Gundam Seed Fic: Saving Kira

[draegyn]

Just a fic I should have posted some months back. It was a gift fic for a friend and, although a one shot, is probably due a sequel or two... one day when I have the energy.



Title: Saving Kira
Summary: If Athrun had thought clearly right from the beginning rather than letting his hurt cloud his mind, things would have been different... a lot different.
Rating: G

Let it not be said that Kira Yamato was a pushover. Athrun Zala doubted the other coordinator had seen the cockpit of a mobile suit on more than a handful of occasions, let alone piloted one. And, yet, here they were, less than a day after the exposure of the EA’s newest weapon and Kira was already piloting the last suit with a deft touch. He’d need more time before he was able to translate that skill into battle but, when he did, he would be a devastating force on whichever side of the war he chose to fight for.

Athrun was determined that it wouldn’t be the natural’s side and, if given the chance, he would see Kira removed from the war altogether. Kira did not belong on a battlefield, not even fighting for ZAFT and definitely not for the naturals.

Athrun re-stiffened his spin against the threatening slouch. He was about to be dressed down by Le Creuset and he was already contemplating another act of gross insubordination. He had to force himself not to either grimace or grin. A glimpse of a much-missed face from his past was all it had taken to turn his life upside down and change him from a dedicated soldier to a dangerously loose canonnon. The threat of a courtmarshal did not deter him and how could it when it was Kira’s life that was at stake? Athrun could always go back to being an obedient little pilot after he had rescued Kira from the naturals.

“Enter”

Athrun put aside his half formed plots for later and turned his full attention to this confrontation with his commander. As much as he admired the man’s skill and leadership ability, there was something about him that raised Athrun’s hackles and had ever since he had realised Kira was once again a factor in Athrun’s equation.

So he lied through his teeth when he was asked why he’d taken the Aegis without permission and returned to Heliopolis. He was given a form reprimand, a black mark on his file and a disappointed loook, as much as a man in a mask could look disappointed, that was worse than the other two combined. Athrun, however, forgot about all three as soon as he left the room. He need to speak with Nicol.

***

Nicol Amalfi regarded the pacing Athrun with bemusement. Normally, the other coordinator was a quiet and calm person. For the last hour, Nicol had been witnessing another side to Athrun that went a long way to explaining to him how such a kind and earnest soul could so consistently outperform both Ysak and Dearka from the moment they had met in the academy.

This Athrun was passionate and commanding. So much so that it had taken quiet a while for Nicol to realise that Athrun had been referring to the mysterious Kira as a ‘he’. Considering how he was acting, Nicol had at first been certain Athrun’s Kira was a girl. That Kira was male made Nicol question a lot of things he’d thought he’d known about his friend. Not least of which was whether he had any common sense.

“You could get into a lot of trouble for this, Athrun,” he cautioned but suspected that he did so in vain.

Athrun shrugged impatiently. “Maybe,” he replied carelessly, “But if it works, we’ll be stealing the true threat away from that ship and the naturals before Kira has a chance to cause any real damage.” Athrun’s face flickered with sorrow momentarily, undoubtedly recalling Miguel.

It was true, Nicol supposed. If Athrun’s Kira was the one piloting the fifth suit, then so far it had destroyed two suits and taken one life. If Kira was, as Athrun was so confident, completely untrained, then he was only going to get better. “You are sure that he will be a threat?” Nicol queried. “After all, we are coordinators too.”

Athrun stopped to scowl at him. “So was Miguel,” he pointed out.

“True,” Nicol conceded.

Athrun’s scowl moved to the bulkhead. “Kira is brilliant. He’s also stronger than people expect. The only thing that holds him back is that he’s a… well I would say cry-baby but timid might be closer. He won’t stand up for himself.” The scowl grew blacker yet, telling Nicol that Athrun, in trying to save and protect Kira now, was likely just falling back into an old habit.

“That kind of person won’t be that dangerous.” Especially not when Ysak or Dearka or both decided to take it as a personal offence that the fifth suit was still in the hands of the naturals, as one or both inevitably would.

Athrun turned his dark look back on Nicol. “I said he won’t defend himself.”

Nicol blinked in surprised realisation. “You think he has friends on that ship? But you said he was a civilian.” He then winced at the stupidity of that statement.

Athrun rolled his eyes before he threw himself down on the spare bed in Nicol’s berth. “Ignoring the assumption that civilians and military personnel can’t be associated, which we both know is untrue, if there is one civilian teen on that ship, why not more? They tend to travel in mobs, remember?”

It had not been that long since either of them were civilians that they could not remember.

“Aa, but when would they have been picked up? I can hardly believe that they are there by anything other than accident.”

“We did not exactly give advance notice of the operation. Nicol, how many civilians got caught away from a shelter like Kira?”

That was assuming Kira really was a civilian but the facts did seem to imply that. Not that Nicol would assume the facts might not be misleading, but that was another kettle of fish. “Still, the suits were a military secret and that ship…” Nicol found that he enjoyed playing the devil’s advocate. “What would have persuaded the commander to let unsecured individuals near critically important new military hardware? And your Kira is a coordinator and that would weigh against him.”

Athrun pinned him with his gaze. “I know and that is part of why I am so scared for him. I saw him during the initial operation…”

“So you said,” Nicol reminded him as he re-examined what Athrun had told him.

Athrun made a sound of impatience. “He was wearing civilian clothes and he carried no weapon. He looked completely shocked by the situation.”

Nicol decided not to point out that almost everyone except them had been caught unprepared.

“Besides, did you get to review the first encounter with the fifth suit? I’ll be you on my life that it was when the Strike’s movement improved that Kira took over and I know that there were some teens caught nearby.”

Nicol thought about it. “You think your Kira was tossed into the Strike’s cockpit by the natural soldier-”

“It was a woman,” Athrun interrupted.

Nicol frowned, “What does that-”

“It is a proven fact that seven out of ten women are significantly more sentimental than the average male. Enough so, that it is not unreasonable to believe that a female soldier, seeing an unarmed boy, might take him into her protection, regardless of the fact that she would be exposing military secrets.”

“Tell that to Ysak’s mother!” Nicol snorted.

Athrun’s mouth twitched. “I value my ability to procreate, thank you. Still, you have to admit that it is plausible.”

“I never denied it. I do understand the sequence of events you’ve put forward. Your Kira is kidnapped by an altruistic natural soldier whom then proceeds to ineptly pilot a state of the art war machine. He does not intervene until he sees friends of his on the monitors and realise that, well-meaning or not, the natural soldier cannot protect them. He’d have to have rewritten the OS on the way, because the subsequent movement would have been impossible otherwise.”

