thinking more on it, it seemed that something wasn't right despite her reassurances.

"It's been slow Milady," Yzak said as they both watched from a window as Meiko sat on the grassy lawn below watching nature and doing nothing. In the past few days she had withdrawn from them almost completely. She gave her acknowledgments but never anything more. Milady had know that it would be like this but she wasn't really prepared to handle it. "We made a mistake in bringing her here, if we had kept her in space she would have had little place to hide from us around here. You really need to talk to her."

"I know Yzak," she responded as she watched the wind blow around the girl below who was still very much like a child, especially now since she was in a strange place and feeling very alone. Milady had waited sixteen years for this moment but had never expected it to be so hard, the girl was lost and Milady did not really understand how to reach out to her now. "I know it's my duty, what I have needed to do since she awakened but I can't find words to say Yzak. I know everything she went through and I know that I am partially to blame for it all, because I helped Liene start ROW and when I escaped I didn't save her. It's just every time I see her I feel an overwhelming guilt for the things I did and for the things I didn't do."

"That guilt isn't getting us anywhere," Yzak sighed, "Milady you've faced near defeat, death and all sorts of impossible situations and yet now the thing your afraid of the most is yourself. You're afraid that you will somehow fail again, but how will you know if you don't try? Better to fail than to say that you didn't succeed because you never tried." She understood.

"You're right," MIlady sad walking toward the door, "I must face her." She left Yzak standing there and he nodded knowing that very soon their Phoenix would be given back her driving will.

Milady stepped out into the garden where Meiko sat; the girl was on her knees staring into the sky, her dark red hair fell softly around her. Milady was amazed at how her recovery had been going, the girl seemed to be much stronger now than she had been in the time that she had been with them. Meiko breathed in as she heard Milady approaching.

"The super seed is calming," Meiko said starting a conversation, Milady was glad to hear these words. It was true that the stability of Meiko's super seed was increasing and soon the energy levels would fade to the point that Meiko no longer felt it and it would no longer attack her mind with visions.

"I am glad," Milday said sitting down beside the younger girl, mimicking her stance, "but it is not that I came to speak with you about." Meiko's gaze which had been straight ahead now turned to the masked woman.

"You're Rayla Frost," Meiko expressed, "you were in ROW, you knew Mike; now tell me how you became this? How does someone with nothing just end up with the wealth to create this world? I don't now why you brought me here but I do know that you have to have some reason. People like you just don't exist in this world anymore. Uzumi was the first and last I ever met." Milady heard the girls words, her confusion and she knew that she had chosen this time for a reason.

"Uzumi was an amazing person but his destiny was to help you," Milady said turning away from the girls gaze as tears filled her own eyes and she remembered the sacrifices that were made for Meiko's sake. "Meiko there have been many willing to give their lives for you, because whether or not you really understand it you are special. You were born for a very important reason, and it's so hard for me to express that to you which is one of the reasons why I haven't. There are things you should know and so much I can't even bring myself to say. I was in ROW and like you I made it out but I never forgave myself for leaving without taking you. I vowed to protect you the very first day I laid eyes on you and I failed. Now all these years I have waited for time to rescue you from everything but Liene hid you away, and it took me much longer to find you than I thought. After so many years I wasn't sure what to expect; if you had changed into what Liene wanted you to be or if you had remained as innocent and beautiful as the child I once watched over." Meiko listened to her words surprised by them, she had always heard that she had a nurse who cared for her as a child but she would never have believed this person to still be watching over her.

"I had every chance in the world to live a happy life and I threw it all away," Milady continued with a faraway look on her face, "I had people that cared for me. I lost everything and I didn't even realize what I had until it was gone and now I can't loose you again. You are the Phoenix of prophecy and you will change this world, I know it's confusing now but you have to believe Meiko. You have the strength within your heart and I know now that I see you that you know this."

Meiko felt tears filling her eyes as she heard Milady's words, it was something she never thought she'd have in her life. Someone believed in her and this someone was there for her. Milady wiped tears from her own eyes as she saw the emotions of the girl before her, ROW had lost and Meiko was still human and still held the bright light of love within her. Milady embraced the younger girl comforting her as she began to cry, and letting her know now that things were going to be different. Soon after that Meiko withdrew as was her way, Milady could not ask for anything more. Meiko had opened up for a moment and in that moment Milady knew that she was ready; no matter how she withdrew Meiko's soul was free.

Meiko felt resolve as her emotions faded into hardness once again, for the road she was about to take would be long but she knew now she would be victorious.

It took so long to write all this but it's finally here!

A full length chapter!

Please Review, review, review! I want to know what you think about everything!

-WinterChill