This the direct continuation from my Gundam Wing fic where my shared universe comes together into Seed

"There are no heroes in this world. Only villains and monsters" ~~~ Leonidas Fanel 199 A.C.E

My different take with Seed continues with how I redid Kira's backstory more. In this universe, he was not only best friends with Athrun but also the others in the squad. Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol. This adds more drama that not only is Athrun fighting an old friend but the others also have the same conflicted feelings be it processing it differently. This also makes Nicol's death even more sadder. Kira killed his friend.

I reworked Kira and Flay's toxic relationship with more scenes of them together. Less "she's psychotic" and into she's bitter about the death of her dad and wants her side to win no matter what and Kira is a vehicle to do that. She demands his protection and in return, she ensures he relies on her with his trauma of not being able to save everyone.

From the start of the Seed story, Vaan becomes involved when he assists the Earth Alliance in developing the new Gundam prototypes but he was the one that leaked the info to ZAFT. Seeing that his half brother Kira is on the same colony, he willingly abandons his mission to protect his family.

Rau Le Creuset is actually only related to House Fanel by DNA since he's mostly a clone of Mu's dad, making him a distant cousin to Vaan. My Seed story is quickly becoming the "clone wars"

As if by fate, Kira does get into the Strike and become its pilot like in the original.

The rest of the story mostly goes like the original show. Vaan follows along in the Archangel despite him outranking Murrue, he didn't want the responsibility and pretended to not know anything about being a ship's officer. So Murrue becomes the female Captain Bright like in Seed. Which is funny because in my fic, Noah Bright does exist in my universe and so does the Whitebase that my lore claims the Archangel is a homage to.

A lot of the coincidences like how of all the people Kira could bump into, not only his half brother but later on, his long lost twin sister, I contribute that to "fate". In this universe, there is a strong sense of destiny involved not only because the writing puts them there. Since this is the shared universe with Escaflowne, the concept of Fate is strong here.

With the reveal from Athrun that Kira is the one they are fighting, the drama builds with the rest of the squad with Yzak really hating on Kira being a "race traitor". Dearka being indifferent and Nicol actually hoping Kira would come to their side, which makes his death just as sad.

"Nicol! I'm sorry!"

"Heh…why are you apologizing to your enemy, Kira?...please don't hate us."

For some reason, probably because I was inspired by a fan art or maybe it was an unofficial official art of Flay in a flight suit, I had written that after leaving Orb, Flay received pilot training and was in an Astray that was given to the Archangel. I wanted to give her more to do than being bitter girlfriend and at this point of the story, their relationship was already being strained. She was actually becoming like Louise Halevy from Gundam 00

After Kira almost died and I remember writing the Astray story plot as to how he got saved, the rest of the story remained mostly unchanged. Archangel made it to Alaska with the crew ordered to disband but only Flay actually separated from the crew and like in the show, kidnapped by Rau. In my version Rau discovered that Flay is Kira's lover and thinks she can be used as a hostage. Flay's interaction with Yzak is also different when he finds out who Flay is to Kira.

"Your boyfriend is a goddamn traitor to his people. He killed our FRIEND!"

"And you killed his friend! How did you think this stupid war is going to end?!"

She also tells Yzak that Dearka is alive, captured on the Archangel.

In my alternate take, I sorta redeemed Flay a bit by having her stop Miriallia from apeshit murdering Dearka. She sees the same eyes that she had of wanting bloody revenge on the people that took a loved one away from her.

"You're not like that" Flay said softly looking at Miriallia, taking away the gun from Miriallia's hand. "You're not like that…"

After Miriallia leaves the room.

"Uh…thanks?"

"I didn't do it for you."

"Then, why did you stop her?" Dearka asked

"...because I was JUST like that." She starts to cry realizing what this war has done to all of them. So much innocence taken away by violence.

Meanwhile in space, Kira obviously doesn't instantly rizz another girlfriend from another best friend by simply existing.

Lacus has her own purpose for saving Kira and handing him the Freedom. It really is simply to deny ZAFT a powerful weapon. Her father was assassinated for speaking against Patrick Zala and now she's on the run.

Returning to PLANT, Athrun began to feel disillusioned from the war and from thinking he killed his best friend. All the events leading to him chasing down Lacus and her revealing that Kira is alive and it was her that stole the Freedom, then handing it to Kira.

Athrun sees his war has changed and his own defection to Orb was par for the course, taking Justice with him.

Vaan all the time was working behind the scenes with his faction within Orb. Of course Blue Cosmos, and Logos, his direct enemies wanted him gone and the technology developed at Orb. His faction that works with the Clyne faction is called Terminal.

During the battle of Orb the same story beats continues with Athrun showing up, Cagalli being revealed that she's Kira's and Vaan's sister. In my story, she actually talks about this with Vaan first because they actually knew each other previously.

We get the whole reveal to Kira later and Athrun having a Han Solo misunderstanding and Cagalli finds him acting like this to be cute.

During the battle of Orb, Vaan is the only one that mentions possible civilian collateral damage, which is a direct reference to Shinn's tragic backstory

Logos/Blue Cosmos wanted to paint the son of Leon Fanel as a traitor that sided with the coordinator, which actually caused a small civil war within the Earth Alliance military that still retained some loyalty to their late sovereign and a war hero. This was the beginning of the Imperium faction loyal to Vaan Fanel and post war began a mass migration to Mars.

Post battle of Orb continues pretty closely to the original story where Cagalli's adopted father sacrificed himself and we see the 3 ship alliance formed to stop the war with Lacus being the voice of the resistance for PLANT.

The final battle happens in stages like the show where Rau leaks N-Jammer cancellers to the EA through sending Flay, prompting nuclear weapons usage in violation of the Antarctic treaty of the last war which was also violated with the "accidental" nuclear attack on a PLANT colony that started the war.