Athrun nodded and continued the hypothesised sequence of events. “Then, when the immediate threat had ended, he and his friends were reunited and then taken hostage by the Earth Forces.”

Nicol pondered the suggested chain of events and concluded that they were sound as far as they went. “Bit now that they’ve joined with the ship, surely your Kira would no longer have to pilot Strike.”

Athrun snorted. “The naturals are desperate and you know as well as I do that there’s no way any of them could pilot the Strike in battle. They will, by one method or another, attempt to have him fight for them which is unacceptable. No one should be forced into betraying their own kind, most especially not Kira!”

“Will he fight for them, though?”

“Aa,” Athrun sighed wearily and Nicol realised that, between one thing and another, the other coordinator had not slept in nearly thirty hours. “Because he won’t let his friends be hurt and their lives are now at the mercy of that ship.”

Nicol felt his eyes widen. “You think the natural soldiers will threaten them to force Kira?”

“I would not put it past them.” Juunius 7 did not need to be mentioned. “But I doubt it would be necessary. Kira will refuse at first but he will launch the next time we attack. He probably won’t even know to wear a flight suit.”

Nicol bit his lip in thought. “He’s a natural, so to speak, at piloting but he’s still new to it. If we’re cunning, we could trap him and bring him back.”

Athrun stood and started to pace again. “The problem is how to avoid him becoming a prisoner either as an enemy soldier or a perceived traitor.”

“Technically-”

“He had no loyalty to ZAFT! He’s a citizen of Orb not Plant! We attacked first and he had the right to defend himself!”

“Athrun…”

“I don’t want Ysak or Dearka anywhere near him,” Athrun insisted adamantly. “I don’t want Command Le Creuset to know either. They’d either kill him or try to use him.”

Nicol had to wonder if that would be so wrong if it meant they were that much closer to ending the war. Athrun’s current attitude was very worrying. “You could be court marshalled for what you’re thinking,” he warned.

Athrun stopped pacing and stared at him. “What am I thinking?”

“You’re trying to figure out how to capture Strike while hiding Kira. You’re also wondering how you can smuggle him to somewhere safe from authority, either Orb or Plant.”

Athrun grinned. “You know me better than I thought.”

It was not that hard to figure out. “I didn’t know you were in love with a boy,” Nicol retorted and had the pleasure of seeing Athrun blush scarlet and splutter denials. He continued over the top of them, “I also can’t quite understand why you’re telling all of this to me.”

Athrun stopped splutter and looked at him beseechingly. “I need your help. I can’t do it on my own.”

Nicol let his friend stew for a few seconds before putting him out of his misery. “It’s a good thing that I would like to meet your Kira.”

Athrun blushed again. “He’s not my Kira!”

Nicol smiled. “Of course not. That’s why you’re wiling to risk all you hold dear for him and to ask me to do the same!”

Athrun couldn’t meet his eyes. Deciding that was admission enough, Nicol got down to business. “So how are we going to do this? And what are we going to do afterwards? We can’t exactly hid him under our bunks!”

Athrun was still redder than normal as he started to list his ideas.

***

Kira thought he was hearing things. The stress of piloting was getting to be too much for him because he could swear that he had just heard Athrun Zala say, “I told you so.”

As he and Athrun had exchanged only a handful of words since they had parted and all of those in the past two days, he didn’t know what it was that was making his friend sound so smug. It certainly wasn’t military victory for Kira and the major were still thwarting Athrun and his team at every turn. Still, it definitely seemed that the imaginary voice was smug.

Then again, why shouldn’t it be? It did prove Kira was as crazy as Athrun had always called him. Maybe that was what it had meant by ‘I told you so’.

“Oi, Kid! Pay attention!”

Kira started at the sound of a very real voice over the comm. The jerk he gave was just enough on the Gundam’s controls that the Buster’s shot at him went wide. “Sorry!” he told La Flaga but he still couldn’t bring himself to wholly concentrate on the battle. Instead, he let his back brain do the piloting while the rest of him tried to deny having anything to do with the vicious chaos around him.

“Are you sure? It would be easier to move now.”

Kira blinked and completely missed the Duel with his rifle. He couldn’t help but let his eyes dart around the cockpit. This time, he was certain he’d heard a voice but it wasn’t over the comm., nor was it Athrun’s. Actually, it was not a voice he was in any way familiar with.

“Kid!”

LA Flaga’s mobile armour shot down the missiles headed, unnoticed by Kira, towards the Strike and Kira twisted t aim the suit’s rifle at the Buster yet again.

“ssst-sst-do you know?” The second voice demanded.

Kira was now fighting completely on autopilot while he tried to figure out exactly where the voices were coming from.

“Shall I prove it? Ssst-“

Kira moved out of range of Aegis’ beam sabre as Athrun’s suit tried to close in.

“Kira! Hey, Kira, can you hear me?”

Kira was well beyond confused by this point and more certain than ever that he had snapped.

“Kira?!” Athrun’s voice was definitely sounding impatient now. “Good grief, Kira, switch over to the maintenance intercom!”

Kira gaped in utter disbelief even as Strike and Aegis engaged and disengaged. How did Athrun manage to gain access to that? It wasn’t a part of standard equipment and, being little more than a duct that could relay sound between pilots and maintenance crews so they could talk without using an actual radio, probably shouldn’t even have worked in space!

“Athrun?”

“Kira!? Speak up, I can’t hear you!”

Kira hesitated and then switched his communicator to mute so that noise from the Archangel no longer flooded the cockpit. “Athrun?” He knew he sounded uncertain but he didn’t care, this was Athrun. Athrun had seen him crying his eyes out, a little uncertainty was nothing in comparison. If he wasn’t in the middle of a battle, as distracted from it as he might have been, he’d be letting a lot more of his emotions show to his friend.

“Kira! Good, it works!”

“What words? Athrun?” Kira demanded.

“Kira, I need to know if you’re in a flight suit!”

Kira frowned, paying almost no attention to the battle now. “Flight suit? Athrun, what-”

“Kira!”

“No, I-”

“You idiot! You do not take a mobile suit into space if you don’t have a suit!”

“I…” Kira was definitely feeling lost as Athrun scolded him sternly. It was almost as if they were twelve again and Athrun was yelling at him for not wearing a coat out into the cold.

“Kira, you could be killed!”

