ZAFT: This is getting good~ And another update today~

DarkFoxKit: And let's see if Lucas can figure out what's going on, or if he's losing his mind. Or maybe it's all one big prank the villagers are playing on the poor boy.

ZAFT: Tormenting the twins is fun~ XD

DarkFoxKit: And sadistic, but… well, that just makes the story even spicier. Anyways, go on and enjoy.

Chapter 3: Former Enemies

I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. The nightmare of losing Claus and being forced to fight him kept coming back. It felt like it was getting more frequent these days. I decided to get out of bed earlier than usual. With winter just around the corner, Dad will be busy getting all the crops ready. Maybe there was something I could do to help.

I put on my usual striped shirt and blue pants. But I also wore a blue hoodie since it was getting cold outside.

"Dad?" I called out.

I saw Dad feeding the sheep some food.

"Do you need any help with the farm today?" I asked. "You know I'm more than capable of doing labor work, right, Dad?"

"Yes, but I think you would be best suited to go and get some stuff we need from the forest. Mushrooms and other ingredients that aren't sold around here." Dad replied. "You know the forest very well, so I think it's a great job for you, Lucas. Besides, you could talk to Fuel there while you're at it."

"Oh… well, sure, I guess. I did plan to go to Sunshine Forest today," I replied, though I couldn't help but wonder if Dad didn't want me to help with the farm because he was worried about me. "Are you sure you want me to go alone?"

"You're never alone, Lucas." Dad replied with a smile. "Besides, I need Boney here to make sure the sheep are safe. This time of year, wolves and other predators may become desperate enough to try to eat our livestock. And who knows? Your guardian angel may be with you."

I raised an eyebrow. Maybe I did have some sort of guardian angel with me, but I was hoping to have someone I could actually talk to come with me. But I just sighed and gave a nod.

"I trust you'll be safe out there, Lucas," Dad said softly. "Especially with your…"

Dad paused for a moment, and looked at me as he said something I couldn't hear. "Did you… hear anything?"

I tilted my head, looking confused.

Dad gave a sigh. "Guardian angel, that's what I said."

"Oh, okay. Maybe don't mumble your words next time," I replied.

"I will try not to, son." Dad promised. "Now, get going and get those mushrooms and other ingredients we need. And don't forget to say hi to Fuel if you see him."

"Sure, Dad," I said before I walked down the small hill.

I began walking towards the entrance to Sunshine Forest. I noticed a chill wind blowing through, and the trees were bare. The forest almost looked kind of spooky like this. I remembered I used to get scared coming to the forest around the winter time, because the Sunshine Forest looked scary to me. But it was rather funny how normal this was compared to some of the things I had seen and went through. This was nothing.

I walked into the forest. The chimeras that roamed around the forest weren't as abundant anymore, and most of them were tame rather than vicious and wild these days. However, that didn't mean all the animals were docile. I saw some Mighty Bitey Snakes slithering around, and tried to attack me. Thankfully, I still had the Good Stick I got from Nichol yesterday, and swung it at the snakes. The snakes were knocked out rather quickly.

I stopped when I was passing by Isaac's house. I hadn't seen or spoken to Isaac since… I last saw him in New Pork City, wearing a Pigmask outfit. It… felt too awkward to see him after that. I wasn't sure what Isaac thought after the world was… reborn. I… didn't know what happened to the Pigmasks and all those people who didn't live in Tazmily Village after the Dark Dragon woke up. I hoped they were okay, and were just living somewhere else, but… sometimes I worry that I may have… accidentally wiped them out.

I didn't want to think that the Dragon would do that, even if the Pigmasks were my enemies, I didn't want them to get wiped out. But regardless, I doubted Isaac would be happy to see me, even if he didn't know I was responsible for the Dragon's awakening.

A small force nudged me, as if trying to ask if I was okay. I looked around for the source of the nudge, but there was no one except for me in the area.

Well… if Dad was right, and I did have some kind of guardian angel watching over me… I might as well speak to it. If nothing else, it might help me feel a little better getting things off my chest.

"I'm nervous about seeing Isaac…" I admitted softly. "The last time I saw him, he was in a Pigmask uniform. I… didn't know what to say to him if I saw him again. I haven't seen any of the Pigmasks since the Dragon woke up… and I know Isaac really liked the Pigmasks. He might even still be one of them by heart for all I know."

The force gave me a gentle nudge towards Isaac's place, as if saying to go and see him, to see if what I was saying was true or not. It was like this force was trying to get me to face my fears or something of that nature.

