The trainings in the simulation pilot room added more time to train and less time in between. It was early morning well past midnight as Yzak was still training. He was getting back to his prime while improving his fighting skills. He could tell the difference as he could fight for a few hours. He enjoyed hearing the compliments from the what-if Selenas.

While Yzak was training, the conditioning room opened. Selena walked out of the room in a trance. She headed to the elevator that would bring her back up to the mansion.

The game paused and saved on Yzak while he was fighting. He was still trying to beat the levels. He was on the last leg of piloting the ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom.

"Hey!" Yzak was confused as he was still moving the joystick and pressing buttons. "Huh?"

A what-if Selena popped on the screen. She was wearing her gold mechanic suit. "An incident has occurred. Please take this time to rest." The door opened up to the room. Yzak unbuckled himself. He peered at the door. Yzak looked back at the screen. That Selena was still looking with earnest as if she was waiting for him to leave. He could not argue against the program. He did think it was odd as the screen had no timer on when he could come back. There would always be a timer letting him know he could come back. He entered the room to see a sleeping pod was out and ready with the glass open. It was sitting in the middle of the room. It started to feel eerie, since the moonlight was the only thing to brighten the room up.

Sven burst open the door. He had been reading through files in his office when he was notified about the recent situation. Sven made it just in time before Selena could make it up there. He saw Yzak eyeing the pod out of curiosity. Sven shut the door carefully as he was trying not to make a sound. He headed over to Yzak still trying to catch his breath.

"Are you alright?" Yzak saw the fear in his eyes, worried that something else was going on.

"I will be," Sven placed his hand on Yzak's back. "This is for you. Get in." Sven motioned to the pod. Yzak did a double take. "She's coming. She can't meet with me or you."

Yzak didn't like this, but he needed to abide by Sven's order. Yzak got into the pod without be asked again. Thankfully, he was in Sven's loungewear. Laying in the pod, it had memory foam and soft cushioning. The cushion was also warm, as if it was heated. The air around the pod felt warm. It helped set the mood to sleep.

Sven leaned over to him as the glass started to close. "There's going to be a mist, but it's a sleeping agent. Helping you to sleep, to relax your muscles, and to also moisturize your body. You're going to have a waking agent too. When you wake up, it will feel like the best sleep ever. You're also going to be moved to a safe place. You won't know that since you'll be asleep first. Have a nice rest, Yzak."

The glass covered him as Sven moved away just in time. Yzak was trying to figure out how to put his arms, but he remembered Selena had hers down by her side. Yzak placed them like hers just in time for the fine mist spraying. He could see Sven waving at him. Yzak fell right to sleep. The pod moved into the floor, where it went on a track. The floor went back over the entrance, as if it never came out. The pod headed to the safe room for royal sleeping pods.

Sven let out a sigh as the most important task was taken care of. "Sleeping beauty is on his way to the safe room. Where is she?" There was no answer but he saw the lights flicker in the pilot room as the door was left open. Sven headed that way, after making sure the rest of the room was in order. It didn't look like anyone occupied it. He headed into the room. The door shut on him, locking him in. He looked over to the screen to see Selena wearing her nightgown.

"Coming up the stairs," she gave him a somber look. "Another pod has been called; would you like to go?"

"No," Sven sat in the pilot's chair. "Show me what she's doing. I, at the very least, want to share some of the agony."

"Very well," Selena spoke as the screen showed Selena walking up the stairs. She headed to the common area. "The pod will be waiting at the point of contact if you change your mind."

Sven watched his sister stop in the middle of the common area. The screens moved out for her. They stared to play different segments of her younger days, starting with her as a ballerina with her mother. Sven watched as familiar faces graced the screens. The segments were once bright and happy turned to dark and emotional. Familiar faces of her friends when she was in the ballet troupe then it turned the funeral of her parents and family. Selena turned away from the common area as it still played segments that had happy and sad moments. Sven's heart ached as he watched his sister relive deep emotional memories. She headed over Sven's room. She opened the door to see it was still empty. Selena entered the room. She walked around the room, her fingertips barely touching the items in his room.

Sven watched as she lingered in his room. He glanced back at the door. He wanted to get out of the room, pull her into his arms, hug her, console her, tell her everything was going to be alright. That he was back. That this was soon to be over, to keep being strong. To thank her for everything she has ever done, like saving him. It hurt him that he could not do that.