He was in a mobile suit with people shooting at him. Athrun was shooting at him! Of course he could be killed! “Athrun-”

“Hush. Don’t talk, Kira, just listen. This battle will end soon but there will be another before long. You have to wear a suit! Do you understand? You need a flight suit and make sure you have a sufficient supply of oxygen! I don’t care if you need to blackmail those naturals. If they’re going to make you fight, they should equip you properly! I don’t want you to get hurt, Kira. Please do it.”

Kira didn’t want Athrun to get hurt and, as it was, if the other coordinator was shot down it would most likely be Kira who did it. “I don’t want to fight you!”

“Then come with me now!” Athrun’s voice sounded tense and afraid and Kira felt the same and more.

“I can’t,” he replied, begging for his friend to understand. “My friends are on that ship! I need to protect them!”

“Kira-”

“There’s no one else!”

There was a pause and Athrun sighed. “I understand, I do, but, Kira, you shouldn’t be fighting!”

“Neither should you,” Kira cried back. “You hate war!”

I fight to protect PLANT, Kira, to protect what is precious to me. I don’t want what happened to Juunius 7, to my mother, to happen again.”

Kira gasped. Athrun’s mother?

“You know ZAFT would offer safe passage for civilians if they asked?”

They would? Kira hadn’t even considered that might be possible. “Even for naturals?”

“Orb is neutral, Kira. I imagine your friends are all citizens. They would be safe.”

“I…”

“Think about it, Kira. And if you have to fly Strike again, wear a suit! Do you understand?”

“Yes. Athrun, I…”

“Kira, I have to go.” Athrun sounded apologetic, as if he didn’t want to leave. “Be careful and don’t get hurt. Stay away from the Duel and Buster. The’ll kill you if they can.”

And Athrun wouldn’t? Even though Kira was fighting for his enemy?

There was a soft click and the Aegis pulled away. Kira watched it go with mixed feelings. His emotions were a tangled skein of fear, despair, regret and even hope. He was elated that Athrun did not hate him, that, despite everything that had happened, Athrun still cared about him enough to chide him about safety. Still, the fact remained that every time they now met it was with guns pointed at each other.

Kira swallowed back the tears he wanted to release and directed the Strike back to the Archangel. It took only a moment after switching his comm. Back on to realise that the ship had been frantically trying to hail him.

“Strike! Respond!”

“This is Strike.”

Lt. Badigurel sounded angry as she responded, “Strike, what did you think you were doing? Archangel is under heavy fire from Duel and Buster! Why aren’t you supporting us?”

His resentment at her unspoken accusations added more confusion to Kira’s emotional morass. He was not a soldier and shouldn’t have been in the gundam in the first place and they all expected him to fight off Blitz and Aegis as well as protecting the Archangel from the Buster and Duel? Couldn’t they do anything for themselves? Why did h…

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a streak of light across a monitor. He turned Strike just in time to watch the beam hit the colony and Heliopolis fall apart.

***

Athrun and Nicol were quiet even after the others left the debriefing room. Heliopolis was gone and they could not deny that ZAFT was the one that had pulled the trigger. Athrun was almost afraid to face Kira after this but a greater fear of watching his friend die at what may even be Athrun’s hands overpowered him.

“You were right,” Nicol murmured, subdued. “It looks like things happened just like you said they did.”

Athrun knew Nicol was trying to distract him but he could not stop thinking about how Kira was going to react to his home being destroyed. “This is going to be more difficult than we anticipated,” he warned his accomplice. “Kira will not be as easy to herd as he was today.”

Nicol looked concerned. “Will he genuinely fight against you? They both knew Athrun had merely been going through the motions today and that he had kept Kira at bay more with words than with Aegis.

“No, but nor will he come quietly. My life will be safe, Aegis will likely take damage. He won’t be distractible like he was today and so it’s going to be a lot harder to make it look like we want it to.”

“That was a possibility anyway,” Nicol pointed out.

Athrun knew that but he was upset that events had become even more out of hand than they already had been. He hoped that the previous battles had meant everyone was already in the shelters. He hoped that no one Kira knew hat not been in a life raft. He prayed they had not killed any of Kira’s friends or, worse, family.

“He sounded very nice,” Nicol commented, once again trying to distract Athrun from dark thoughts.

It didn’t work. “He sounded very scared,” he corrected.

“Aa,” Nicol admitted. “That too. He also sounded very happy to hear you.”

That made Athrun smile. “We definitely confused him.” It had not been difficult at all to devise a short range transmitter for Nicol to attach to Strike near the maintenance duct while Athrun had kept Kira preoccupied. It had worked almost perfectly and transmitted the sound through Strike’s armour and into the duct. Kira’s responses weren’t as clear as they could have wished and Athrun thought a slightly higher placement might have helped. Either way, it wasn’t as important for them to hear Kira as it was for Kira to hear them.

“Will he pass you message on?”

Athrun blinked. “Message?”

“Mm! Will he tell his friends that they can surrender to ZAFT rather than stay with the Earth Forces?”

Athrun sighed. “Probably but I don’t think it will matter. The EA won’t take the chance for a handful of civilian teens. There aren’t enough of them to make it worthwhile.”

“But without your Kira…”

Athrun had to smile at Nicol’s insistence of Athrun’s possession of his friend. Then he considered chains of causality and probabilities. “Without Kira, I think they will be scared. I think they will try to either run or suicide to hide their secrets. If the latter…”

“Then any civilians may as well be doomed,” Nicol finished. If the legged ship was that desperate to protect its secrets, then they would not risk their security by giving ZAFT any openings at all. “Maybe they’ll jettison the civilians in a life raft first,” Nicol suggested.

Athrun considered it. It was possible but the naturals may see the civilians as a threat. If they were willing to suicide t protect their secrets then it was only one more step to simultaneously removing a security threat. It would depend on the ship’s captain and what kind of person he was. “I would not depend on it,” he said at last. “Once we get Kira to safety, we can ask him about the situation.”

“He’ll help?” Nicol sounded doubtful.

“He’ll want to save his friends and he won’t have any other options available to him. If he doesn’t help us, we can’t help him and his friends will likely die.” Athrun grimaced. When said aloud, it sounded so cold, as if they would be blackmailing Kira rather than risking their careers and possible even lives to help him.

“Let’s hope he listens to reason then,” Nicol decided quietly.

Because there was so little reason in this mess.

