Going back to the beginning of why I started this story. The idea was formed around a Gundam Wing fanfic I had been planning at the time and the speculation that I had heard surrounding Flay's status. This story was basically birthed out of the question, what if Flay had been pregnant? And if that was the case what if that child lived? I wanted to explore that in a story, so I created Meiko and set her up in ROW. Yaro was conceived in my mind later as a counter balance to Meiko's journey and a character with which to add romance. I thought several times about making a twin for Meiko but decided against it. I placed Yaro as Liene's son very early on as I established Liene as the main villain, little did I know I would revamp the end of this story and the enter story of Immortal (which I originally called For Eternity) changing everything.
On the note of Mike Shustre's death, his number was actually up after Uzumi's death. I was originally going to have Yaro kill him in a mobile suit battle where Yaro is trying to kill Meiko but Mike takes the hit. I decided against it as I wanted Mike around for intrigue and to show an inside look at how someone is disillusioned by ROW, so I switched the moment of his death but kept his killer the same. It was Yaro's job to end his life, I determined that a long time ago.
Phase 43: Echos of the Darkened Past
"Hold on!" Kira cried out as he slammed the controls harder realizing the Phoenix, however fast it was, was going to be engulfed in the fast moving heat of the flames. He had to get them out of there now. The revelation that Meiko was his daughter changed things in a way Liene did not expect. Now Kira understood what was so different about her, why he trusted her so quickly and why they fought together so well. Now there was a hugh part of him that just wanted to protect her with all that was within him, he would protect her from this.
"No!" Meiko cried out as she felt a pain in her mind. In that same moment Kira was shocked to feel a different explosion in his own mind as a violet glow filled up the space in front of him and the seed explosion escalated. He felt it as pain at first and at the same time Meikos fragile super seed ignited.
Meiko found herself in a dream world, floating over a horizon of stars. Everything was not what it seemed, for everything in her world was different that she could have ever predicted. Everything she was had fallen apart and she was the one to blame for it all.
"No Meiko, you did not really fail, for the truth is not the end of everything," the voice knew her thoughts as she turned to see Uzumi Zala before her speaking to her as he always did "For everything Liene said was true; you are what he says, and that makes us family. I always knew there was a connection between us but knowing it now, I understand why I felt as though I had to fight for you, as though you were important to the world. None of this changes anything really; don't let it cause the division Liene intended for." She looked at him with a strange look in her eyes; here she was facing a past she didn't know existed and Uzumi was here as ever before defending her from the things around her that tried to once again stop her resilience.
"But what about Yaro?" Meiko asked, for he was John Liene's son and for that he would surely break. So many times she had tried to explain to herself why it was that he lashed out and so many times she realized there was no way to explain it. But now there was, he carried part of his father in him, a darkened past.
"You must trust the hearts of those that raised him," Uzumi spoke with wisdom, "for though his past is darker than most, there were those within his family who only wished for light. By the grace of those that love him he can be saved but if that love does not temper the darkness of this grim secret then he will surely fall. Everything that happens to him is up to you Meiko. Will you stand by him or watch him crawl?"
"I will stand by him!" Meiko declared, "even if he does not want me to, I will never back down!"
"Then go back and watch resiliently," Uzumi said with a sigh, "for everything is far from over."
Kira had never felt power like this before as the systems of the machine changed before him, the machine was changing with the change of the two minds within it.
"What's happening?" Kira asked.
"SS, welcome," a robotic voice sounded, "the light of the super seed has shined." Meiko watched in awe as the machine changed and everything became suddenly faster and stronger. The machine moved faster and faster toward the end of the explosion, no damage to it could be sustained. They were on their way out.
The explosion was large as the Clyne faction and Redemption watched in awe as the fire rose up from the base. Lacus cried out as she saw the Phoenix engulfed within the flames. The Dreamer and the Justice had just landed aboard the Eternal and reported that Kira was with Meiko in the Phoenix, and piloting it for her. Leyas near leapt from her seat by Trey was at her side. Him and Kiran and gotten to the bridge soon after boarding the Eternal when the order was given to flee from the base.
"Daddy!" Leyas yelled to the screen. Kayla was also on the bridge, she had been silent through the entire battle watching events unfold and feeling pain in her heart from things she couldn't explain. So much more happened this day than the battle and she knew that she had warned Yaro of his past and that warning had done nothing to help her. The explosion seemed to get larger as everyone focused in saying nothing wondering if the two most invincible of them would make it out of this once again. It was then that the flames started to receded and out of the fire came a light, a violet glow as the Phoenix glowed flying unscathed through the flames at a high speed and toward the Eternal.
"They're safe!" Kayla declared as everyone watched in shock of what they were seeing. The machine was glowing with a streaking violet glow. Lacus let out a cry of joy and leaping toward the exit and the hangar. The battle was over.
Kayla was less satisfied, disaster had reigned true today.