"W-what? No way, Isaac might be angry," I quickly said to the guardian angel that might be the force that was nudging me.

The force seemed to give me a gentle nudge again, but in a reassuring manner. It was as if the force was saying it was okay, that what I was fearing was only in my head. At least, that was what I interpret it as.

I frowned, feeling rather silly and that this whole thing might just be in my head. But… well… if Claus was here, he might want me to do it, right? Then again, Claus might be feeling more awkward since he was the Pigmask's Commander… then again, I don't think Isaac ever met the Masked Man. If he did, he'd be pretty shocked since he knew who Claus was before…

I felt a small nudge on my head. I grumbled. "Alright, alright."

I walked up to Isaac's door, however, before I knocked, I heard voices. It would seem that Isaac had some company over today. I was rather surprised. Maybe I should come back another ti-

The door started to make a knocking noise. I stared at the door, wondering what was making it knock, and if it was someone from the inside knocking, which didn't make much sense.

The knocking continued before I heard what sounded like footsteps approaching the door. The knocking stopped, and then the door opened, revealing Isaac was the one who had answered the door.

Isaac blinked before he spoke, as if surprised. "C-Commander, sir!" He exclaimed, clearly not expecting to see me at his house.

"I-Isaac? What?" I asked, shocked at his reaction.

"That's the Commander!?"

"Oh my gosh, it is! He has the parts and everything!"

"Forgive us, Commander, we didn't realize you were still here!"

I saw three other people with Isaac. People I didn't recognize, but they seemed to think I was their Commander.

"You… uh… you guys were all Pigmasks?" I questioned nervously.

"W-We didn't think you'd want to live out a normal life, Commander! W-we're sorry for just assuming you'd come back!" Isaac apologized.

When did Isaac start thinking I was his Commander? What happened since the last time I saw him? He knows I'm not his Commander. I frowned.

"Commander, sir, we've been discussing rebuilding the city where New Pork City once stood. But this time for people to live in rather than being forced to gather up under the guise of a selfish king. We figured it would help to have our advanced technology still be on this island to save lives, and help those who need it," One of the people staying with Isaac stated in a military-like tone.

I was feeling more and more awkward. I wasn't even sure if they were talking to me, or some invisible force I couldn't see, because they kept talking like I wasn't there.

"But Commander, having you around would help us immensely. We still lack the experience and leadership that you have, sir!" Another former Pigmask stated, like this 'Commander' disagreed to help them or something.

Isaac frowned, as if he was studying me. He seemed to be pondering something before he spoke up. "Now that I look at you more closely, you do seem to be a bit too young for your rank, Commander."

"Isaac… you know me," I pointed out. "It's me, Lucas."

Isaac blinked, as if seeing me for the first time. "Oh! I'm sorry, Lucas!" He apologized. "It's just that you look so similar to the Commander. I hope you'll forgive me for the mix-up."

"But there's no mistaking him as our Commander," The last former Pigmask pointed out… at either me or something in front of me. "We worked closely to him before as Majors and Colonel. Why, I was there when he was pulling those Needles. That's him alright. He may have been young, but he was efficient, ruthless, and strong."

I furrowed my eyebrows, knowing that while they may be mistaking me for their Commander again, I knew they were talking about Claus when he was the Masked Man. I still remembered, vividly, how Claus acted while he was the Masked Man.

"Seriously? Him? But he's…" Isaac began saying as static was in his voice. "He's one of the troublemakers in the village!"

"We told you what he looked like, and that he's not a normal child. Who he was before doesn't change the fact that he was our Commander, and a good one," One of the former Pigmasks stated.

I felt a determination building up in my heart. Claus may be gone, but he wouldn't want to be remembered as the Masked Man.

"Stop talking about him like that," I spoke up firmly, catching everyone's attention. "Your Commander… he was more than just a boy with mechanical enhancement. He was always so full of energy, he loved animals, he loved to play, he was always trying to make other people laugh, he always tried to help me get out of my comfort zone to make new friends. He had a big heart until he was changed. He may have been strong, but more than anything… he was a great person, someone who was close to me."

One of the former Pigmasks blinked before speaking to me. "You knew the Commander before he was our commander? That's surprising, but then again, what would we grunts know about his past? He never spoke about his past to us."