***

Nicol had to admit, he was paying more attention to the Strike and the aegis than to what was happening near his own Blitz. Part of that was nerves, what he and Athrun were going to attempt was incredibly risky and he had to move at exactly the right moment. Part was confidence, because, at that moment, Blitz was possibly the last target on the enemies’ minds. Duel was harassing the legged ship and not quite penetrating their defences. Buster was sniping the armour and the ship indiscriminately, thankfully Athrun and the Aegis were too close to Strike for him to aim in that direction. The commander was also out and was preoccupied with the mobile armour rather than Strike or the enemy ship.

Meanwhile, Nicol kept back, interfering on occasion only to make it look as though he was trying. His actions weren’t going to endear him to Dearka or Ysak but, as they already considered him a coward, their opinions couldn’t get much worse. He only hoped he and Athrun could do what they needed to do before Strike or the legged ship was destroyed.

As soon as the Aegis had manoeuvred the Strike into a denser field of debris, Nicol engaged the Blitz’s colloid field. It was a risk to sacrifice the protection of the phase shift armour but it did let him disappear from the observations of parties involved in the conflict. It also let him approach the Strike and Aegis completely unseen. When the Blitz was in position, Nicol signalled Athrun through the short-range communicators the other had rigged.

A quick check ensured that there was a third transceiver within range and that meant the naturals had not detected the transmitted they’d attached to the Strike and Kira had not pointed it out. There had been a chance that they might have needed to replace the first but that now seemed unnecessary, an advantage because tagging the Strike in the right place the first time had taken three attempts. It was not an easy shot.

Suddenly, the Aegis became a lot more aggressive. Athrun’s piloting was not his usual careful and cautious approach, but a furious flurry of sabre attacks that drove Strike unknowingly closer to Nicol. Nicol had to admit that the other was not failing to hold his own. Athrun’s mysterious Kira was extremely gifted to be able to learn so quickly but, gifted or not, Kira had not had the time to gain the ability to deny Athrun control of their duel and Athrun knew exactly what he was doing.

Soon, Nicol decided that their positions were as optimal as they could be. “Athrun, now! I’m 45 degrees above you at 3 o’clock. Your distance is 497m and closing.” Actually, Nicol was getting a little nervous about the proximity of Strike and Aegis. It was one thing to discuss this in theory, it was quite another to watch two violently struggling mobile suits bear down on him while his armour was down.

“Acknowledged. Kira?” Nicol heard the transmission jump as the third transmitter was keyed in by Athrun.

“Athrun… what…?”

Athrun didn’t wait for his confused friend to think. He barked, “Are you suited?”

“I…”

“Are you suited?!” Nicol’s eyes widened at the anger in Athrun’s voice. It was not something he ever wanted directed at him and it certainly affected Kira.

“Yes!”

That was all Athrun and Nicol needed to know before they decided to commence. Strike didn’t have a chance when Aegis sacrificed its beam sabre to close and grapple, changing configuration as it did so.

“Kira you have 10 seconds to pop your cockpit and abandon Strike before I fire Aegis’ beam cannon.”

“Athrun-” Kira was obviously confused and scared. If they didn’t have the time to reassure him, they certainly didn’t have the leeway to argue.

Nicol opened his own hatch and it would have looked like a doorway had just appeared in space to anyone watching. “Kira, my name is Nicol. I’m 200m away from you. Please abandon Strike and come to me. We’re going to help you!”

“I-”

“Kira!” Athrun snapped, “We can help you and your friends get back to Orb safely. Or you can continue to fight and risk killing or being killed by me and them dying in an attack on the ship. You have three seconds, decide.”

“Athr-”

“Decide!”

Nicol heaved a huge sigh of relief as Strike’s hatch, hidden from the rest of the battlefield, opened as far as it could while trapped against the Aegis and the slim form of the pilot slipped out. As soon as Kira was clear, Aegis’ thrusters fired and pushed both suits away even as Nicol gently guided the Blitz closer to pick up Kira. The other coordinator had barely touched Blitz when Athrun transmitted a warning.

“I can’t wait any longer, Nicol! Get him inside!”

Nicol leant over the controls to pull his new passenger inside when a pulse of light blinded them. An instant later, a wave of force catapulted Kira into the cockpit and shook Blitz into a spin. It took several seconds for Kira and Nicol to work themselves out of the tangle that resulted but eventually Kira was wedged in behind the pilot’s chair and Nicol managed to shut the hatch and get the Blitz back under control.

“Nicol?”

Nicol hoped Kira had seen his reassuring smile through their faceplates and answered Athrun. “We’re all good, Athrun. You?”

“Ysak’s annoyed at how long I hesitated but what else is new?”

“Is he okay?” Kira asked behind him.

Athrun heard him and Nicol hooked Kira into the communication network while they waited for air to refill the cock pit. This meant transmissions travelled into the small speakers in his passenger’s helmet rather than relying on the currently nonexistent atmosphere to relay the sound. “I’m fine, Kira, and I’ll see you soon. Don’t worry, we’ve got this planned out and we’ll explain once the battle is over. Just trust Nicol and he’ll keep you safe.”

Nicol twisted slightly so he could reach back to squeeze Kira’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Athrun’s right, we have a plan and it’ll work.” Probably… he turned his attention back to the controls. “But right now, Blitz has to reappear. I’m going to make it look as if I’ve been hiding so I could approach your ship undetected. I’m going to fumble it, of course, but I need a reason to have vanished for so long.”

“O… oh…”

Nicol supposed that Kira was still confused by what had happened. It was not everyday that enemy pilots conspired to kidnap civilians who had been pressed into the military. Nor had he or Athrun give Kira and time to think so of course the other teen was off balance. Nicol decided to explain a little as he approached the legged ship.

“Athrun was sure that you weren’t a part of the enemy.” Well, not after he’d had the chance to think about it. Nicol remembered Athrun’s behaviour after they had retrieved the EA mobile suits and suspected that the other coordinator’s first reaction had been closer to betrayal. Kira was very lucky Athrun did not react the way Ysak or Dearka did.

“He also said that you wouldn’t want to fight for ZAFT.” He took Kira’s silence for confirmation and repeated, “He insisted you wouldn’t want to take sides. You’re first generation, right? It’s understandable that you like naturals, so we’re going to hide you. That’s actually the hardest thing we’ve got to worry about. Bt we’re hoping - oh!”

The natural ship had actually been firing against the Duel but the Blitz was close enough to line of fire that a couple of strays almost found them. Nicol concentrated on avoiding missiles, which seemed to be increasing in numbers. The naturals must be getting desperate without the Strike to protect them. No matter, the fire was heavy enough that Nicol could justify releasing the colloid field so that he could activate Blitz’ phase-shift armour. Having them appear so close to the ship had to have done bad things to the natural captain’s nerves.