Yzak, Dearka, Trey, Kiran, Leyas, Kayla and Lacus. They were in the hangar now as Milady, now face uncovered was there as well. She felt warm tears in her eyes, everything was sure to be different she saw Yaro, his expression numb and pale from everything.
"Yaro," Lacus floated toward him and hugged him but got no response. This hurt her, she saw the expression of Milady as well and the face before her was strangely familiar, something had gone wrong inside that base. Something that had caused the expressions to these two people to be as though the battle had been lost when it had clearly been won by the Clyne faction and Redemption. Sure Liene had not been captured but the ground they had gained was monumental. They had found a major weakness to the robotics and outwitted a group of ROW generals. Lacus's train of thought was interrupted as Kira floated out of the Phoenix supporting Meiko next to him as she appeared to be wounded. Lacus noticed as Yaro backed away, cowering toward the Dreamer.
Flay floated forward a little, eager to get this confrontation over with. She was sure what was going to happen next, for Liene had planned all this for a reason.
"Kira!" Lacus declared floating to give him a hug, he smiled at her letting go of Meiko to hug her back. The girl moved to the floor swiftly supporting herself as best she could. She turned to Flay, her expression hardened. Everyone watched on as it seemed that Meiko was ready to burst at any moment toward this woman whom had been her ally before the battle.
"We're alright," Kira said to Lacus as they floated closer to the ground, "but it seems everything was not what it seemed." He turned toward Flay, "perhaps Athrun and Cagalli were right not to trust you, for you knew everything all along and you still let us walk into that trap. You know how many people could have died today, including Meiko! She's your daughter Flay, not some chess piece for you to manipulate as you have for so long!" Everyone looked shocked as Dearka realized where he recognized her from and as Miriallia who had joined the Eternal on the bridge for the battle entered, shocked as well by who she was seeing there before them. Flay had died in that battle, there was no way she could be here now, and as Milady Redemption.
"You think you understand things don't you Kira," Flay spat back, "you can evaluate and decide things so well by yourself and through your own reasoning. Who are you to judge me for my decisions? Who are you to pass over everything that has just happened and blame it all on me?"
"You never thought to come to me?" Kira accused, "when you knew that I was alive and I never had the slightest idea that I could have a daughter somewhere in the world!" Tears filled Meiko's eyes at this. "Let everyone know now what it was that you have done to us all! The lies and the deception that you passed over us! Tell them Flay Allster!" He said her name in anger now, for she had caused him so much pain in the past. He had griped to save her for he felt he owed it to her when the truth was that she had only every tried to cause his death and she had known that she carried his child. She had abandoned Meiko to ROW and instead of rescuing her straight away she had let Meiko grow up in that awful life. She had never even thought to go to him and explain everything that had happened. She had never thought that her actions could eventually effect so many once again. She was still the same person that she had ever been before, only this time she had worn a mask to deceive those around her.
"It's true," she spoke up, "I am Flay Allster, and Meiko is my daughter and also Kira's daughter." Everyone was stunned in silence. Kiran, Kayla and Leyas looked at Meiko shocked at the revelation that they had a sister. "It was a long time ago, and no mater how Liene tried to say everything, he doesn't know the truth of everything that happened. Perhaps Kira you don't want to know the truth. You who were always so concerned about your own pain; you never even once saw what I was going through, you never knew the pain I felt inside from everything I was trying to do and everything that I had witnessed."
"Because you lied to everyone from the beginning," Kira accused, "and now look where your lies have brought us!"
"But could I really have come to you when I lost Meiko?" Flay asked now, "for you had a life, and I didn't want to take you from it in search of a little girl whom I wasn't even sure was still alive. For Liene was angry with me for stealing his son, how was I to know that my daughter would live?" Yaro hated hearing himself once again confirmed as Liene's son, it was like someone was twisting a pain inside him. It was a fact that made him want to scream at this moment but he held in it.
"Stop it!" Meiko's voice came with strength as tears flowed from her eyes, "damn it, stop it all of you!" She stood up angry, "None of us carry the sole blame for what happened and none of us can change it! Standing here and arguing with each other isn't going to solve anything."
"It's cause none of you understand," Flay tried to speak but Meiko cut her off.
"Don't you see?" she asked, "this is exactly what Liene predicted. He revealed the dark truths that surround us and he knew that it would cause us to fight among ourselves. This is how he knew it would go, this is what he wants! And while all of us carry a little bit of pain from everything that has taken place don't you realize that in the midst of this we have a chance to turn it around on Liene. We are stronger than him, and we do not have to be his puppets! We can either let this tear us apart or we can let this break us." Tears filled her eyes at her own words as the realization of everything filled her, "That's what Mike would have wanted us to do, to continue and to fight him united and strong as we have always been." She cried more now as mentioning Mike's name hurt her and the thought of all the things he had done for her. To be killed the way he was, after surviving so long in ROW was an injustice and she knew that she couldn't blame Yaro for everything. Liene had set it all up and twisted everything so that this day they would be defeated from within. No more of this, Meiko would take a stand for the right truth that they were all somehow family and they would find a way together.