With Patrick Zala introducing the Genesis weapon that not only destroyed EA reinforcement from the moon with more nukes, as a show of force, Genesis was ordered to fire and destroy one of the EA's primary bases on the moon, eliminating any chance of a quick nuclear response.

It wasn't enough when Patrick Zala ordered the use of the Genesis on Earth itself. For him, the need for revenge against Earth was too strong and fellow council members Trowa and Quatre were opposed, both trying to stop him physically from giving the order with Patrick shooting Trowa, injuring him. Quatre, having changed plenty from the last war and the loss of his son, responded by helping Trowa's injured arm up to shoot and kill Patrick Zala. Too late, as Patrick had already programmed the Genesis to fire automatically and locked out all controls.

Quatre took command and ordered the base to evacuate, sending a message to the Eternal, they need to physically destroy Genesis.

A race against the clock as the 3 ship alliance were caught between the battle to stop Genesis and also fighting remaining EA forces with the Archangel in a duel between herself and the Dominion. That fight goes pretty much the same with the assumed death of Mu and destruction of the Dominion but not before a shuttle carrying Flay attempts to escape. Flay still dies from Rau out of spite and Kira is sad that he never got to patch things up with her.

Kira fights Rau, this time aided by Vaan and Athrun goes after Genesis with Cagalli

The story here ends with Kira killing Rau, and Athrun destroying Genesis.

With Kira floating in space after the battle, he asks his brother Vaan what next.

"I don't know," Vaan looks back at Earth, "There's no place for me there anymore. Maybe it's best we all find somewhere quiet to be away from all this."

For Vaan, it wouldn't be that simple. He led a splinter faction of Earth Alliance loyalists of House Fanel to Mars where he was declared its ruler, founding the Mars Republic.

The Destiny

It has been 3 years since the end of the Valentine War and the Destiny story starts here.

Cagalli, as head of state for Orb, visits the capital of Plant, Aprillus One along with a meeting with Mars's leader, Vaan, whom I had decided would be given the title Emperor. It was never made official of Cagalli's true heritage but Durandel is a resourceful man and teases by addressing her as "Princess."

Athrun in disguise as her bodyguard. They became a couple in secret due to Athrun, both still a deserter and the son of Patrick Zala.

At this time Mars and PLANT have a mutual defense treaty and as such we're introduced to a new character, a cousin of Vaan named Vorian Fanel who is on loan to ZAFT. He pilots what I call a CE version of the Qubeley except my redesign is more sleeker and slimmer down. Less bulky built for speed and agility but still retains the funnels similar to the LMES4 Corneille custom look.

The story goes much the same. We're introduced to new characters, Shinn, his bestie who's name escapes me. Luna and Meyrin who, I remind you, are actually daughters of Trowa Barton in this universe. I wanted to write a scene where Luna meets Athrun and it got awkward.

"Petty Officer Lunamaria Barton, sir"

"Barton? As in…"

"Yes, sir. Your dad shot my dad."

"Oh right…sorry. If it makes you feel better, your dad shot mine. So, all's fair."

We continue with the story of Durandal giving his speech of continued militarization of PLANT including using tech from Orb to make new gundams according to intelligence. Durandal avoids admitting that PLANT is doing such things.

We find out during the EA's secret attack on the colony stealing the new Gundams says otherwise.

With the attack starting, the Girty Lue drops its cloak and provides cover for the stolen Gundam to be picked up.

Outside is not only the primary defense fleet for the PLANT capital but also the fleet that brought Vaan here. Despite having a defense treaty with PLANT, they also have a non-aggression pact with the Earth Alliance. The fleet admiral in charge of the Martian ships ordered them not to attack the Girty Lue until they can confirm its identity. Seeing that it has a cloak, that would violate the Junius 7 Treaty, I wrote that none of the crew on board are dressed in Earth Alliance uniforms because that's stupid. This is supposed to be a covert mission and even though the ship is clearly Earth design, it is brand new with no markings.

The story now follows the pursuit of the Girty Lue with the Minerva along with an escort fleet this time because not only Durandal is on the ship but also Vaan having moved to the Minvera during the chaos of the fight.

For my story, this is also where we have Vaan interact with Shinn as he discovered Cagalli was onboard and his bitterness was just oozing out of him. Having given Cagalli a piece of his mind, he bumped into Vaan having a quiet moment to himself.

Shinn of course was already nervous enough bumping into PLANT's head of state but the Emperor of Mars was approaching too much for him. So it surprised Shinn to discover how casual a person Vaan can be despite being royalty. Vaan tells Shinn a bit of his story. Having no family growing up and feeling isolated in foreign places, no home to go back to.. Shinn finds himself relating to the monarch. Vaan tells Shinn that the more responsibilities you have, especially with more lives, you find yourself both detached and also helpless at the same time. You cannot save everyone and those who willingly go into the fire, you cannot disrespect their choice. With this, Vaan hopes Shinn understands the burden of leadership and perhaps he was too spontaneous in his bitterness with Cagalli, who only inherited her adopted father's will.

I figured in the original, Athrun was supposed to be a sorta mentor figure for Shinn but that plot kinda went nowhere. In my story, Shinn still looks up to Athrun with a little hero worship but I feel here Shinn needs a stronger bond with someone else to make him a better character and less whiny.

When pursuing the Girty Lue, Vaan's escort fleet was taken out partly from mines and parts of the Lue left behind, leaving only the Minerva to give chase alone. Another fleet would attempt to cut off the Girty Lue ahead of its estimated flight path.

We move onto the Junius Seven colony drop incident where they failed to stop the colony from falling, only breaking it up into smaller pieces that scattered across the Earth, causing widespread damages.

The story continues on Orb where everyone takes a moment to rest from the battles and collect themselves, enjoy some shore leave.

The Earth Alliance is demanding reparations from "Coordinator terrorism" while PLANT disavows this incident.