“… Squadron, we will take the legged ship, now!”

The commander’s voice came through the speakers in his helmet and Nicol remembered the filter he currently had on the communications he received. “Kira, I have to turn my radio back on. I won’t be able to talk to you anymore and you hint that you’re here.”

Kira remained silent and Nicol hoped that he wasn’t planning on doing anything foolish. He switched the filter that blocked the transmissions of everyone but Commander Le Creuset and the sound of Ysak’s grating voice filled his ears.”

“We have them! Why are you so worried about whether they’ll surrender?”

“There is a possibility-” Athrun tried to reason but was interrupted.

“We have them, Zala! We should take them now, while they’re defenceless! They’ve lost Strike, what can they do?”

“Don’t be so bloodthirsty, Ysak!” Nicol scolded, conscious of Kira behind him who could hear everything that was said.

“Bloodthirsty?!”

Dearka sneered. “Tell that to the people who died on Juunius 7.”

“We will not become the monsters that committed that atrocity!” Athrun snarled. “As you said, we have them. We know it and so must they. We will give them the chance to surrender peacefully!”

“Peacefully?!” Ysak shouted, outraged.”

“Very well, Athrun,” Commander Le Creuset cut the argument off. “We will give them an ultimatum. They will have only one chance.”

“Understood, Sir.”

“You may talk to them, Athrun. They will have two minutes after your statement with which to decide.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Very well, all units cease fire! Until further notice, defend only!”
Nicol smiled. So far, so good!

“Attention, Earth Forces ship! This is Athrun Zala speaking on behalf of the local ZAFT Forces. You are outnumbered and outgunned. Surrender now and you will be treated humanely and with respect. We will observe the Geneva conventions with regards to treatment of prisoners of war. We are aware that there may be civilians of a neutral nation on your ship. They will be expatriated back to Orb as soon as humanly possible. I say again, any civilians citizens of Heliopolis will be sent to Orb. This is not their war and we acknowledge that.

“I repeat, you are outnumbered and surrounded. Surrender now. You have two minutes to decide.”

As soon as Athrun finished speaking, Ysak began ranting on the squadron’s frequency. “What the hell are you thinking, Zala? Let the natural scum go?”

“He said civilians from the colony would be released,” Nicol corrected primly, “They are a neutral nation-”

“They helped the EA build these!” Nicol didn’t need a video link to know Ysak was gesturing at his cockpit.

“And we not only invaded but destroyed a colony of Orb without formally declaring war against them,” Athrun retorted. “We haven’t exactly got the moral high ground here!”

“They started it!”

“What are we? Children?” Athrun yelled back.

“Enough!” Le Creuset snapped at both. “Ysak, silence! Athrun, you have promised-”

“Nothing more than I should have,” Athrun insisted firmly. “I promised we would obey international standards regarding POWs and that we’d let any civilians they might have go.”

“Civilians are unlikely to be aboard a secret prototype, Athrun, you have given them a way of slipping some of their numbers away from our control.”

“It’s possible that military personnel will masquerade as civilians, but if they want us to release them to Orb, they’d better hope that Orb can conjure the appropriate documentation for citizenship. We can get a list from Orb, I’m sure they’ll have made one for the colony residents that aren’t accounted for. They don’t need to know who we’re trying to identify. They can’t exactly conspire with then.”

“It’s risky.”

“Not really. We have the weapons and will have the ship. What can they smuggle with them to Orb that is that dangerous?”

“There are individuals on that ship who are potentially as dangerous as the weapons you stole.”

Considering the commander had spent the better part of the battle playing tag with the Hawk of Endymion, Nicol believed what he heard. However, such individuals were known to ZAFT by face, if not by name. Nicol was about to point that out but Athrun was faster.

“We can watch the dangerous ones. It won’t be too hard, especially if we split them up. We can separate the officers from the bridge crew and the captain from everyone.”

“Separate the ones that can from those that would tell them to?” The commander sounded thoughtful and Nicol had an anxious moment when he though Athrun’s answers were being presented a bit too glibly and practiced.

“Exactly.” If Athrun shared Nicol’s concerns, they did not reveal themselves in his voice. “If we do not make any foolish mistakes, it won’t be a problem. We can handle a group of naturals.”

Nicol had to hand it to his friend. He’d used logic and reason to argue their commander into accepting and then, with seven words, had appealed successfully to Dearka and Ysak’s pride. They’d go along with Athrun now just to prove that naturals could not get the better of them.

“Do not get over confident, Athrun,” Le Creuset warned.

Ysak sneered audibly. “He’s right. Of course, it only really matters if they’re smart enough to realise they don’t stand a chance otherwise.”

“We’ll find out in fifteen seconds,” Dearka commented snidely.

“So we will,’ the commander agreed. “Athrun Zala, you may proceed.”

“Acknowledged.” The frequency shifted again and Athrun’s voice addressed the natural ship again. “Attention, Earth Forces, your time is up. What is your decision?”

For a moment, there as no reply and then a woman’s voice was heard on the channel. “This is Murrue Ramius of the Earth Alliance ship Archangel. We will not surrender.”

Nicol closed his eyes in disappointment and regret. That they would prize their military secrets, ones that were no longer secret at that, over the life of children and civilians only lowered Nicol’s estimation of naturals.

“However, we do have civilian refugees on board. We request permission to jettison their life raft so that it may be collected by one of your ships before we resume battle. The propulsion systems in the rafter are faulty so they will require assistance to leave the battlefield and make it to a port.”

Nicol was not certain what to think. Continuing to fight was foolhardy and the naturals undoubtedly knew that or why else were they asking to send their non-combatants to safety?

On a private channel, Ysak protested. “Do you honestly believe them? No professional soldier would have taken in a civilian life raft in the middle of a war zone, let alone the crew of a ship full of military secrets!”

A professional, no, but a young student almost forcibly nominated to fight certainly would. Nicol decided to point out a more relevant detail. “They’re trying to neutralise one of our ships. If we choose to accept their proposal, the ship that is used will hardly enter the battler afterward, especially not now that we’ve made a point of asking them not to waste lives unnecessarily.” That at least would make his collusion with Athrun less noticeable.

Athrun showed no reaction to Nicol’s opposition other than to continue to argue. “If we do not believe them and later were proved wrong, the outcry will be enormous. Bad enough to destroy Heliopolis, but to then attack the survivors? We would practically be driving Orb into siding with the EA.”