"Fine," Kira conceded seeing the determination in Meiko's eyes, "but I want to know the truth of everything, no more secrets and no more lies."
"Everything?" Lacus questioned shocked at all that had come out, "could there be anything more to say?" She felt herself as if she was going to cry seeing the brokeness of those who had returned from the depths of the ROW base. Kira out his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer as she felt words coming forth from her, "it's like Meiko says, this is the information that should bring us together, not tear us apart. We can't let the way in which this was revealed destroy everything."
"Then we will all figure this out together," Flay responded, she understood what Meiko was saying, "and I will tell you everything I can, explain everything that I can. I know you all think I was wrong but I had my reasons." Meiko turned away from her to Yaro, she had never seen him looking so low before.
"Yaro this doesn't change anything," Meiko spoke to him now, "nothing Liene says changes anything." Yaro looked up at her, mixed emotions in his eyes; fear, sorrow, shame, apology, and hatred. He was the son of John Liene, the man who had twisted the world and destroyed everything that he had once had. All along Yaro fought him as he was the darkness in the world and all along he was laughing knowing that when it came down to the truth he could destroy everything Yaro believed in in one sentence. What he had said could not really be true. Yaro tried to fight the idea of it but the pieces all fit together, Rayla Frost had bee the one to bring him to the orphanage and she was Flay Allster whom had stolen Liene's son.
"It changes everything," Yaro responded in a soft voice, "I understand now. The reason I'm so different. The reason my battlefield is one of hatred, it's because inside of me is a part of him, that changes everything."
"No," Lacus spoke up now. For here before her was her son, the child whom had comforted her when she was weak and who possessed a kindness that was unequaled by many, for he was a one of a kind boy. No DNA could change that. "You are my son Yaro," Lacus said, "mine and Kira's. Nothing Liene says changes who you were raised with. Nothing of where you come from changes how much we care about you. You have been such a strength and help to us through life, and we love you. We don't want to loose you." The three siblings then stepped forward.
"And where would we be without our big brother?" Kiran asked, "you never lived the life Liene wanted for you, and just because you know the truth now doesn't mean you have to start." Yaro felt even more broken up by the words he was hearing. It was true, he felt more connected to these people than to anyone, for they had always been by his side but he felt some doubt. Could they really get past this? Could he really get past this?
"I am the one who would have cause to hate you the most," Meiko spoke up now, "for everything he did to me. But Yaro look at yourself, all the stuff he has done are not you. Everything he stands for is not you. You may lash out differently than the rest of us but you are not him. It is him I hate and not you, for you are your own person despite where you come from." She floated toward him seeing his uncertainty and she put her arms around him he soon gripped her close to him as tears came from his eyes. She was still there for him, even after everything. She was right about being the one person who would really have cause to hate him for his past, but she could never do that to him. For he was the one that she cared for most. Their lives had been switched at birth, and she now realized that it was destiny. For if Yaro had been raised like her he would be unstoppable, but she had the grace of her family holding her back from doing all the things Liene had wanted her to. She now thanked whatever power helped them that they had been switched, for because of that power they were together.
When Yaro let go of her he noticed she looked very pale. She turned back to the people before them all, now she had family among them, siblings and a father. It was then that everything hit her at once, she remembered her pain as her mind became fragile once again. Something had given her the strength to last this long but she cried out in pain now. At her side instantly were Yaro and Kira as her hand flew to her side where a bullet had been shot.
"To the medical center now!" Kira yelled as Yaro took Meiko in his arms and the two floated quickly out of the hangar, Flay and Lacus followed leaving the kids and veteran pilots stunned at everything. Family relations on the ship just got a whole lot weirder.
"So Meiko is our half sister?" Leyas spoke up first as she, Kiran, Kayla, and Trey had all left the hangar together toward the dining hall. They were all shocked and shaken up by all they had witnessed in the aftermath of the battle. They had considered it a victory until their family had returned bearing news that had effected all their main pilots, plus the information that Liene had somehow escaped again and they had no idea where he was now and what he was planning to do next. Leyas was also shocked by the news that her adopted brother was Liene's stolen son, it seemed completely ironic to her but it was as Meiko said he was no different to her.
"Apparently," Kiran sighed, "and all this time I thought that mom was the only girl dad had ever had. Seems there is a whole history we know nothing about as well. Do you wonder if any of this will change things in our family?" Leyas had wondered about that as well, but she doubted it would change very much aside from Meiko becoming closer with them all.