"That's Lucas… I'm not surprised, he was Cl-" Isaac said, making it hard to hear again for a moment. "Brother. No wonder your description of the Commander sounded familiar. Still, I'm surprised that he wouldn't speak about his past, sometimes you could never get him to shut up."

"He didn't remember his past," I stated. "Because he was reconstructed against his will, and brainwashed. He was someone else entirely while he was your Commander."

"Really?" Isaac asked.

"You were just recruited when the last Needle was pulled, and Porky sealed himself away," The taller former Pigmask pointed out. "You didn't really get a chance to see the Commander."

"So… wait… you're all alive and well, living at New Pork City?" I asked, glad to see that they weren't destroyed after all when the Dragon woke up, though I was also worried because they could also try to corrupt everyone again even without Porky leading them.

"Yeah, or at least the ruins of it." One of the former Pigmasks replied. "We're, as we have said, trying to rebuild it into a better place where people want to come, not gather on the wishes of an insane king."

"We wanted to add the new technology to it, so things like the hospital can still exist and help save people, or keep the arcade and movie theater for entertainment," Another former Pigmask explained.

"We needed some help though, so we came to see Isaac, one of our newest recruits, to see if he wanted to help us. We didn't expect to see the Commander here though, we heard he was struck down," The last former Pigmask remarked.

What? I thought they understood I wasn't their Commander. I frowned. "Your Commander was struck down. I'm not your Commander, I only look similar to him."

The taller of the former Pigmasks raised an eyebrow. "We can see that, kid. We were talking about the Commander, not you."

The former Pigmasks and Isaac frowned collectively, then it felt like something was pushing me back, gently but firmly, and the door suddenly closed on its own.

"Huh?" I blinked. "That was… weird…"

I felt a gentle nudge, pointing me to Sunshine Forest. Whatever happened, my guardian angel didn't seem to want me to stick around to find out. Are those Pigmasks confused? Who were they talking to? I was the only person they could've been talking… right?

At least I knew the Pigmasks were alright, and Isaac was doing okay… maybe. It would've been nice if their Commander really was here though… Maybe they couldn't accept that he's gone either… and were using me to project their Commander.

I continued on the path to Sunshine Forest, not wanting to stick around any longer. The idea of the former Pigmasks projecting me as their Commander made me feel uneasy, so I wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible.

I kept going until I reached Lighter's house. I know Dad wanted me to find ingredients, but I think we got plenty of food. I know my Dad, and I didn't need to be psychic to know he wanted to keep me away from home for a while. Away from my lonely thoughts.

I saw the house looked a lot better than it did 6 months ago when lightning, or rather, the man made lightning from Thunder Tower struck it down. But there was still a lot of work to do to fix the roof.

Unlike with Isaac, I didn't hesitate to knock on the door. I wanted to see how Lighter and Fuel were doing. And I hadn't been able to play with Fuel lately.

"It's open!" A familiar deep voice said from the house. "C'mon in!"

I opened the door, and smiled. I saw Lighter there, fixing up one of the walls with his wood.

"Hey, Mr. Lighter," I greeted. "How've you and Fuel been?"

Lighter smiled down at me. "We've been doing great! It's not that easy to rebuild this place, but we've been managing!" He said with a big grin.

"That's great." I smiled. "Could Fuel take a bit of a break? I'd like a chance to… you know, hang out with him for a bit?"

"Sure!" Lighter grinned back. "He may be out back getting some more wood for the roof! You can tell him it's fine to take a break and hang out with you!"

"Thanks, Mr. Lighter." I smiled.

"But how about you? How've you been? It's been a while since you visited," Lighter asked. "Been busy helping your pops at the farm? Or maybe catching up with your-"

I blinked as I had trouble hearing that last part. "I've been trying to help Dad out, but he seems reluctant to have me do any real labor work lately."

"Hmmm." Lighter mused. "Well, I'm sure your dad has his reasons."

I sighed. Maybe… but I'm kind of worried about him myself. He hasn't spoken about Claus since… the incident 6 months ago. What if he's holding it all in?

"Well, enough about that, why don't you go see Fuel? I'm sure you're excited to see him again," Lighter chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I nodded before I headed to the backyard.

I saw Fuel bringing back some dried up wood. It looked like he had been quite busy.

"Hey Fuel," I greeted.

Fuel looked up at my voice and smiled. "Lucas! And -" Fuel's voice became harder to hear for a moment before returning to normal. "What are you doing here?"