“Like they haven’t already?” Ysak snapped angrily.

“Not officially,” the commander stated and gave an uncharacteristic sigh. “We will accept. We have no other viable choice. Athrun, I’m holding you responsible for this, therefore, you will collect the life raft and ensure its safety until after the battle and then you will remain on guard duty until the refugees are safely back on PLANT.”

“Yessir!”

“That means the legged ship will be dealt with by Duel, Buster and Blitz.”

Dearka and Ysak were enthusiastic, which did not surprise Nicol, but that did not change the fact that he would be attacking an enemy ship with one of its former crew behind him. Nicol dared a glance over his shoulder to find Kira curled as tightly in on himself as possible. That wasn’t a good sign. He switched the comm. off.

“Kira?”

There was no answer.

Nicol twisted in his harness so that he could reach behind him. With difficulty, he caught Kira’s helmet and forced it up so he could see the faceplate. Kira did not resist and, through the thick shield, Nicol could see very white skin around tightly closed eyes. Tears pooled against the inside of the clear plastic.

“Don’t worry, Kira. It’ll be over soon, and you and your friends will be safe. I promise.”

Kira still did not respond and, reluctantly, Nicol let him curl up again. He turned back to Blitz’s controls with firm resolve. The sooner the legged ship, this Archangel, was defeated, the sooner he could Kira into Athrun’s keeping. His friend was correct. The battlefield was no place for this boy.

***

The past few hours did not make much sense for Kira. His head had seemed foggy from the moment he had seen no choice but to do as Athrun had told him and things had only seemed to get worse from there. He had listened as ZAFT, the very forces he had been shooting at, had essentially debated whether or not his friends would live. The battle afterwards was not something he remembered clearly. The pilot of the suit that had picked him up had been heavily involved in the battle, he knew from the way the gundam had moved, but he had, as they had later discovered, been in shock for most of it. He had done nothing while the Archangel had been overcome other than huddle miserably behind Athrun’s friend, Nicol, and hope that it would all be over soon.

At some point, they had probably docked, but Kira hadn’t noticed. If they had, he did not want to know because it would mean that he would be taken prisoner, no matter what Nicol and Athrun had promised.

Something shook him but he only tried to curl up tighter. Kira didn’t want to know if the gundam was still in battle or if he was about to be taken to the brig. He wanted the universe to forget about him.

Something fumbled at the catches of his helmet and that, where even missiles hadn’t, seemed to penetrate the fog. Athrun had told him to wear this suit and he had and the Strike had been destroyed but he had lived because Athrun had told him to just as he had told him to wear a flight suit and now someone was trying to take it off him. He tried to stop them, uncurling and twisting around, but his helmet was insistently removed. For an instant, he was blinded as it was lifted off and then a familiar and much missed face appeared.

Kira froze, forgetting to struggle as Athrun passed his helmet to someone behind him and then Athrun was hugging him, pulling Kira up so that he could be held tighter. The fog in Kira’s thoughts melted away then and he clutched at Athrun as all the terror and emotional turmoil his shock had buffered for him crashed down on him all at once. Kira let Athrun hold him and comfort him as he cried all of his fears into his friend’s red flight suit.

***

Athrun watched the group of teens as they clustered together in the Gamow’s bay while they awaited processing by the ship’s clerk. They were about his age, three boys and two girls, just as Kira had described them. Of course, the most convincing thing was seeing the little robot bird he had built for Kira so long ago on the shoulder of the boy with glasses.

Even as he spotted it, Tori jumped off the boy and soared through the bay, shrilling its signature call. It was headed in his direction and Athrun gave a rueful sigh. Everything he built seemed to have a mind of its own, which would be wonderful if he’d actually intended to create fully capable AIs but these were just supposed to be toys! Tori dived at him and Athrun held a hand, palm up, for it to land on. Three of the natural teens had raced after it, stumbling to a halt as they saw him.

“Hey, give that back!” the girl demanded and the shorter boy pushed in front of her as if to protect her from him. Tolle and Miriallia, Athrun presumed, probably making the third one Sai. His inspection of them seemed to be taken as a refusal and the girl bristled angrily. Athrun saw that her eyes were red and he wondered if it was because she was scared or because she thought her friend had just died. Athrun hoped it was the latter.

“Give Tori back!” she growled, “It’s not yours!”

“It’s not yours either,” Athrun informed her, watching all three carefully. These were, after all, the people that had ultimately been the reason Kira had piloted Strike and a part of him still wondered why.

“You don’t know that,” the taller boy replied as the boy that was probably Tolle held the girl and tried to calm her.

Athrun regarded them neutrally. “Yes I do.”

“How?” the girl demanded loudly.

Athrun winced. He didn’t want to draw too much attention to this exchange but had need to see the people Kira had risked his life for. Quietly, he answered, “I know who I made it for.” The three were surprised which he expected since Kira had never explained it to them.

“You made Tori?!”

Athrun smiled with genuine amusement. Their shock was entertaining. “I attended school on the moon for a number of years. I met the one I made it for there. He was my best friend.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed with rage that, fortunately, made her quieter rather than louder. “You knew? And you shot Strike?! How could you?”

Suddenly, Athrun had seen enough. It did not matter that these were the faces of naturals, the expressions they wore were those of loss and grief. He was as satisfied as he could be that these naturals whom Kira treasured were worth it.

“That is none of your concern!” Athrun wanted to remind them that the Strike had fought him as an enemy and there was no way he could have known Kira was the pilot but that would have been his persistent and stubborn guilt about the entire affair speaking. “I am merely here to tell you that your friend will rejoin you as you board the transport to PLANT.”

“Friend?” They were all confused by the sudden change of topic.

Athrun nodded coolly. “Aa. Alex Dino, of course, what other natural collapsed in that life raft?”

Sai frowned at him. “But-”

“I realise naturals are fragile,” Athrun interrupted blithely, “But the trip was hardly arduous enough that someone should have needed medical treatment for it.” The taller natural stared at him, obviously understanding that something was strange but not picking up one what Athrun was trying to convey at all.

“He always was a cry-baby,” Athrun continued meaningfully, “Maybe he’d feel better with something familiar around him but I can hardly take his toy into a secure area. ZAFT frowns on unknown robots flying around freely.”

Sai’s mouth opened and closed. He swallowed again. “Is… Alex okay?”

Athrun almost smiled at the relief and concern in the natural’s face. “He is scared, which is only to be expected. If he’s quiet and doesn’t draw attention to himself, then I see no reason he won’t be able to rejoin you as you travel to PLANT.”

