Papers upon papers scattered freely around the desk, held in folders stacked upon each other, and two were being held in the delicate hands. The severity of the attack from the extremists were spread about through the papers. It may seem like a heaping pile that could be easily ignored. Most political power would just skim through after reading the first few pages of the synopsis. That wasn't something Lacus would do. It would take more of her time but these papers were just hard copies of the events that happened. The pile was a way to remind her that it was hard work to continue to care for the living and the peace they had made.
She picked up a glass of water as she needed to keep herself hydrated and not burnt out. Tea time was not until later. That was when she could take a small break. It was devastating how destructive the extremists had upon ZAFT. The reports didn't sound like ZAFT took them lightly either. It wasn't like ZAFT had lost its edge. The extremists started to rattle PLANTs. People were starting to get worried.
Time had passed by that she didn't notice Kira coming in with a tea tray. He placed it down on the small table in front of the couch that was positioned in front of her desk. He started to pour two cups and added a cube of sugar in one cup. He grabbed the tongs to distribute a triangle sandwich on each plate. He added a variety of cookies and fresh fruit. He glanced up when he was done to see Lacus was still reading. Her pensive gaze was not leaving the papers in her hands. He let out a defeated sigh as he stood up. She's always working.
Kira walked over to her. His hand grasped onto hers while he placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Ah!" She blushed with a jolt. "Ki-Kira!" She placed down the papers.
Kira stepped back, bashful. He used to call her name beforehand and she would look up. That got old quick. He would place a hand on her hand, it had become the same. This was the only way so far that could make her stop working. When she was in her role as Supreme Chairwoman, it was easier to get her attention, but when she worked from home, where no one else is there, she was focused on her work. The butler and Kira were both worried when Lacus would skip meals from time to time.
"Well, so far it's the only way to get you out of your trance," Kira's flushed cheeks made Lacus realize how deep she has been working, not noticing the world around her.
She put down the papers. "Thanks, Kira." She stood up. The two headed over to the couch to take a break. "It's getting harder and harder to try to find time for myself. I knew that this is what it will become but I didn't think I would have these types of obstacles. These extremists are becoming more hostile." The two sat down. Lacus grabbed a tea cup to take a sip. It was a sweet relief. Kira had taken a sip from his. He always had to add sugar as the taste of tea wasn't really that palatable. Lacus could now feel relaxed.
"I'm afraid to ask but," Kira placed his teacup back down. "Still no news on Princess Selena?"
Lacus shook her head. "She's not one to strike while someone is down."
"I know this is between you and her, but it does get me worried when someone wants to cause harm to you," Kira explained. "We also have no new updates yet from Terminal. However, new intel should be coming soon. How is the investigation going?"
Lacus picked up a sandwich triangle. "It's going. It doesn't look like there was extremists hiding on our side so far. No one has switched sides either during the fights. I wish it would be easier, but that's not how life works. It was hard work to become the number one idol singer. It was hard work to become the memorial representative for Junius Seven. It may burden me for now but it's a small burden compared to the soldiers we lost during the battles. Its small compared to the peace we're trying to keep. Kira, do you think we'll truly have the peace we want?" She looked to him for support.
"We will, Lacus," Kira gave her a promise. "We overturned two wars. We can prevent one. We have more support this time. We have fleets to back us up. We have people in high positions who can sway people to continue for peace. We have people who will keep fighting for peace." He placed a hand upon hers. "I know its getting hard to keep up confidence when faced with problems like this. We'll make it through though."
On the vessel headed to Mars, Ergnes was watching Setona perform one of her latest songs on the screen. It was a music video that was set during a war. It was her latest duet. Setona was portraying herself as a reporter trying to get information about what's going on where she meets and falls in love with a man doing something similar. There were scenes where the two were on the front lines. Scenes were the two were dancing at function. There were two scenes where each of them was just people in regular clothes, while the other was in formal attire. Ergnes kept watching until the very end where it showed Setona was just a reporter and the other singer was a high ranking official from the other side. The two had lovers already. It was a doomed love to begin with. The two singers went on their different ways. Ergnes liked the song. He felt he was in a similar situation.
Nahe came into the room to see how Ergnes was doing. Only to find him watching Setona on the screen. "I thought you had a break just an hour ago," Nahe came over to him. Ergnes was supposed to be studying so he would be prepared to become Mars' new leader.
"Reading over tax regulations and such is taxing," Ergnes clicked on another video. "We still have a long way to go. I could be just sleeping this entire time. Give me some credit."
Nahe let out a chuckle while he sat down next to him. He took the keyboard away from him only to see how far Ergnes had gotten on his studies. He had gotten far. It was hard to read monotone language that was made in a way to be fair and concise.