"I think that we shall all have to get to know our sister better," Kayla spoke up now, "and we'll all have to continue to stand by Yaro till he gets past this, that information is the most worrying to me. He's already so messed up by this war, we should continue on as family to him and perhaps take the time to understand his feelings about the issue so we can help him work through it. But on the note of mother and father they are as solid as can be, I don't think that Milady will change any of that; she did make daddy really angry with all her lies after all and it does not really sound like their relationship ended very well in the past." Leyas nodded, she knew she shouldn't doubt her parents strength through this new challenge. She was just wondering what exactly happened to bring all this about. Meiko was young, 18 so that meant her father was 16 when he fathered her. Leyas thought about it more and she understood his stance against her and Trey more. He had gotten into a relationship young and it had ended wrong in his mind, he was just being protective. She just wished he was more honest about it all, now it was shocking to her that they had an older sister from a past that they had no idea about.
"The way I see it you're all going to love having Meiko as a sibling," Trey responded to the discussion, "I did spend years with her when we were in 'captivity' in ROW and I think of her much as my own sister. She's a special individual with a kind heart and a loyalty that is unequaled. She used to have issues with trust but since breaking from ROW it's as if she's been completely healed of everything. I don't know how but she's become even stronger now." Kiran nodded, he had talked to Meiko once and he thought she was really cool. Imagining her as a sister was interesting to him though.
"I wondered why none of us guessed it before!" Kiran spoke up now, "I mean the signs were all there. She had a connection with you Leyas, remember? And you had never seen her before!" Leyas thought way back and she had always wondered what it was about Meiko that their minds were able to sync the way they had.
"And she caused my seed to burst when she got close to the ship months back when we were fleeing the PLANTs," Kayla replied, "I never made the connection but as she got closer to the ship I saw violet eyes and my seed cracked. At the same time Meiko's piloting skills dropped significantly giving Yaro the chance to actually fight her off. It was very strange."
"And that brings us to another thing!" Leyas exclaimed, "none of us have ever spoke of it but have you noticed she has father's eyes, the same eyes as me. I noticed it the day I met her and I concluded it was coincidence but now thinking back I should have wondered more about how striking a feature that was. I mean, how many people in the world have eyes like fathers!" They thought about it more, that was the most obvious feature marking her as well as her face structure being very much like Kira's. Heck, everything but her hair fit the description of a Yamato. These connections had never been made in their minds, and now they wondered why.
"Remember that you all had no idea of your father ever loving another," Trey said as he listened to them speak all the similarities, "and based on her age and Kira's approximate age at the time she would have been born it really isn't much of an error on your part not recognizing her. You have never suspected that you could have a half sister, so these features would be noticed by you but the connection would never be made in your mind based on lack of information." The three of them all saw what Trey was saying and it made sense.
"Except for father," Kayla responded with sudden revelation, "he knew everything, and he never even made the connection."
"Because he thought Flay was dead," Kiran replied, "it was never contested in his mind because remember what he said when he got back 'how did you survive?' He never guessed it because he thought she died!"
"It's just insane that we have had Meiko with us for this long now," Leyas said shaking her head and looking toward Trey, "and all along she's family. And Yaro, we grew up with him as our big brother! All along he's the son of the man who killed Uzumi and our main enemy! It's crazy to think about everything, so messed up!" They all paused once again thinking about Yaro, this new information was probably impossible for him to stomach at this point since it made all them feel very odd about the things that they had witnessed up to this point. Their brother was not different, it was just hard to face the truth. This was the reason for everything they couldn't explain about him. He was always different and now they knew, but what would they do with that information? Nothing was going to be the same, though they all wanted it to. It just couldn't be the same
Yaro sat by Meiko's side as the monitors were beeping around her. The medical doctor was surprised by her strength when she had lost so much blood. She had been rushed through surgery to remove the bullets and repair some damaged tissue but there was really not much they could do beyond that. The doctor said she needed rest and that if it had been a natural she would be dead already but her breathing was steady and even in sleep she appeared strong. Yaro looked up toward the window into the next room where Yzak had is arm around Flay as she was apparently telling the whole truth of everything that had happened. He himself was still completely shaken up by the truth and he tried to fathom it but he felt guilty that he had been born. He had already caused pain like his father to people, he wasn't even sure of the impact that he himself had made but he knew that he had embarked on a dangerous path now that he knew the truth.
What prevented him from slipping into the madness of his own father? What could he do to prevent everything? He looked toward Meiko and knew that she would never lie to him, she didn't blame him for anything and the truth changed nothing for her but would it be the same way for the world around him? Of course his family loved him, that was who they were. He knew that they accepted people regardless of their background. Athrun's father had been a tyrant himself, and Yaro wondered if there was a way for him to contact Athrun sometime soon; for his uncle would be the only one to understand now how exactly it felt to have a blood relative for an enemy.