Selena left the room. She paused staring at the guest room next to hers. She didn't let her feelings surface but she did not like staring at the guest room. She headed into her room. There she headed straight for the secret case. She reached out her to touch it but could not bring herself to it. Selena's head and shoulders drooped. She headed out of her room in melancholy. Selena moved to the hidden elevator. She headed down to the art level. She headed to the piano room. This surprised Sven as he thought she would blow off steam by going to the workout level but with her mood from her room, he should have known better.

Selena sat down on the bench. She stretched her arms and wrists before pressing down on the keys. Soft sounds started to play. Sven knew that classic masterpiece. Usually, it is played by an orchestra. Tears streamed down both of their cheeks. It was a long piece as she played for almost an hour. Her melancholy never ceasing. He hoped she would get some ease as she had tears streaming down her face while playing a song, but it did not thing for her. Her emotions were still pent up. He continued to watch her until she headed back down to the conditioning room.

When Selena went back to the conditioning room, she went straight back in, to try again of being reconditioned. This time it had worked. After the reconditioning, Selena headed from the conditioning room to her private factory. A countdown appeared throughout the royal military facilities. There was an array of emotions from the royal military soldiers as they were notified of the countdown. Some were in shock, while others had anticipated this, some were itching for it to show, and some similar feelings as one deal with an impending battle.

The pod moved through the safe room on the track back up to Sven's room. The floor moved away for the pod to move through. When it was stationed above the floor, the waking agent was applied to Yzak. He started to slowly wake as the glass moved away.

It was just as Sven explained, one of the best nights sleep he has ever hand. He felt refreshed and ready to take on the day. He got out of the pod looking around. As he was far enough away, the glass closed down, the pod went back under the floorboards.

Yzak went to the pilot room to see if Sven was in there. He wasn't there. Yzak headed to the common area to see all the screens were out. The screens were all tuned as one big screen. A countdown was displayed across it. Yzak spotted Sven laying on a couch, staring up at the ceiling.

"What did I miss?" Yzak walked over to him. He could tell that Sven had stayed awake the whole night.

"They broke her down," Sven kept staring at the ceiling, his voice monotone. "She passed through the reconditioning. That countdown is when we will be leaving for battle. She's in her super, secret lair, finishing up the last of the details."

"It's finally happening," Yzak looked back to the timer. It now made sense to him as it was a bit earlier than the end of the month when Ra had stated during his speech.

"I got a way for you and your mother to meet," Sven informed him. "The simulation room will connect you to her computer. We still can't leave until its time for battle." Yzak was interested about that. He thought he was going to have several chances to meet with her like Dearka had with his family. "But at least it will settle her nerves for now."

Yzak could understand that. It was just him and his mom growing up, the two depended on each other. She only wanted the best for him. Even though her meddling was annoying, it was just what moms do.

Over at Orb, Athrun was gearing up to leave to the PLANTs. He was consoling Cagalli at their house before heading out.

"I don't like leaving you like this," Athrun faced Cagalli. He let out a sigh. "But we both know I can't just sit here and do nothing. I won't let this battle become a war, not after all the sacrificing we lost to get to this point."

Cagalli gave him a comforting smile. "We've come a long way from those times. Your fight is up there, mine is down here. That's just how it goes."

"I still don't like it," Athrun grabbed her hand, he brought it to his lips, leaving a kissing in the palm, before bringing it to his face to place upon his cheek. He kept his hand over hers. "I've come to enjoy these bureaucratic days where the fights are merely words."

Cagalli blushed as he made that over romantic gesture. "And you can wake up next to me every day." She finished the line for him. "I hope it won't be terrible, but as it is a battle, I just hope everyone comes back." She caressed his cheek.

Athrun kissed her, trying to get the most out of this moment before he departs. He didn't want to leave at all. He was reluctant to go, even though he was the only one who continuously had the real culprit picked each time at the Terminal meetings. Athrun let Cagalli catch her breath before giving her another kiss. "I won't make you wait long."

Cagalli could only chuckle. She felt really lucky to have him, especially getting over those hurdles. "You better not." She teased. Cagalli watched him walk to the car. He drove away as she still stood outside watching him. He would glance back to her in the rearview mirrors.

Cagalli headed back inside. She saw that she had an incoming call. She answered it, only to see Princess Anita was on the other line. The shock showed on Cagalli's face.

"G-greetings Anita," Cagalli was perplexed. She just sent Athrun off to fight a battle against her cousin.