Nahe did discover Ergnes had been watching the recent events that had been happening with ZAFT and Earth Alliance. Nahe raised his eyebrows in concern. Ergnes looked away.
"I was keeping on current events," Ergnes looked back to him. "There are still possible threats to Mars."
Nahe nodded in agreement. He clicked through to find history on the search bar that was about what was happening in the Kingdom and Selena. Nahe looked over to Ergnes how blushed.
"I-I said I was keeping up on current events!" Ergnes defended himself. "Besides." Ergnes took back the keyboard to show the mysterious Archangel. "That could be a threat to all of us!" Ergnes pointed. "It's in Earth Alliance territory. However, Earth Alliance isn't saying it was theirs but they're also not refuting that it wasn't. I can't help but be worried."
"Were you worried for ZAFT?" Nahe probed. Ergnes wasn't really lying but he wasn't really telling the truth either. Nahe could easily tell. "Well, I did get word that the casualties were severe." Ergnes perked up. "Their teams were all affected. They had to send in the reserves along with armaments saved for war times. You're right that this could be a threat. Even the Joule Team who was the furthest away had almost lost their Commander."
Ergnes leaned forward. "Huh?! What?!" Almost lost Commander Joule? Even though Ergnes saw him as a rival, he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. "What all happened? Were there any deaths?" He was also worried about Isaac.
"Not with the Joule Team, thankfully," Nahe explained. "But Commander Joule is out of commission until he's fully healed."
"And no word from Selena?" Ergnes wondered if she would have stepped in. This was extremists though. This wasn't Earth Alliance attacking them. However, she hasn't gotten caught up in any wars or battles that he knows of. Nahe shook his head. The two of them would keep an eye on things since it could possibly lead into another war.
It took a while but it finally happened. Ra got what he wanted. Ra was looking over the small tanks that held his children when he got the news that there was a breakthrough. The severe conditioning worked. When they released Selena, she hesitated as the mannequins came out. She looked at all three before knocking down the one that looked like Ra. He kept up that conditioning. There was more hesitation from her when it came to his mannequin. Then it became every other time where she wouldn't even knock the mannequin down.
Ra took it a step further. Any underling who didn't follow orders or stay within their means were forced to wear to dress up like Ra and shoved into a room. The sliding doors would give way to Selena. She took them down. It was a small setback but it was progress. Ra would bring out the mannequins again. She wouldn't harm them. It was a slow process but it was progress. Some underlings died due to her hits but it slowly waned down to being knocked unconscious. Ra was starting to get anxious. Soon she was close to being the way he wanted her. Her eyes would switch back and forth from void to normal.
The day it happened; Ra had sensed Selena wasn't going to harm him. He moved to the room where the mannequins were positioned at. His subordinates shouted their concerns as he waved them off. They followed his orders and open the door to reveal himself to Selena. She walked over to him. Ra stood very still. Selena looked him up and down. She stood there staring at him. He waited for a few seconds before placing a hand close to her face. She didn't flinch away. His hand kept going to lace his hand through her hair, cupping her face. She just blinked. He tilted her face up. She stared at him. He asked her to let him kiss her. She complied by closing her eyes. Ra placed a pec on her lips. Selena opened her eyes.
Ra let out a laugh. He had won this battle. Now it was time to continue on. First, he would let her rest for a bit. He grabbed her hand, leading her out of the room, while commanding his subordinates. It was time to integrate her into his life as she should be, to rule beside him.
During the final breakdown, Sven was counting down the time when the moment Ezalia and him dreaded would come about. He watched the special royal forces that were still under the command of his dead parents, gather their belongings and headed out from the secret royal hangers.
On the PLANTs, Yzak was starting physical therapy in between his routine of going back to work. He was ordered to do office work only. Yzak had some range of motion but it wasn't back to normal. Dearka and Shiho would visit, relaying information about how the crew was doing, the repair work on the vessels, and the replacement of the mobile armors.
Yzak still had not decided on what mobile armor he wanted. Doing his down time, he would still try his best to beat the black chess set. Gatlin had kept him visiting every now and then, but as of late, he hadn't. It was nice but it did seem a bit lonely. He never got around to listening to the music that was left for him.
"Are you not choosing any suit because you have lingering attachments?" Dearka pointed out by tapping his hand on the folder of possible suits he could choose from.
Yzak gave him a look of dismay. "It's not high on my priorities. I can barely move anyways."
"The damned chess game is though?!" Dearka could see it on the computer screen.
"Its just on down time," Yzak explained. "I cannot let both of you continue to pick up the tasks that I had neglected while I was out. We still need to do Terminal work as well. I can only command on this point."