Now where did he go from here? There was a whole world out there waiting for him to show his true colors and to fail on the right path that he had always been set on but his plan now was to fight for the truth. He wanted to stand for everything Meiko stood for, not to fall away like his father had. For he knew now and saw that his father could not have always been the monster he was now. He had always heard that evil men were not born but made and he now feared that perhaps Liene had set the situations of his life trying to throw Yaro right down the path he was on. For if Liene had known for this long who Yaro was, he must have been dictating events in a higher way than any of them had realized. Sending Meiko to ORB where she met Yaro and manipulating situations to where his anger lashed against her. Liene had always known how Yaro would react and he must have been setting situations for those reactions.
Yaro watched as Meiko stirred as he took her hand in his. She looked so peaceful now, so very peaceful. Her life had not been one that was easy as his had always been. He had always had everything, love and family and perhaps sometimes he didn't deserve it. But now everything was burning down around him and it was as if some invisible force was asking him if he would just let it happen. It was asking him if he would stand, fight or cower away. No, he had come so far in this, too far now to do anything but stand.
No more fear, cause he was now different somehow. This secret was dark but he felt in his soul echoing Meiko; he was not his father and he certainly did not have to follow that path. He was his own person and he wold make his own decisions. For better or for worse he would confront who he was in hopes that he would prove to the world he was a better man than John Liene would be. Even if it took him a lifetime he would prove that to the world and to himself
"No matter the cost," He spoke these words quietly to Meiko, "I promise myself and you that nothing will stop us and I will stand by you as you have me. I will fight this evil in the world and I will destroy it no matter what it takes."
"You have a lot of explaining to do," Kira said calmly, he was replaying Meiko's words in his head over and over but it was hard for him. Flay had been one of his regrets in the first war, the way he had treated her in his mind was wrong but at the same time she had only used him to exact her revenge upon him for his one mistake. Lacus was by his side as it should be and Yzak was by Flay's, for they had apparently met in ZAFT when Flay was captured and afterward Flay had gone to him when she needed help. They had apparently become more than friends as he was one of her constant supports.
"Lay off Kira," Yzak responded to his words, "She's been through enough with all this." Lacus nodded at Yzak's words, it was a lot to fathom at once but it was something she knew they needed to do. They needed to face the past without all the accusations for it was certain that nothing was the way it was supposed to be.
"I am going to start from the beginning," Flay said, "for it started the moment my father died." She felt her breath waver as in her mind she was taken back to that defining moment in her life, for it was the moment that had driven her into a deep darkness that had cost her everything that she had once known and thrown her onto the path that led her to ROW. "The day my father died, I'm sure you remember, for I tortured and screamed at you as if the whole thing was your fault; I then apologized like I cared when the truth was I wanted you dead. I had made it my sole mission in life to drive you on to fight your hardest to protect me so that we would be safe and that so one day you would die in battle, alone as my father had. I was so wrong but this is what dictated my actions through everything, as I'm sure you realize now." Kira breathed in as hearing her say it brought him back as well, it was a hard time they were in and he was desperate for someone to understand what he was going through. Flay was the only one who seemed to care, the reality that she was the one that hated him most at that time never really struck him until Liene's words came through and he understood. She had confided it all in Liene, no doubt hating herself for her own anger. Kira now realized why there was so much anger in Meiko, for she was part of Flay as well as him.
"I never realized," Kira replied, "it was all that plain though, because it never made sense to me why you who seemed to disdain coordinators so much would look at me over the man whom your father had chosen for you. I was too blind myself to really see what it was you wanted." Lacus looked between them and she thought back to when she had first met Flay, it was a long time before and it was something that had always made her sad. She saw that this one person was so overwhelmed by bitterness that she couldn't even tell a friendly gesture from an unkind one when it came to coordinators. She was prejudiced and cruel. But then again it was the world she lived in, not really something that she had wanted to be.
"I remember," Lacus spoke up now as the memory replayed in her head, "you hated coordinators and you hated me. I never understood what caused it because I was so young. It was the world we lived in and the lies that all naturals were fed from the times of their youth. I can not blame you for any of it because it wasn't your fault. It wasn't supposed to be like that." Flay also replayed the memory with tears in her eyes.
"Oh Lacus I don't think of you like that anymore," Flay replied to her, "I was so blind and naive back then, I couldn't even see what I was doing. But you have been a champion for peace and justice; one of the few people in the world who risked everything even with the death of your own father to fight for what was right. I admire you for everything because it couldn't have been easy. I know what it is like to loose a father and believe me, I have seen for so long that yours is a response of a true hero. Coordinator or natural, what does it matter? Because we all live in this world and we are all human." Flay breathed in going over everything once again, "but this wasn't always the way I thought. It was because Kira, when I thought you were gone after that battle I began to change. I through you were dead and I realized then that I cared for you, it wasn't a deep love but rather a feeling that I had lost a dear friend, someone that was irreplaceable." Kira had never known that she had felt anything in his death; the had broken up just before that after all.