“Why not sooner?” Sai inquired softly as he motioned for his companions to stay quiet.

“He did create a lot of fuss. I thought it better to keep him out of sight until the last minute. You’re not exactly welcome guests, after all.”

“No,” the natural agreed thoughtfully, “We aren’t. Thank you for taking care of him.”

Athrun had to shrug. “It’s what I do,” he told them as he handed Tori back to the girl. She took it, her expression confused as she tried to puzzle out what her friend had already understood. “A pleasure to talk to you,” he nodded and then turned and walked away from them. He was surprised to realise it was the truth.

***

Nicol watched Kira’s worried face with much amusement. He thought it was very cute of the other coordinator to be so concerned about meeting Athrun’s fiancée. To be truthful, Nicol was also excited about meeting her but that was because she was a musician he admired rather than competition for his beloved’s heart, not that Kira would ever say that. To Nicol’s absolute delight, Kira was just as much fun to tease as Athrun, even more because Kira would never dare to even mock attack him. Athrun had, on the other hand, attempted to throttle Nicol before he had left to meet with Miss Clyne.

“You two are so cute, Kira,” Nicol chuckled.

Kira pouted. “I am not!”

“You’re jealous of his fiancée!” Nicol pointed out.

“I am not!” Kira denied again.

“And it’s only an arrangement made by their parents. You should know you’re his most precious person.”

Kira sputtered incoherently and blushed hotly.

Nicol laughed. “Of course you are. Do you think he would have done so much for just anyone?”

“Athrun… Athrun would-”

“Athrun would what?” a sweet voice that Nicol was familiar with only by way of newscasts asked. Both he and Kira turned to find Athrun standing behind a beautiful girl that Nicol immediately recognised at the famous Lacus Clyne.

“Athrun would walk through fire to save his Kira, of course,” Nicol answered for her and had the pleasure of setting Kira to spluttering again and making Athrun choke as his own cheeks heated.

“Oh?” Lacus’ cheeks dimpled as she smiled sweetly at them. “Athrun has told me of his precious friend but I did not know that I would get to meet him!”

“Precious…” Kira gargled with a mortified expression.

“So this is your Kira, Athrun?” Lacus continued, apparently oblivious to Kira’s danger of immanent combustion.

Athrun coughed. “He’s not mine, Lacus.”

She spun and leaned forward so she was staring into Athrun’s eyes from very close. “Why not?”

“Because Kira doesn’t belong to anyone!” Athrun protested.

“So can I have him?” she requested, stepping back and spinning to examine Kira thoughtfully. Up until that moment, Kira’s blush had been subsiding but, under her close regard, he coloured brilliantly again.

“Athrun looked horrified. “No!”

Nicol couldn’t help himself and began to laugh. Lacus gave a pout and hers was even cuter than Kira’s. Nicol thought she was wonderful. Athrun sighed and locked the door behind him.

“Lacus, as you’ve guessed, that’s my friend Kira Yamato. The clown on the chair next to him is another friend, Nicol Armarfi.”

“Ah! It’s a pleasure to meet you both!” She dimpled at them and Nicol had to smile back.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Lacus,” Kira said quietly and Nicol was even more amused at the way Athrun guided Lacus to the single free chair in the room and then sat next to Kira rather than taking the empty bed. The two of them didn’t touch but leaned towards each other so that they might as well have.

“So, Athrun, you hinted that you wanted my help. For Kira I presume?”

“Aa,” Athrun admitted. “Technically, he’s Alex Dino, a natural that didn’t take the transfer from the legged ship to the Gamow very well and who I’ve been nursing over the last few days.”

“Technically?” Lacus Clyne looked innocent and sweet and sounded even more so but Nicol saw that she was neither dumb nor a fool.

“Truthfully, Kira is a coordinator from Orb’s colony of Heliopolis who, through events he had no control over, ended up piloting one of the naturals’ mobile suits weapons to protect a natural military ship,” Nicol explained with a wry smile.

“Oh my.” Miss Lacus glanced at Kira who refused to look up from his knees. Athrun dared to bridge the space between them by putting his arm around Kira’s shoulders and pulling the other teen closer for a hug.

See the other two weren’t going to finish, Nicol continued. “Athrun met him by accident during the initial attack and, through and amazingly accurate path of logic considering they hadn’t seen or heard from each other in years, deduced the chain of events that had ended in Kira piloting against his wishes and almost against his will.”

“Oh my!” She left her chair and knelt at Kira’s feet so that Kira couldn’t escape her sympathetic gaze. “You must have been very frightened.”

Nicol saw the moment Kira’s big lavender eyes met Miss Lacus’ big blue ones and so could swear he saw the moment the connection between them was made. They were kindred souls, pure and innocent and destined to be friends for life and Kira had been so worried about meeting her. Poor Athrun didn’t stand a chance against the two of them!

“My friends helped me and then Athrun rescued me. I am very luck to have such good friends to look after me.”

“Athrun is a very good friend,” Miss Lacus agreed with an impish glance at Athrun who had released his Kira and was resolutely looking away.

“Yes, he is,” Kira agreed devoutly, his own gaze moving to Athrun whose cheeks were flushing again at the weight of their eyes.

Nicol muffled a giggle and Athrun glared at him before blushing and looking away again. Nicol took pity on him and returned them to the topic. “As wonderful as Athrun might be,” and Athrun’s expression promised him much pain later, “We do require your aid, Miss Lacus.”

“Of course I will do anything I can to help.”

“We’ve essentially smuggled Kira onboard,” Nicol admitted, “So he can avoid the consequences of piloting Strike.”

Athrun nodded and stood so that he could pace. Miss Lacus took his place at Kira’s side immediately, the two instantly comfortable together.

“His natural friends know he’s alive and to use the name Alex Dino in regards to him as well as the story about why he’s not with them.”

“That he took ill during the transfer ship, correct?” Miss Lacus recalled.

“Exactly,” Athrun nodded, “I doctored the list of names to include his but we thought it best he still play ‘least in sight’ for the moment.”

Nicol winced and sighed. “Athrun doesn’t trust our fellow pilots or our commander with his precious Kira.”

Lacus and Kira both stared at Athrun in surprise. “Athrun?”

Athrun looked obstinate. “Not with Kira.”

Lacus expression became very shrewd and thoughtful for a moment while Kira was surprised and self-conscious. Nicol wondered what conclusions Miss Lacus was coming to, though.