Athrun contemplates returning to ZAFT and we also have Shinn unofficially meet Kira who was also visiting the memorial dedicated to the lives lost during the battle of Orb. Vaan was also there, seeing a good chance to visit his brother. We get some wholesome interactions between Lacus and Mariemeia. Vaan continues to be a more positive influence on Shinn but can feel his more impulsive side but feels he can't stay on Earth feeling the pull of conflict being too great, Vaan returns to Mars through the Earth-Mars jumpgate near the moon, making near instantaneous travel possible.

I had wanted to expand more to this story with elements taken from the Gundam Wing Frozen Teardrop story where Relena, that I had said was assassinated, was alive in stasis and now living a peaceful life on Mars with Heero.

Vaan returned home to talk to his mother, Relena, told her about his visit to earth and her other children are doing well.

"Mom, I've… respected your wishes to not tell them but I strongly disagree though."

"I have failed them and so much time has passed, they do not need a mother like me. They can work things out on their own."

"Kira maybe, but Cagalli...She never knew any mother. Or are you just afraid they'll reject you because you don't live up to the legend?"

All Relena could do is stare in silence.

—-

Vaan consults his generals and admiral on the next course for Mars. They are isolated, protected by the vast distances of space but they do still have a mutual defense treaty with PLANT and PLANT is in danger from drastic retaliation from the hardliners of Earth. How drastic, they are about to find out.

"Emperor. Intelligence came back from movements on Earth's primary Lunar base."

"What kind?"

"The nuclear kind, your grace."

Appalled that Earth would choose such extreme measures, Vaan made his choice to fully support PLANT. Before he left, he visits Heero and ask to borrow his "old friend"

The battle at Aprilius 1 begins. Earth demands PLANT's immediate capitulation for harboring terrorist elements that caused the colony drop. Of course, this was just an excuse to attack the Coordinators and claim total dominion across the colonies.

A second fleet of Alliance ships launched nuclear missions at PLANT, luckily it was stopped by the Neutron Stampeder, a small scale version of the Genesis.

Unfortunately, in this case, they were only able to stop the missiles that had already launched and the Windams that fired them. There was enough for a 2nd attack from their main fleet.

This is where Vaan appears at the right time on the new Wing Zero ver 2, an EW ver ka variant with more powerful buster rifles colored black red and gold trims. With this, he gave a demand for the EA fleet to stand down their nukes as a violation of conventions in usage during wartime against civilians. Of course the EA fleet didn't listen to him, leaving Vaan with no choice but to attack. Using his new buster rifles, he obliterated the Earth fleet, destroying all their nukes. Any remnants retreated, having lost the initiative.

With Mars standing behind PLANT, war was declared.

We discovered that Durandal wanted to take Lacus out of the picture. His vision of the Destiny plan did not require her participation and sent assassins to kill her.

Of course, the assassins failed in their mission as Kira returned to the fight.

Vaan returns to Earth and rejoins the Minerva but a visit to Cagalli tells him that she has her hands tied to keep Orb neutral and to expel all ZAFT forces out, including allies of ZAFT. Having seen first hand the struggles Orb had to go through when pushed into a corner, Vaan went back to the Minerva to relay the message that Orb is kicking them all out.

Minerva is now trapped between a waiting fleet of EA ships as well as the Orb defense force. Thankfully with skilled pilots, Shinn, Luna, Rey along with Vaan and his kingsguard, the Minerva escapes.

In my story, I removed the entire subplot of Cagalli getting forced into marriage and then getting kidnapped and Orb does ally itself with the EA but instead signs a non aggression pact, putting them in a hard place because it will make them ZAFT's enemies too early in the plot vs later on.

Minerva is assigned a mission to capture the Suez base from the EA, which is also discovered to be secretly oppressing the local population.

Athrun's new orders when rejoining ZAFT is to meet up with the Minerva. In my story, he was already informed about Orb's stance of neutrality and expelling of all ZAFT forces from their territories. He goes straight for Minerva's current location and presents himself as a FAITH member, surprising everyone.

Vaan and Shinn continue to bond as Vaan has apparently taken Shinn beneath his wing, even teaching him some sword moves on their off time. Shinn tells Vaan his story of how he lost his family and basically lived away from his homeland.

Athrun still conflicts with Shinn about the previous mission in the Indian ocean where Shinn went off on his own to liberate a forced labor camp. Vaan tried to mediate, stating morally Shinn was correct but also sometimes doing the RIGHT thing isn't the "right" thing to do and he did defy orders from a superior officer.

We move the plot along to a ZAFT base along the black sea where a "Lacus" concert is being held. This surprised both Athrun and Vaan since they knew she couldn't be here. Also Vaan felt a bit cringe to see a Pink colored Zaku.

Durandal also makes an appearance here and talks to the main characters about Logos, the hand behind Blue Cosmos. The shadow organization never cared about the racism between Naturals and Coordinators, case in point, they used their own genetic engineering on soldiers like the Extendeds. The real truth is they are using racism as a tool and supposed oppression or other play victim mentality to amass power using the dumb masses.

Hearing this, everyone in the room was obviously disgusted at how a group would use racism as a tool for greedy gains. Vaan wasn't really phased as he glanced over at Durandal.

Durandal also brought up the Archangel and the Freedom, calling the Gundam stolen ZAFT technology operated by a rogue group.

At the end of the briefing, Durandal asks Athrun, in private, if he knows where the Archangel is currently because he still wants to eliminate Lacus. Arthrun counters Durandal's question with a question did he wanted to find the real Lacus over this fake he had to create or some other reason?

In my story, the Archangel still went rogue with Lacus inside, except Cagalli didn't go with them. She remained in Orb to stand as the leader.

Later, the Minerva crew were given shore leave after the recent battles. Athrun still gets into fan service shenanigans with Meer.

We finally get to have the Shinn meets Stella moment where she almost drowns, freaks out. Athrun and Vaan respond to Shinn's emergency beacon because Stella fainted from her trigger word. Sting and Auel jump into rescuing their friend.

Later in the story, Athrun goes off on his own to find the Archangel with Vaan. They were also tailed by Lunamaria.