"It was then that I realized it didn't matter that you were a coordinator," Flay continued on, "Then I was captured by ZAFT in the battle at Alaska. I was scared at first but there were people who were kind to me. The people around me laughed and cried, felt pain and sorrow as well as joy the same way as any natural. It opened my eyes to the indoctrination of the world that I lived in and the blindness I was so under. You know I was then taken aboard Dominion and there I let everything out, how I felt and how I just needed to say I was sorry. In that moment Natarle Badgiruel realized the truth that I was indeed pregnant, with Meiko." Kira's face changed at that, he had never even thought of the possibility when they were together and he had never realized even when she had started to act kinda strange. "It was here that our stories change, that everything you know was different. Badgiruel knew that Azreal would never let me leave the ship on that basis but she realized I couldn't fight in the battle in my state, nor should I have ever been fighting. She then made arrangements with a member of the crew, something I am so thankful for to this day even though it almost failed. She had a girl from the moonbase take my place; she made sure this girl looked shockingly similar to me and even taught her to act like me in a short time."
"So wait you weren't aboard the Dominion when the battle had begin, then you weren't aboard that shuttle?" Kira asked thinking it over, "but rather the double was?" Flay nodded.
"I'm getting to that," she replied going through it, "the problem remained with the switch, trusting someone enough to be able to take me to earth when the entire Earth Alliance fleet and all soldiers were gearing up for an all out battle. At the time there was a young geneticist working with the extendeds, he was John Liene and he was not a part of the military. He offered to take me off the ship when Natarle informed him of my condition. That was the day when everything changed, Azreal caught wind of my leaving and dispatched someone to kill me for my insolence. That persona almost succeeded, I was shot three times. The upper right shoulder, the leg and again in my right shoulder. Liene was somehow able to kill my assassin and get be away from the Earth Alliance before the battle started but in my grief I felt a power rising up inside me, surrounding me and claiming me. I know now that power was Meiko's super seed, the first manifestation led me before you in my mind and heart. She gave me the power to say all I needed to say to you as I thought I was dying."
"So that was how I saw you there before me," Kira made the connection finally. All along it had been Meiko who had given them that moment to say goodbye, that moment that was so important in providing real closer to the relationship they had shared. "It was Meiko."
"Her light illuminating through me," Flay nodded, "I was able to speak my peace but for some reason I did not die as I thought I would. I awoke so far later. I had been in a coma for two months and when I awoke I was completely fine, no scars nor marks showing anything of what had happened. I then felt an emptiness for I knew I could never return to the world I had built on earth and with those whom I had betrayed. But through it all Liene was there, taking care of me and sharing with me his dreams and visions. Through his plan to unite the world I saw a path for myself that would bring me to redemption. At the time he also had a young son, not named Yaro; no Yaro's original name was Amach. I thought the boy was truly amazing, but then you both know how he was as a child." They both understood what she meant. As a child Yaro was a light to them and he had helped them through many rough times. He was their little boy and nothing could change that.
"He saved me when I was giving up," Lacus spoke up now, "when I thought the world was crashing down around me and Kira wasn't there beside me. Yaro showed me the world in a different way then I had remembered it, and I then remembered what it was like to see the world through the eyes of a child. With so much wonder and love for everything there was. He was truly one of a kind."
"That he was," Flay affirmed, "I thought Liene was like that as well so I committed Meiko to his program, gave her up to be part of his plan and his world. I never realized what he wanted was to destroy everything I believed in." She breathed in, this was the part where it got really dicey. Mistakes that she had made had cost her Meiko and she could never undo that part of what she had done. "But I was so wrong. Liene was the one man who would destroy everything I loved. I had worked for him, killed for him; he had trained me as an assassin, a warrior and one of his most trusted. During the time when I was just Meikos mother I was known as Mariah Virea and then when I had graduated into Liene's puppet I was Rayla Frost, a feared name in many nations. I would have gone on blindly where it not for witnessing the way Liene tortured and killed children in his program, the way he looked at life l like it meant nothing; like it was disposable. I argued with him and fought him declaring my resignation, but he would not have that. I had to run, in the midst of it all I could not find Meiko; for Liene had secured her right after our fight making sure there was no way I could get to her so when I was in the nursery I near died at the thought when I saw Yaro, the little boy whose father didn't deserve him. What else could I do but cut my losses and save the other child." They all now saw what made her do it, for if any of them had been in her place they would have rather saved Yaro than done nothing.
"On my way out I knew I could not leave without assurance that someone would watch over my baby," she remembered that moment so well, "Mike Shustre. He was a young officer who loved me, but I felt nothing for him and in this last moment in ROW I did something I've always done well. I lied to him and used him, leaving him to watch Meiko, promising I would return but I never did. I left far away to begin again vowing to myself to stop Liene and I believe you know how the rest goes." They did. She created Redemption, made sure Yaro was well taken care of and she fought against ROW in the shadows awaiting the day when she could rescue Meiko. In perspective it all made much more sense to them. Kira realized now he could accuse all he wanted but the blame did not really lie in her, but in Liene. For Liene had changed the course of history in using Meiko to destroy the nations of the world. For Liene had cause more pain than anyone in this. Somehow he was behind everything.