"I haven't seen you in a while, so I figured I'd see how you were doing. I know your dad wanted to fix up the house before winter, so I didn't want to bother you… but Dad sent me out here to see you, so I figured I might as well, right?" I sheepishly explained.

"Oh really? That's why you haven't been visiting? I thought you were just caught up in playing with-" The static came back for a moment. "-that you lost track of time. Not that I blame you, of course. Sometimes I wish I had a brother."

"Uh… right…" I hesitantly said, not sure why having a brother had anything to do with losing track of time. Playing with who? Boney? My dad? Who would Fuel think I'd spend all my time playing with? "So… uh, Lighter said you could take a bit of a break while I'm here. So would you like to hang out for a bit?"

Fuel smiled. "You bet I do! Dad's been working so hard, and having me work just as hard, so a break would be great!"

Fuel took me into the forest. Lighter said to come back before dark, since predators usually hunt in the night.

It had been a while since I got to play with someone my own age again. We ran around, and played hide-n-seek for a bit. Though Fuel seemed rather annoyed about something, he said something about 'never being 'it'' even though both of us took turns of being 'it'. We jumped into leaf piles and chatted for a while. I should hang out with Fuel more, this was the most fun I had in 6 months.

"I've missed playing with you," I said after we finished another game. "It's been kinda lonely back at home."

Fuel raised an eyebrow. "It has? But I thought you were with yo-" Fuel's voice got cut off and became static-y for some reason. "At home. Or… has he been too busy lately?"

I assumed Fuel meant my dad. "Yeah, he has. He's gotten loads of responsibilities. The farm sort of fell apart when he essentially left home for 3 years. There was only so much I could've done to maintain everything."

Fuel frowned a bit. "Running the house sounds like it was a full-time job for you."

"I was only 10 years old at the time," I sighed. "I'm surprised the sheep were able to take care of themselves. I guess being struck by lightning kept their wools from growing out of control."

"Well… what about now? He's here now, isn't he?" Fuel pointed out.

"Yeah… he is," I replied. "Though I'm worried he may not be all there. He hasn't talked about the incident that happened 6 months ago… in fact, nobody seems to ever mention it… Maybe he's trying to forget that it ever happened, but it doesn't seem like him since he spent 3 years never giving up hope… only for it to be for nothing."

Fuel raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about your dad?"

"Well… yeah, isn't that what we were talking about?" I asked.

"Uh… no? But if you're worried about your dad, maybe he's just… um… suppressing the feelings of not being successful. I mean… wouldn't anyone do that if they didn't want to believe what they witnessed was true?" Fuel suggested.

"But it happened in front of me… in my arms." I frowned as I remembered all too well, the weight, the feeling of his body going limp in my arms, his smell… "I saw him die… in my arms, Fuel. There's no denying that…"

Fuel frowned as he looked at me. "I… wasn't there when that happened, Lucas, but… I can tell it was very traumatic for you. But… um… correct me if I'm wrong, but it almost sounds like you're… grieving for Cla-"

I heard him a little clearer that time. "Why shouldn't I? Just because nobody's made a grave for him because they couldn't find his body doesn't mean we shouldn't grieve for him."

Fuel raised his hands. "I'm not saying you shouldn't grieve for him! I'm just saying he-" Fuel's voice got cut off and staticy for a few moments. "With you."

Because it was hard to hear what Fuel said, I had to try to guess. He was likely talking about Claus, and he mentioned something about him being… with me? He must've meant that spiritually, like Mom was. Of course…

"He doesn't like seeing you be sad, Lucas," Fuel added softly.

"I know… I shouldn't keep bringing it up," I sighed. "It's just… hard to move on from it… I lost him for 3 years… and when I finally got him back, he…"

I couldn't finish the sentence. I felt that comforting warmth again on me.

Fuel seemed to hear something and gave a nod somberly before speaking to me again. "I… I'm sorry, Lucas… Please… forgive me. I didn't realize how much it affected you that day…"

"It's okay, Fuel… I try not to let it bother me," I replied, hoping I didn't make Fuel feel too guilty.

The sun was starting to set. We must've been playing all day.

"You should head home before it gets too dark," Fuel said. "It gets more dangerous here in the winter."

"I know," I replied. "I'll be heading home soon, I promise."

"Okay… but just know… you're not as alone as you think you are, Lucas," Fuel gently said.

Nightfrightpony: DarkFoxKit: Heh, well good luck with that. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

ZAFT: Glad to know we have some readers for this~ You will see what happens as the story goes along