Vaan arranged a secret meeting with Cagalli coming over to them. She wanted to explain how her hold in Orb was fragile with hardliners in support of the Earth Alliance despite the Earth Alliance causing countless destruction in the last war. Turns out the hardliners were being backed by Logos

Kira and Lacus wanted to face this new conflict their own way. Athrun disagrees with them, as well as Vaan.

"You handle this the way you want to. You can't just come back acting like the older brother imposing your will on us." Kira said to Vaan.

"And you can't act all self righteous thinking your way is better. You have no idea what chaos you have caused just showing up. You think you're some super hero here to save the world? Or is it wherever Lacus goes, you follow."

That last one struck a nerve and almost got the brothers in a fist fight.

Lunamaria, who was following them, heard the entire conversation, including the part where Kira called Vaan his brother.

Meanwhile, back at Orb, a quiet coup happened in Cagalli's absence with Yuna and his family taking control. They joined with the Earth Alliance and sent a fleet to Suez.

With new reinforcements from ZAFT and Mars, the 2 forces were about to face off.

The next day, as the 2 sides began to fight, the Archangel with Kira leading stood in the middle. Cagalli attempts to assume authority. Yuna, who was leading the fleet didn't want Cagalli to undermine his power and declared this was an enemy deception, ordering the Orb fleet to fire on the Archangel, Kira and Cagalli.

ZAFT, under orders from Durandal, sees the Archangel and the Freedom as enemies, and fires on them as well. Vaan, stuck between a rock and a hard place, only ordered his forces to attack the Earth Alliance fleet only.

Kira does what he does best and makes a mess of the entire battle, disabling as many fighters. During the battle, Heine, a new character introduced, had his Gouf disabled by Kira but Stella's Gaia killed him. This pisses off Shinn to no end, seeing the Freedom as some interloper and causing needless confusion and holds him responsible for the death of Heine.

After the battle, Durandal sends Shinn and Rey to search for an abandoned Earth Alliance medical facility where experiments on the Extended were conducted. Once they found the facility, the Minerva was called in to secure the area.

Meanwhile, the Extendeds were going crazy hearing their old "home" was found. Stella goes rogue and runs away in her Gaia where she gets intercepted by Shinn and Athrun and captured. Shinn obviously is surprised to see Stella again but she doesn't remember him. Looking through the facility records, Stella was one of them along with many children the Alliance experimented on to develop soldiers to be near peer to Coordinators with mixed results.

As Stella goes through a combination of withdrawal, she slowly remembers Shinn.

Elsewhere, Waltfield with Lacus goes undercover to return to PLANT. They steal the shuttle intended for Meer and leave Earth. She reunites with the Eternal and restarts Terminal, feeding information back to Vaan.

Meanwhile, Luna decided to hand over her surveillance data to Captain Talia, who in turn reported to Durandal. Knowing that Vaan is now conspiring with the Archangel group and Athrun as well, he plans on eliminating Athrun and potentially Vaan himself by making it look like an accident or worse, make a false flag that the EA killed him.

The Minerva engages the EA and Orb fleet. The Minerva getting pinned gets saved when the Archangel and Freedom show up to help. Cagalli continues her plea to Orb forces to stand down.

Shinn, enraged that the Archangel and company keeps interfering, goes and attacks Cagalli. Kira and even Vaan move to protect Cagalli but the 2 are suddenly caught up between Shinn fighting them and the EA extended pilots coming at them. Shinn was temporarily stunned seeing Vaan come to the defense of Cagalli, unaware of their relationship.

Changing course, Shinn moves to confront the Orb fleet while Kira and Vaan take out the Extended Gundams, Vaan killing one of them and then Kira clashes with Athrun, eventually defeating him.

Shinn destroys the Orb flagship, routing them in the process, killing the admiral in charge. Cagalli is saddened seeing her people suffer remnants of the Orb fleet had mostly joined up with the Archangel save for Yuna who ran back home to Orb.

After the battle, Shinn, being emotional and wanting to save Stella, decided to free her, handing her back to Neo with the false promise that she never has to fight again. We all know how that ends.

Vaan talks to Athrun about the continued war and why they are still fighting the same thing both know it's more complicated and Vaan as a leader needed to think about the better course of action instead of leading from the front.

Despite how Shinn violated several regs, including the return of a prisoner of war back to the enemy, he faced no prosecution under Durandal's orders. Vaan was surprised to see this and wondered what his plan was. As a very impressionable youth, Vaan is concerned for the path that Shinn is going down but sees potential in him.

The Destroy Gundam is deployed in Eurasia to take back territory lost to Mars that did a full on planetary invasion off screen though from the perspective of Mars, it felt more like a liberation, allowing the countries taken to decide their own independence from the Earth Alliance. Of course the EA didn't want to lose key countries in Europe and decided they needed to be made an example of.

During the battle, Shinn attempts to attack the Destroy but Neo intervenes, telling him Stella is the pilot, causing Shinn to hesitate. Kira, however, did not and even shoots down Neo's Windam, causing him to crash near the Archangel's position, where Murrue sees that Neo is really Mu.

Kira and Vaan work together but even he gets knocked back, leaving Kira to finish off the Destroy, sealing Stella's Shinn trying to get Kira to back off, Kira overpowers him and the Destroy falls.

Shinn tries to rescue Stella from her broken Gundam but she dies in his arms.

This scene happens at the ZAFT base after Shinn's battle with Kira and everyone thought he died, Vaan included. The two spar with wooden swords. At this point, Vaan has been teaching Shinn the sword, which comes back to play in the Freedom movie as to how he came to have "studied the blade".

"Ow!" Shinn felt the hit to his chest. Vaan was holding back because these were wooden swords afterall.

"Again" Vaan resets and waits for Shinn to attack.

Shinn attacks but misses the feint and Vaan dodge and strikes him in the back, sending him flying.

Waiting for Shinn to get back up, Vaan resets.