“Anyway, that means everyone thinks Strike’s pilot is dead but his friends won’t be shocked when he turns out not to be and rejoins them.”

“That still leaves us with the problem of his identity,” Athrun pointed out and paced. “To be released back to Orb, they’ll need to confirm his civilian citizenship but Alex Dino doesn’t exist so they can’t do that for him.”

“You would like for me to arrange for false papers?” Miss Lacus guessed.

Athrun stopped pacing and looked at her. “Or slip word into the appropriate ears of the delicacy of the situation so they’ll claim him officially, knowing that Alex Dino is not his name. I want Kira safe in Orb, with or without their government’s knowledge, whichever you think is better. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need for him to be safe!”

“Athrun…” Kira stood up and stared at Athrun helplessly.

Athrun reached over to cup Kira’s cheek. “I don’t want you to be hurt, Kira.”

“Athrun…”

“Will they kiss now?” Miss Lacus whispered loudly to Nicol.

Nicol snickered as the two boys jumped apart. “They haven’t yet but maybe they do when I’m not around to see it.”

“Nicol!” Athrun growled.

“Miss Lacus!” Kira exclaimed.

“It’s not like that!” Athrun insisted.

“He’s just precious to you,” Nicol teased.

Athrun glared. “You are going to meet a very bloody end, Armarfi, and I will watch!”

Lacus laughed and Nicol tried to snigger inconspicuously. He did want to live.

“Of course I’ll help, Athrun, Kira,” Miss Lacus assured them breathlessly, “You are all my precious friends, after all.”

***

Kira was very nervous as he walked between Athrun and Nicol towards the bay in which the shuttle that would take him to Lacus Clyne’s ship waited. Half of the refugees had already been ferried across but Athrun assured him that his friends had waited to go on the second trip with him.

The two pilots had already said their goodbyes to him in the privacy of Athrun’s quarters. Kira could still feel the warmth of Athrun’s lips against his cheek and blushed anew at the thought. His hand crept into Athrun’s and was squeezed reassuringly before it was released again. They stopped at the door to the bay and Nicol smiled confidently at him as it opened. Then both Athrun and Nicol’s faces became serious and mask-like as they escorted him past more ZAFT personnel and towards the transport.

As he stepped out of the shadows and into the open, he saw Lacus standing near some higher ranked officers, including a blond in a mask who intimidated Kira immediately. He faltered but then the familiar cry of ‘tori tori’ filled the bay and he forgot about everything but the robotic bird winging towards him and the friends who had just spotted him.

Tori had barely landed on his head when Miriallia yelled, “Alex!” She had almost started to say his real name but Kira couldn’t care, he was too happy to see them all safe. Nicol gave him a subtle push and, with a last glance at Athrun for confirmation, he broke away from his two friends and return to the others.

“Miri! Tolle!”

Tori took off again, shrieking, “Tori, tori!” and his friends all ran to him with cries of “Alex!” Then he was amongst them, Mirallia, Tolle, Sai and even Tuzzey, though Fllay was absent, and being hugged fiercely.

“We’re so glad you’re okay,” Miri whispered quietly.

Tolle nodded and squeezed even tighter for a moment, making Kira gasp. “We were very worried. When we thought you… we are so glad it’s not true!”

Kira hugged back. “It’s okay, I’m fine. Everything’s going to be all right now.”

“We’re not going to let go of you though,” Miriallia insisted and Kira only stayed upright with Tolle and Sai’s support as she attached herself to his back, her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

“Well some of us, anyway,” Tuzzey laughed while Kira staggered as he adjusted to the extra weight.

“What’s that about Athrun?”

Kira twisted to see the masked blond addressing Athrun. His friend saluted. “We were just escorting the natural Alex Dino back to rejoin the remaining refugees.”

“Why was he not with them in the first place?”

Athrun remained relaxed and at ease. “He was ill when he arrived. I separated him from the others in case it was contagious but it turned out that his stomach did not like travelling. It can only be expected when we’re dealing with naturals. Watch out, though, Lacus, it could happen again and it is not pleasant.”

“I’m sure it will be fine, Athrun. I’ll take good care of him for you.”

“Thank you, Lacus.”

“Come on, K-Alex,” Tolle murmured, distracting Kira, “We should board now.”

Kira was pulled along by his friends, Tori landing on his shoulder. He twisted and caught another fragment of exchange between Athrun and his superior.

“… not mean for you to play nursemaid, Athrun!”

“It was my responsibility, Sir.”

Then he was entering the shuttle and could not hear any more. Tolle had to pry Miriallia off his back and Kira ended up sandwiched between the two. He leaned over Tolle to see if he could spot Athrun through the window but they were out of sight and he moved back, disappointed.

“Are you okay, Kira?” Tolle asked in a whisper, Miriallia listening anxiously.

“Kira gave a last, sad, look at the window and then shook off his sorrow. He would see Athrun again and next time they would not be caught on opposite sides of the war.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he reassured his friends.

“So what happens now?” Miri wondered.

That much, at last, Kira knew. “We’ll stay on Lacus’ ship until after the memorial service at Juunius 7, that’s where she was headed before she detoured to puck us up,” he told them. “Then she’ll take us to PLANT which will then arrange for us to be sent to Orb.”

“So we’re going home then,” Tuzzey said in relief, overhearing.

Kira frowned, confused. “Weren’t you told already?”

Tuzzey nodded. “Yeah, but we couldn’t exactly trust them. They wouldn’t lie to you, would they? Or he wouldn’t, the one that helped you, your friend, would he?”

Kira shook his head, already missing Athrun.

“So why did you leave Archangel?” Miri asked archly, seeing Kira’s discomfit.

Tuzzey shifted. “It was a chance and I didn’t think Archangel had one.”

They were all silent, thinking about the sunken Archangel and her lost crew. Kira looked at his friends, profoundly grateful they were safe and alive even as he mourned the captain the lieutenant and the rest of the crew. He couldn’t bring himself to want to change things, though, though he did regret that they had not been different. He would not trade his friends’ lives for anything. He had already fought and killed for them, going so far as to attack his best friend. He never wanted to do that again.

He would go with his friends to Orb and they would rejoin their families there. They would enjoy the peace of their nation and, if necessary, he would work to keep their neutrality, though he would never pilot again. He was smart, he could keep his nation safe and, when the war was over, Athrun would come for him and Kira would introduce his friends to his best friend.

He looked up as Lacus entered the shuttle. She smiled at him as she took her seat and he smiled back. Then the hatch locked and the shuttle left the Garnow and Athrun behind them.