"Hello, Cagalli," Anita gave her a faint smile. "As you know, the day of battle is approaching. I am here to offer an approach that would be beneficial to both of us."

Cagalli scrutinized her. "If its about joining the 'better' side, my answer is no."

Anita just looked at her. "When have I ever offered the 'better' side in my dealings?"

"Since Selena married that guy!" Cagalli was not wanting to have this conversation right now.

"That was Selena's doing not mine," Anita countered. "Again, have I ever made deals with you about joining the 'better' side?"

"No," Cagalli looked away. "But it doesn't change the fact. You didn't even try to stop her." She pointed out to Anita. "And now I just sent off Athrun to go fight against them. I am about to gear up myself to head to the secret compound to try to stop him from taking down colonies with his death laser."

"And that is why I am coming to you," Anita interjected. "I will be leading the excursion to take down Ra's facility. I am asking if you want to join with me." Cagalli was about to refute but she stopped in her tracks. "Honestly." Anita smiled. "Do you really think we were going to do nothing?" Cagalli started to open her mouth but closed it again. She was surprised to see the bright smile on Anita. It felt like something had awakened her from a deep sleep. She seemed more cheerful and full of life. "I'll send you the details. Don't let anyone else know. We have surprise as our advantage. Let's keep it that way." Anita ended the call before Cagalli could actually give her an actual reply.

Cagalli stood there, trying to figure out had just actually happened. She wished she could speak to someone about what had just happened. She didn't know how Anita knew to contact her at the right time too. As she was thinking about this, the printer in the other room was making noise. Cagalli headed over to it. There were a few pages already on the floor. She started to pick them up. Thankfully, the pages were numbered. After all of the pages were printed, Cagalli read through them all before relaying some changes to her orders.

Murrue and Mu were getting the Archangel ready to head to battle. The two were going through lists on clipboards, flipping through what they need, both were in mechanic suits and hats.

Mu let out a sigh. "I will be happy once we go back to peace. I'm getting too old for this."

Murrue smirked. "It's a cycle that is hard to break. I am saddened to fight against her though."

Mu looked up from his clipboard. "Huh?! Really?"

She looked over to him. "She's an engineer like me. She only wants to create but has to walk a path where she can only destroy."

"Well don't let Athrun hear you pity her," Mu warned. "I think he's too biased. All because he thought she was Lacus one time. Sometimes young guns like him needs to check himself. Or at least get over it. From the back, I probably would have gotten all three pink haired ladies wrong."

"And you would have tried to flirt with all of them," Murrue teased.

"Hey now!" Mu was taken aback. "Maybe when I was single, but not now, I have the ever admirable and daunting Captain Murrue Ramius."

Murrue turned to him, she grabbed his hat and pulled it further down, covering his face. "And I have the guy who hasn't filled out his checklist all the way. You're falling behind." She started to walk away from him. "If we want to get into space, we better pick up the pace."

Mu pulled his hat back up while watching her leave. "Yes, ma'am!" He followed behind her.

On the PLANTs, ZAFT was recovering still from the almost annihilation of every fleet they had. There were meetings that only had breaks in between to figure out what was still available to take for battle. The Minerva and the Joule Team were some of the ones who were required to go, as they were back in service. These meetings meant that Lacus was busier than before. She made sure to be there as this was a critical point. She could not let others handle it alone.

Kira felt more of a burdened at the offices, instead he was helping the engineers and mechanics restore and work on the vessels and machines that were out of service.

Dearka had to continuously step up in Yzak's place. He was not alone as Shiho had his back. The two could handle gearing back up for battle but it still felt weird not having their commander there to guide them.

Back on Earth, at the secret compound. Those close to Ra were worried as they knew Selena was gone. One was even brave enough to ask how he was going to get her back.

Ra was calm in the midst of all the chaos and destruction Selena left behind. He was calm because she still had some decency left to her. The outages happened all over the compound except for the place where the babies were growing at. When he found out, all the anxiety left him, and a calmness moved in. If she was really heartless, she would have the outages happen there too, but she didn't.

Ra had focused those next days after finding out that information on reworking his conditioning. When he was asked by his subordinates about how to get her back on their side when they could not retrieve her, the subordinate thought he had overstepped. Ra didn't think much of it.

"Selena still has mortality to her," Ra explained. "Her parent's didn't fully make her into a senseless killer. That's where this will come in." Ra had a program on his computer that had sound clips put together. "When the time is right, she'll come waltzing back to us."