"Again…" His sword was raised up in a classic defense move. Shinn got back up and attacked, getting a few parries in but ultimately couldn't get past Vaan's guard.

"Again."

Each time he said that, he remembered every moment when Shinn fought Kira.

Up to the moment he killed him.

Shinn killed his brother.

He couldn't protect him. He had promised his mother he would protect her other children.

He failed to be there when Kira and the Archangel needed help. His friends. Comrades he fought and bled together. He abandoned them….because that's what an emperor has to do…but that is not what a brother should do.

Shinn almost got one in on Vaan but he countered and accidentally struck Shinn in the face, sending him flying.

Vaan lowered the training sword, almost as if he is giving up. He's not angry at Shinn. This was war and Kira died a warrior's death…he should be fine with this…wasn't he?

"...Again…" This time Shinn was the one who said it as he got back up. "Again…please…"

"...why?"

"Because…I want to become stronger. I can't lose again."

Lose…what did he lose? Some girl he barely knew. Was it because he lost his family before? What drives this kid?

Shinn almost struggles to get but found his footing.

Vaan sighed a bit and walked over, giving Shinn a pat on the shoulder.

"Let's take a break. It's about to rain."

Shinn looked up and a few drops hit his face. The two sat inside for a moment, wiping off their sweat and drinking water.

Then a call came in as Vaan reached for his phone. The screen flipped open with a press of a button.

"Your grace, switch to a secure channel."

Vaan walked a bit away from Shinn as he began talking, his suspicions were confirmed and he was concerned for certain people's safety.

Vaan turned to leave.

"Umm, Vann?"

"Gotta go. We'll talk later"

Shinn noticed Vaan forgot his sword on the table and grabbed it.

"Wait, you forgot this!" Shinn held the sword

Vaan was close enough to grab it but suddenly it felt like a mile away. He looked at the sword for a moment, the katana shaped weapon that's been in his family since time immemorial

"Hold onto that for me. I'll come back for it." Vaan ran off before he could respond

Shinn held the sword and out of curiosity, pulled the blade out a bit to examine it.

Durandal, making good on his promise to attempt to assassinate Vaan, tried to, in his room. Vaan, getting the upper hand, killed the assassin, revealing he was a FAITH member. Escaping from his room, he noticed the cameras were turned off and his kingsguards were dead. He decided now's the time to make an escape but also his own plans to "be dead"

A later scene.

"Athrun…I need you to trust me. Keep going towards the ocean. " Athrun heard Vaan over his comm system. "This is gonna hurt"

Athrun was running away from a fight in the stolen Gouf with Meyrin inside with him.

Shinn was in the Destiny and the sound of its jets screamed towards him, sword at the ready.

"Shinn, back off. You don't understand!" Athrun shouted, firing off warning shots

"Understand what? The words of a traitor?!" He slashed at Shinn.

"Shinn, stop! Meyrin is onboard!"

But Shinn wasn't listening anymore as Rey followed closely.

"Rey, you have new orders." Durandal called him directly. "Athrun is a threat. Take him down."

"...Understood, sir."

Just as Shinn charged forward with his sword, he saw a flash of something come between him and his prey.

"Shinn…please…you have to change the path you're on…" Shinn's eyes were wide as he realized he stabbed through Vaan's Wing Zero

"...Vaan"

Falling from the sky, Vaan's Gundam fell on Athrun's Gouf and they dropped into the ocean before a massive explosion blew Shinn back.

Some time later

Shinn sat in his room, depressed and horrified. Not only had he killed Athrun and Meyrin but also Vaan Fanel, the emperor of Mars, his friend and mentor. Luna had tried to comfort him, trying to tell him it wasn't his fault but all she could do was cry from grief.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. Getting up, he was faced with Mariemeia with Vorian Fanel, who was still wearing his ZAFT uniform and several kingsguard this time to protect the empress.

"Shinn," Vor started

"I'm sorry" all Shinn could blurt out. "I didn't mean…"

Mariemeia could tell how poor a state Shinn was in. She looked to Vor who nodded. The widowed empress pulled Shinn close and hugged him.

"It's ok, no one is going to blame you for what happened. It's not your fault."

"We are filing it under friendly fire. There will be no prosecution for this" Vorian said "Looks like the Chairman stepped in for you again."

Mariemeia let Shinn go.

"I'm here to take the sword my husband left behind. It's an important relic and I was told you have it."

Shinn straightened up a bit. He almost forgot he had it. The last thing Vaan told him was to hold onto it.

"Yes I have it." Grabbing the sword from his desk, taking a moment to feel it. The sheath was a deep blue with gold trim. The blade was long and curved like a katana but the hilt and sword guard was something else. A golden guard that was more from a shamshir sword. The hilt had the same deep blue color and gold trim to it. This was a sword for royalty.

Shinn hands it over to Vorian.

As Vorian prepared to walk out, Shinn spoke up.

"He told me to hold onto it until he comes back…I guess that's not going to happen now."

Mariemeia gestures her hand at Vorian to wait.

"Sir Vorian, stop." she turned back to Shinn, "What did you say, Shinn?"

"I said Vaan…the emperor told me to hold onto the sword. Said he'll come back for it."

Mariemeia looked to Vor a bit, who looked back disapproved but sighed, handing over the sword to her who walked over and offered it to Shinn.

"Then it is yours to carry."

"What?" Shinn was confused "I'm sorry…"

"This is Vaan slanzar de Fanel's order. As of right now, Shinn Asuka, you will be the sword bearer for this. Until asked from a direct line Fanel, you will carry this with you always. This is your duty now."

"Until…when?"

"Until the heir of House Fanel comes to you or until you've been released from service…or death" She held the sword in front of him. "Do you accept?"

Taking a breath, Shinn took the sword. It felt heavy all of a sudden but also…comforting. He felt more resolve than he did before.

Standing at attention now, Shinn saluted. That's all he can do without knowing what other rituals he needs to do.

"I understand and accept this responsibility that was entrusted to me."