Dearka let out sigh of defeat. "Okay. We have meeting in two hours. Let me know what we need before then." Yzak nodded before Dearka headed out.
Yzak felt like he was getting back into the groove of things. At times he would spot Kira trying to help doing office work or working on mobile suits. Everyone was doing their part to get back to normal to be ready for the next possible battle.
On the day, Yzak had time off, he heard the doorbell ring. He thought it was Gatlin again. Yzak opened the door, letting out a sigh only to be shocked to see three men in sunglasses and ballcaps. They had regular clothes on but their stances and presence showed they were serious.
"How may I help you?" Yzak looked at all three of them. He kept calm. He knew could stall a bit to get to a few hidden guns.
"Commander Yzak Joule," the man closest to him spoke. "May we come in?"
"I don't think so," Yzak stood his ground. "You can say what you want here."
"We can explain ourselves now or we can explain ourselves later," he warned. "It would be better to speak inside."
Yzak didn't like the tone but he let them in. Yzak went into the room further. He had an escape plan ready. One of the men stood by the door. The two stood in front of him. One of the men brought out a paper behind his back. He motioned for Yzak to take it. Yzak took the paper. He automatically noticed the royal emblem of the Kingdom of Scandinavia. He looked up to them in confusion.
"We can understand your confusion," the first man explained. "We are here on behalf of the Kingdom of Scandinavia Royalty. You are being summoned on behalf of their Majesties. However, this is not known publicly. We want you to cooperate with us."
"And if I don't?" Yzak wanted to know.
"We will have to resort to taking you without your consent," he explained. "We prefer not coming to that conclusion. It will only be for some time. We cannot give you a more concrete answer."
Yzak glanced down at the paper. He started to read over it. "Why am I being summoned?"
"We cannot relay that to you," he continued. "Their Majesties will inform you."
"Alright," Yzak saw that it burdensome if he didn't cooperate. "Let me relay that I will need time off."
"That's already being handled," the first man looked at his watch. "We have a few hours before our flight leaves. Please gather any belongings you would like to take with you."
"We're leaving today?!" Yzak looked up to him in shock. The three men nodded to him. This was too sudden for him. He had just agreed to leaving with him. "Alright, I'll start packing."
"We'll wait here for you," the first man explained. Yzak walked away. "We also know that you may need help due to your condition. Please don't hesitate to ask." Yzak nodded to them.
Yzak wanted to think about why he was being summoned but he could stew on it during the flight down. Since they didn't tell him how long he was going to stay, Yzak packed two weeks' worth of clothes. One of the men had come by to stand outside of his room if he needed help. They saw him gathering his ZAFT uniform but was told not to bring it. No person wearing military uniforms besides the Kingdom's were allowed in the mansions. He was not going there on military duty either. Yzak gave the large suitcase to the man by the door who carried it downstairs. Yzak gathered up toiletries and medicine in an overnight bag to be placed in his carry on. He gave that to the man who had just come upstairs. He explained he need to put a few more things in it. Yzak grabbed his laptop and charger. He was about to grab his phone when that was not allowed to come either. Yzak grabbed the packet with the music. Thankfully he had uploaded it to his mp3 headphones. He could listen to music too while leaving.
Yzak was about to head off to make sure everything was locked up but he was stopped. "Everything is locked and secure. We will watch your place, do not fret. Before we leave, we will need you to change into this," the first man showed some clothes draped on his couch.
"I thought you said you have already handled it?" Yzak was confused on why he must wear a disguise.
"This is for your safety," the first man explained.
"Okay," Yzak nodded. He grabbed the clothes and changed into cable knit sweater and jeans. He came out to see the rest of the disguise. Long silver wafts of hair. He nodded to them. They asked him to sit down. They placed in the hair extensions, blending in his page boy haircut. They took it a step further by placing some where his bangs were. They styled his hair to be out of his face in a loose ponytail that hung lower than it should. They gave him gold rim, round glasses, and a long, tan, wool coat. They gave him dark brown boots to wear. He didn't want to look at himself, he felt out of balance almost. He had gathered everything up that he needed. The four of them left in a discreet vehicle. It was silent all the way to the docking station.
Yzak followed them onto a private shuttle that was only as the passenger. The three had taken up posts by the cockpit or at the flight attendants' station. Yzak didn't know why he was summoned. He gazed at his reflection in the window. His short bangs had become long, and were styled to be pulled away from his face. He looked like a different person entirely. He hoped it wasn't too long of a stay. He was needed with ZAFT.
The shuttle launched itself from the PLANTs and made the course back to the Kingdom. Yzak took this time to listen to Setona's album. It was nice. He could almost hear Selena singing it herself.