"So where do we go from here?" Kira spoked up now, "it all makes sense now but what about tomorrow? Meiko's my daughter and I surely would like her to be a part of my family, it might be harder though." Flay understood what he meant, Meiko was to be a part of the family but it was all up to Meiko to make a choice. For this was the choice Flay did not want to give her out of selfishness; to choose between her father and her mother.
"It doesn't have to be one or the other," Lacus spoke up seeing the tension, "surely Meiko would like to be a part of all the lives of those around her. I mean already she's become such a part of our lives because of Yaro and I have seen how she cares about you Flay; I don't think the truth will really change that. I'm sure that everything will turn out right and that we'll all figure this out." Kira smiled at Lacus's words, she was right as usual; Meiko was a determined and stubborn person and it seemed now she was stubborn enough to stop the fight that Liene had tried to start. She was a mediator between them first, so he realized now it was certain she wanted them to all work it out because she did care about all of them,
"We just hope she wakes up stronger than before," Yzak said as they looked through the window down into the hospital room where Yaro was at Meiko's side. They all knew that every time she was in this position she did wake up stronger; as if some invisible force held her soul in close grip.
"Do you ever wonder how she made it through so much pain as a child?" Kira asked them all, "and how she was able to overcome her own guilt to stand again." Flay looked down upon her daughter and she did not have all the answers to the questions. Any other person would have caved under the heavy pressure ROW had placed on her. She was their top killer for so long, and yet she was able to forgive herself of everything and move on. There had to be something behind it all really. Flay had just believed it was because of her family history; that she carried Kira's genes but looking down on her she wondered what else there could be. Meiko seemed so frail by look but she was strong, there was something giving her that strength to go on. It was truly supernatural.
Andrew Walfelt commanded the ships as they moved toward the Clyne faction base. His mind went over the happenings of the past few hours. Lacus and Flay had given orders to return to the Clyne faction base, as there was nothing else for them on Mars. He near laughed at the situation when they first came back, he had always known that Meiko and Kira were somehow similar he just never really made the full connection like everyone else. There was a distinct likeness in her eyes to her father and that was clear to everyone.
"Families," Dearka sighed floating onto the bridge, "what do you do with them?" Miriallia floated in after him. Ever since Miriallia had decided to join the crew the two had been near inseparable. This wasn't shocking to Waltfeld as he always wondered why exactly they broke up. They made a good couple.
"I still can't believe Flay is alive!" Mirialla said, they had just come from the bridge where Kiran was going on and on about how shocking it all was. "I remember it like yesterday, when Kira returned from the battlefield and told us what had happened. I had always wondered if there was a way I could help her when we were on the archangel, she seemed so lost but then again she wouldn't really talk to us. I think I understand her random behaviors now, and why she always seemed to be sick. Crazy to think that way back then Kira had a daughter and didn't even know it!" Dearka nodded, he remembered Flay as well; one particular incident when she had gone psycho and tried to kill him. Mirialla had also tried the same thing and he had wondered at the time what the earth forces were feeding those girls.
"I wonder how he's coping with it all," Dearka responded, "I mean Meiko was raised in ROW and that's really heavy stuff."
"But she's changed so much since then, with all that's happened I wouldn't be surprised if she found another way to save us all," Miriallia said, "It's incredible how much things have changed. I can't help but feel they will continue to change, it's not over yet. Liene did get away after all."
"But Meiko know's enough about ROW," Waltfeld spoke up to her comment, "I have no doubt that her determination is stronger now than it was before. She seems like the kind of person who doesn't like people messing with her family. Even though he did get away again, I am almost certain that next time his number will be up. I know we're drawing closer to the end, even the past secrets can't change the future. And I can see us winning the next battle easily. Everyone see's Mars as a loss, but it proved something important; we can beat ROW on an open field." Mirialla nodded at this, they could beat ROW and they just had to.
"Liene was forced to abandon his Mars base," Jayley said to the man on the screen. Gera sighed in the background. There had been peace talks between the PLANT council and the NEA; the faith of the PLANTs in Jayley was shaken after what happened in ORB and Jayley had blamed Gera for failure. Gera was just angry at that pilot of the Phoenix who had stolen everything from her.
"Yes," the man said, "but be vigilant the end is coming and everything I have planned will come to pass, for it is the earth that will have to unite if the evil is ever to be irradicated. We're very close now Jayley; ROW's role in this game is almost over." Jayley nodded to him, she was happy about them being close to their goals but she was nervous about what the Clyne faction and Redemption would do. They wanted peace but would they go along with everything once it all took place. She still believed that they all had to be destroyed along with ORB but her organization had stepped away and were apparently taking a different policy now.