"May carrying it bring you strength." She smiled and turned away.

With that, Mariemeia and Vor left Shinn alone with Luna.

"My lady, was that a good idea?" Vor asked, "I don't see a point to it."

"I can see it in his eyes, besides he's in for a surprise later. Vaan knew what he was doing."

"Understood. We are withdrawing our support on the frontlines?"

"Without Vaan in the field, morale will drop. Eastern Eurasia will need to fend for themselves without us"

On orders, Mars began a slow withdraw from combat operations and back onto a more defensive posture around PLANT

Meanwhile underwater, a large submarine belonging to the Mars republic.

Inside, Vaan is alive, undergoing surgery for his severe injuries. He was getting a new robot left arm and a new eye.

Athrun and Meyrin are also alive as well, also injured from the massive explosion of Wing Zero that hid their escape.

The captain of the ship is another cousin of Vaan, Kaname Chidori.

"You took a massive risk, oni-sama.'' She spoke to him in Japanese and he responded.

"A calculated one. And I'm sure that Durandal had me under surveillance and wanted to keep me as a hostage so Mars would continue fighting. Without me, they can't force the issue."

"If that pilot had meant to kill you"

"He didn't. Enough with what ifs, set a course to rendezvous with the Archangel. I've just been told some good news about my little brother."

In the white void that appears to be the afterlife, Kira opened his eyes to see nothing. Am I dead? He would ask himself. Thinking a bit, if this is the afterlife, he'd be extremely disappointed.

"You're here…" He heard a familiar voice from behind him. He wanted to turn but couldn't face her "You came to see me, that's so sweet…"

He felt the familiar touch as her arms wrapped around him. The one he couldn't save.

"Flay…"

"Even though you're about to break. How long do you plan on pushing yourself?"

"I guess…I want to be forgiven…more than anything…"

"...by whom?"

He woke up

"Hey you…finally awake?" He heard another familiar voice but this time it wasn't from the dead.

Kira turned his head from looking at the ceiling to Vaan.

"Vaan?"

"Hey, little brother. Touch and go there for a minute, the doc said. Did you catch a glimpse of the other side?"

Slowly struggling to get up, Kira reached out and Vaan caught his hand with his new arm. The sudden coldness caught him off guard as Vaan helped him sit up in bed.

"What…happened to you?" this shock really woke him up.

"Short story. Had to fake my death. Unlike you, Shinn wasn't trying to kill me"

"Shinn…he"

"Don't beat yourself up, buddy. The kid's got some moves. Might be better than both of us if he actually puts his mind to it." He offered him something to drink.

"You said you had to fake your death?"

"It's complicated. Chairman Durandal has some big plan that doesn't involve me and Athrun's little desertion made the best timing for me"

"Athrun? He's here, too?"

"Yeah but he'll be out for a minute."

In the next room, Athrun was still unconscious and Cagalli was sitting next to him, worried but happy.

"Lacus is back with Terminal. They're investigating the abandoned colony at Mendel. Intelligence informed us that whatever grand design Durandal has started there"

At the Mendel colony, Terminal forces with Lacus discover The Destiny Plan. Of course, ZAFT, on orders from Durandal, was watching the colony waiting for her. They prepared an ambush.

On earth, hearing Lacus is in trouble, he rushes out to save her. Van decided to stay on Earth for the time being as Kira went into space, receiving the Strike Freedom.

Van travels with Cagalli to Orb since Djibril, the leader of LOGOS, took refuge there. Durandal has demanded Djibril but Yuna's refusal has prompted ZAFT to take action, which really didn't matter. Orb was a country that would defy his Destiny plan. Having it fall under his control would make things easier.

As Cagalli wanted to jump into battle, Vaan pulled her aside and with other Orb personnel, they went deep underground in a secret hangar.

"This place was built after the last war when Orb was undergoing reconstruction. I had a sense of deja vu when I was asked to set all this up."

"Set up by whom?"

Vaan shows Cagalli a panel.

"Put your hand on that and read it."

"With the hope that the day will never come when this door must be opened"

The large vault doors opened once it recognized Cagalli

"Lord Uzumi left this for you."

The lights came on and a bright humanoid shape shined down on them.

"What the…a Golden gundam?!" Cagalli was surprised at this.

"If you are listening to this, Cagalli.." The voice of Uzumi echo throughout the room

"Father?"

"Should the day come if you are in need of this type of power, take it and wield it with righteousness and justice. I'm sorry I am not here anymore and I wasn't able to teach you many more things. However I have faith in you and I know you are not alone. Your family is around you, there to fight alongside with you. A true golden path is one that must be forged in fire."

The polish on this Gundam was astonishing. More than a weapon, it's a symbol.

"Power is simple and only fools would hope for more in excess, yet those who refuse it are equally foolish. One cannot create the world or protect it without power. It is a sword for great destruction but also protection. I have faith in you, my dear child. Take it. I will always be proud of you, Cagalli"

After wiping away her tears, Cagalli got suited up. Vaan walked out, also suited up.

"You're coming with?"

"I'm not going to leave my baby sister alone on the battlefield."

"I'm not a baby, but thanks anyway." She gave him a hug before getting on the Akatsuki

Vaan got into a custom Murasame prepared for him.

With the tide of battle going against Orb, Cagalli appearing from nowhere to rally the troops pushed ZAFT back.

Despite ZAFT forces being pushed back, Shinn broke through the line and straight at Cagalli.

Shinn being a much more experienced pilot and in the more powerful suit started to push her back, destroying an arm and despite Vaan getting involved, even with a custom grunt suit, he is no match for a Gundam and he didn't want to reveal himself yet.

It was then when everyone detected new contacts from above. It was Kira, coming down with Strike Freedom and holding onto the Infinite Justice.

"Good timing, brother"

Kira and Vaan fought Rey and Shinn together while Athrun took a moment to get into Justice. Despite the added firepower, Vaan was heavily outmatched against another Gundam. It was then Athrun put himself together and joins the fight, pushing Rey and Shinn back with the Infinite Justice.

It was then, Vaan was sent a recording of Djibril running away to a shuttle. He still had friendly communication codes with ZAFT and decided to send this recording to the Minerva so they could see, despite confusion on who sent the message.

With Djibril escaping to the moon, ZAFT forces withdrew from fighting, their only official reason to attack Orb gone.

Later on, an international broadcast by Cagalli condemns PLANT for this blatant attack on Orb's sovereignty. Durandal had prepared his false Lacus, Meer, to respond. Thankfully the real Lacus appeared next to Cagalli to throw the entire narrative into the dirt.

On the moon, Earth Alliance forces loyal to LOGOS prepare for a counter attack using the Requiem weapon, a massive cannon that can destroy colonies and cities effortlessly.

Luckily Yzak and Dearka's squadron noticed these strange movements and a battle began that thankfully threw off the aim of the first shot, missing the capital of PLANT by a narrow margin.

The joint Martian/ZAFT fleets converged on the moon and the first relay station to prevent it from firing again. The battle is intense as Djibril ordered the cannon to be fired mid charge, having less effective range though but destroying part of the Mars/ZAFT fleet.

Djibril attempted to escape but was cut off by Rey, who killed him.

With this, the war is officially concluded.

We continued with the story as the Archangel/Terminal forces took refuge in the Lunar city of Coprenicus. There, Lacus received a message from Meer stating that she's going to be killed to cover up her existence. In reality, this was a trap but deciding to meet it head on, Lacus along with Athrun, Kira, Meyrin as well as Vaan.

Lacus meets with Meer knowing it was a trap and hopes to convince Meer to come to her side.

Meer, having low self esteem, wanted to own the name Lacus attempted to resist before Lacus slapped some sense into her. The ZAFT assassins revealed themselves to attack but our "heroes" quickly dispatched them all.

Neo, who had fully joined their side, arrived to support them in Cagalli's Akatsuki. As he tries to extract Lacus, one of the assassin's wasn't so dead and tried to take a shot. Meer, having a last minute change of heart, took the hit and died.

Vaan finished off the last assassin, admonishing Kira for his no kill tendencies.

Durandal announced to the world a new order. The Destiny plan based on your genes and through that will create a less chaotic world. Everyone has their place. No conflicts through personal greed or even ambitions. With that, eternal peace can be established. Free will in humanity has caused nothing by strife and suffering. Sacrificing that freedom is the only way to ensure a better future.

Of course, many people disagree with the notion of turning humanity into a giant ant farm.

Seeing this as madness, only some Earth nations have responded to this plan with many outright rejecting it.

An Earth Alliance holds out base on the moon prepared for their own strike. In response, Durandal ordered the Requiem to fire, utterly destroying them. With this declaration, Durandal uses this as an example to all those who resist.

After the announcement of the Destiny Plan, Vaan made his return to the stage, revealing he is alive and declaring their alliance with PLANT null and void. Suddenly, all Mars forces that had previously taken up defensive posture around PLANT began to attack in every direction, causing massive chaos to blunt ZAFT, allowing a new alliance of ships to assault the Requiem.

Durandal saw this coming and revealed the Messiah with its Neo Genesis weapon.

During the final showdown, it was Kira with Athrun and Vaan facing off against Shinn and Rey. Dividing their forces, Kira told Athrun to lead the Archangel forward in the assault while he and Vaan hung back with the Eternal.

Vaan, now in a refurbished version of his Escaflowne, faces off against Shinn, who had overcome his shock of seeing his mentor alive but now angered that he had to fight him. They dueled with their swords but also words on why they fight.

Meanwhile Kira facing off against Rey felt like he was fighting the ghost of Rau,

Ultimately, Vaan managed to defeat Shinn only by distracting him on his reasons for creating a new world and would Durandal's world truly be a place he would want to live in with those he lost. Was it truly a better place or simply a lie to hide from the pain of choices?

Athrun also took out Lunamaria in the Impulse. Both Luna and Shinn crashed onto the moon.

With Requiem destroyed and Shinn's Gundam defeated, Vaan stayed outside to direct the battle while Kira and Athrun went into Messiah to confront Durandal together.

"Ever through the chaos, humanity always has a choice to be better"

"But they never do. They will always make the same bad choices. Tragedy happens and it's always followed by a speech…. on and on….like an endless waltz as one said"

"Maybe so…but humanity constantly learns even if it's bit by bit. It may take us time but we survive and we will learn to understand and make meaningful change"

"How arrogant that the ultimate coordinator can declare that"

"I'm just a man. I am no different than you or Lacus. That's why I am here, in this place to make a choice…and that choice is to take you down" Kira aims his pistol at Durandal

"And are you prepared for that uncertain future? The future where humanity continues to lead down the dark path?"

"It won't. Not with people willing to make a better world"

"You really believe in that?"

"...yes"

"You willing to die for that?"

"...I already have"

There was a slight hesitation in Kira's eyes. Up until now, he didn't want to kill people to forge the world he wanted. He was given a power and a gift that allowed him to fight with a more gentle hand but in this case, he needed to close that hand into a fist and take a life. One life for the world's future. One death on his hands for the future. Is it worth it?

By the grace of god or whatever powers of fate, he didn't need to make the choice. Athrun and Kira noticed neither of them fired their weapons and turned to see that Rey was behind them the whole time. In his shock, he had turned his weapon on Durandal. He made his own choice for the future.

"I'm sorry Gilbert…Kira's future sounds a lot better than yours…"

He collapsed to his knees in tears, knowing he shot a man who was a father figure to him.

Captain Talia was also there as she comforted the dying Gilbert Durandal. The entire station was falling apart.

"Kira, Athrun. Are you guys alright?" Vaan calls over their comms.

Athrun tapped his ear piece to respond

"Yes, Vaan…we're done here. It's finished"

Kira and Athrun wanted to say something but Talia spoke first.