"Still I don't believe that we can really continue with ORB and Lacus Clyne breathing down our necks!" Jayley declared unable to hold it back any longer, "you know them as well as I do, they'll view our actions as antagonistic and come out against us. They do not understand the measures that need to be taken and they will be a hinderance more than anyone else."
"Silence," Gera winced at the man's angry voice as he spoke that one word, "our master has declared that we leave them be for now. Besides this is another important piece of information I need to give you; our spies in ROW have confirmed the identity of the Phoenix to be Meiko Virea; a ghost returned from the grave." Jayley's eyes widened at the words. She remembered that girl well from her time in ROW, and Liene didn't know but she knew everything about Meiko's history. Now it seemed that if Meiko was indeed the Phoenix she was with ORB and the Clyne faction and Redemption; she was with her family and she knew Jayley's involvement with ROW. That girl could be the undoing of everything if she really knew how far Jayley's own allegiances went, but she was a foolish and headstrong girl that was too emotional for her own good. Still now it made sense to Jayley how Gera was defeated so easily.
"And we are not to deal with this threat?" Jayley asked.
"No," the man responded, "let nature run it's course. It seems her own actions may prove self destructive. Continue on and ignore everything, I will send further details later." Jayley responded with their ending words, affirming where there allegiances were. Gera was now angry, it was no fair that Meiko had to be the one who was always upstaging her, from the time they were both little girls stuck in ROW. Gera didn't care what orders were, if she ever met Meiko or Yaro in battle again she would do everything in her power to kill them.
"Bring on the next stage," Liene shouted to the officers, "let fire and brimstone rain. For the world will feel our power as we destroy everything in our path! I want all units to report and all ships at this base as soon as possible. This is the moment we have been waiting for all these years. Now our enemy is weak and now we will strike at them in every way we can!" The officers cheered at his words as he smiled. Things were moving faster now, it was not over. Flay Allster and Meiko Virea had slighted him for the last time, now they would see the world crumble before their eyes as ROW made it's move. Soon very soon, everything was about to change once again; for he would plunge the world into the fires of chaos knowing that if it did recover, it would be stronger than ever before.
"Hold on to everything you have," she listened to Uzumi's voice as she walked down a path in the woods in front of her, it was moments like these she knew were important to hold onto for he saw everything before she did, and he was guiding her even in death. "You are going to face so much at once Meiko, but you're strong and now you know what it is around you that will support you through everything. You're going to make it through again, I promise you that it's going to be alright as I've always said." She smiled at his words. This time she couldn't see him but just to hear him there made her feel safer.
"You know it's not going to be easy," Meiko replied to him, "yet you always make it sound like it will be." She heard him laugh a little at her words. "I'm serious Uzumi, you always make it sound easy and I just wish you were still really there beside us all."
"But I am," he responded, "and if you think about it, it's been much easier than it would have been years before. Everything is relative Meiko. You're perspective is what is important." She know what he was saying was correct. Still it made her wonder what was really ahead and how much of it she was really ready for.
"You know someday I will join you," Meiko said to him thinking about all her close scrapes in the past, "but that day's not anytime soon. I plan on defeating Liene and restoring peace to the world then maybe in the future I will find myself content with everything, content enough to leave." He smiled in the distance at the thought, for he could see that things were moving quicker than she expected and perhaps the road to peace was much longer than anyone predicted. For the end of one war could easily be the beginning of another but the ideals of peace that Meiko would carry he knew would be immortal as the sun; unfailing and always there to shine light after the darkness of the night.
Disclaimer: Here you heard Flay's account of her survival. It may be farfetched but it's what I have come up in light of what we saw in the anime, keeping with the flow of everything in the real story. I worked with the story to make my change work, keeping all appearances alive. I had thought about many other alternatives to Flay's survival with the existence of Meiko but I decided that my original idea worked best. I hope it wasn't too crazy to change the story too much but it was what I came up with.
So I've been able to post a lot more lately, because of my spring break, which is over now so it may get slow again but how crazy is it that in seven phases I will be done? I can barely believe it! I'm heading toward the end of one of the biggest journeys I have ever embarked on. When I first started writing this story I had no idea how I was going to drag everything out for 50 phases but for awhile there I wasn't sure 50 would contain it. And this is just the beginning, Immortal is being revamped with some awesome new plot lines and new characters based on experiences that I have had in the past two years. Let's just say it's a much different story that it was when I first began writing it.
So this was the longest chapter I've written in awhile and I wanted to expand more and go into ORB but I feel like I have enough time for everything else in the next two phases and I wanted to release this one as soon as I could. So here it is, I hope you all enjoy!
Also I wanted to thank all of you who have been reviewing, I feel like a lot of your reviews have made me come at this story with a renewed vigor and passion to power through the next part of it. So writing may be slow but I'm excited about where this is heading. Thank you so much for your comments, even the really short ones really fire me up!
So keep reviewing and leaving those comments and telling me your predictions and ideas, they are much appreciated because they do inspire me to continue!
So Review, Review!
-Winter Chill