"You 2 should go. It's my responsibility. I'll deliver his soul to the hereafter."

Kira and Athrun began to walk away but Kira stood over Rey, who was still crying.

"Rey…" Kira said.

Looking up, Rey sees Kira offer a hand.

"You made a choice. You should see it. Your future."

Rey looked over to Talia and Durandal and Talia nodded. He took Kira's hand and got up.

"Let's go"

The trio took off and escaped the Messiah as it exploded

Outside, Vaan watched over Luna and Shinn on the surface of the moon as they witnessed the destruction of the Messiah. Shinn, sad that he failed but in a way, he was relieved it was over.

Orb. It felt weird being back "home" again. Shinn hasn't called this place home in a long time. Though the last time he was here to pay respects to the dead, it felt nostalgic. He remembered the house he grew up in was gone, occupied by some other family now. He doesn't know anyone in the neighborhood his family lived in. This might as well be a foreign country to him…yet strangely, he felt at peace. This IS his true home and these are his people.

Shinn laid down flowers and then after considering it for a long time, he placed the cellphone that belonged to his sister on the stone monument. He has held onto it for too long. It was time for him to move on.

Vann also laid down some flowers. He also remembered this site. He and the others fought for Orb here. Unable to prevent all the collateral damage and civilian deaths, he felt partly responsible. Each needless death of an innocent was a failure on his part and his friends but in the end, it was outweighed by the lives they did save and the good all this meant. It HAD to mean something.

"They'll rebuild this. The flood washed away everything." Vaan said, referring to the massive shower of debris during the Junius 7 drop incident. The fragments were so numerous, many countries around the world were affected

Shinn straightened up a bit.

"Thanks, Vaan"

"For what?"

"I want to thank you. You never stopped believing in me…even when I stopped believing in myself"

"I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character."

"You sure about that? I almost killed you"

"I got better" Vaan waved his robot arm.

Shinn offered back Vaan's sword. The sword of House Fanel that's been in the family for god knows how long. It was ancient and had a mysterious vibe to it.

Vaan looked over at the sword. His sword. One day to be passed down to his heir. He pushed it back into Shinn's hand.

"Hold onto it for a little while longer, will ya."

"Really?"

"I'm not ready to take it back…"

"You're putting a lot on me"

"Just…try not to lose it."

"I'll sleep with it next to Luna."

"...did not need to hear that, but ok." Luna punched Shinn a couple times in the side for that comment. The two had been an official couple for a little while now.

Shinn then noticed Athrun and Cagalli walking towards them. He then spotted Kira and Lacus. He, Luna, and Meyrin backed off a bit to give them space. Shinn still was uneasy with Athrun since he did try to kill him and it was fresh on his mind. Athrun seemed to have moved past that.

After the group had paid their respects to the dead, there was a bit of an awkward silence. Vaan glanced over to Mariemeia, who nodded with a smile and guided all the ladies away. This was a moment for "the boys"

"Shinn, I want to formally introduce you to Kira Yamato, the pilot of the Freedom."

Shinn's eyes light up a bit,

"Freedom's pilot?"

"Yes…he's also my brother"

That part surprised Shinn even more so

Elsewhere, Mariemeia had led Cagalli to another part of the monument site and there were 2 people waiting for them. An older couple, in their 40s at least. The lady was older than a lot of her historical images because she officially died nearly 20 years ago but she looked very much the same Relena Peacecraft.

Cagalli recognized her from the photo she and Kira have. Their mother, holding them as babies.

"Hello Cagalli…you've grown up so well."

"M…mom?"

Lord Uzmi, the man who raised her, had been a widower. Cagalli never knew what it was like to have a mother. She was not as fortunate like Kira who grew up in a relatively normal household with both parents there. This is why it was important for Cagalli to see their birth mother first.

"Meia, you look well." Relena said to Mariemeia

"Mother," she would be her mother-in-law, though she still remembered the very first time they met.

Kira and the other boys were at a fair distance so Cagalli can take in this moment.

"You arranged this?" Kira asked

"She wanted to come on her own. I may have convinced her after pushing all this time. After everything that's happened in her life, I felt that Cagalli needed this."

"You're right. More so than me."

"What? No feelings stirring inside for our mom?

"The Yamatos are my parents. You know that. But you're not wrong. Seeing my birth parents is a good thing."

The man who was with Relena had stepped away to let the two get acquainted. Despite being their biological father, Heero Yuy wasn't the type to get emotional about meeting his children. As both Kira and Cagalli had "fathers" that raised them, he felt it was wrong to simply step in and declare he was their dad. That being said, Relena would never have wanted to set foot on Earth again if Heero didn't finally push her a bit more.

Walking up to Kira and Vaan, Heero nodded respectfully, though silently.

"You look well…old man" Vaan commented, at this point, Heero might as well be his step father.

Shinn was utterly confused and wanted to ask ALL the questions but Luna and Meyrin shushed him, dragging him away.

Athrun and Lacus also walk a bit away to talk amongst themselves, letting Kira, Vaan and Cagalli share a moment with Relena and Heero, though Heero didn't do much talking to any of them.

By this point, Cagalli was already in tears and so was Relena a bit. They shared a hug for the first time while Kira and Vaan watched. Vaan especially was not much of a hugger though.

And with that, the story of Gundam Seed Destiny is over. Relative peace had returned.

Lacus was installed as an interim Chairwoman of PLANT with Kira joining the ZAFT military officially, Shinn decided to stay in ZAFT with Luna, though Meyrin eventually joined Orb. Athrun stayed in Orb with Cagalli.

Vaan returned to Mars with Mariemeia where they announced their first child to the solar system.

Relena and Heero decided to stay on Earth for a time. She wanted to catch up with Cagalli and spend time with her.

Years later, the major powers formed COMPASS, an international peacekeeping group that intervenes on behalf of nations to prevent or stop conflicts.

With this story over, the story of FREEDOM will be written.