The Freedom of Destiny

A/N: I gave up on working on phase twenty and instead decided to work on this phase because I felt like it! Neyah! I'm a crazy fangirl! Fear me! But anyways, I was debating whether or not to put a second lemon in this story. The first one is in Phase 4: Behind the Veil, and I'm debating whether or not to put one more in. What do you guys think? Oh wait, maybe I should wait and ASK once I get to the point where I'm thinking of placing it. But here's the thing, for anyone who wants to know, this story WILL have a sequel. I'm already planning it out. I've already got this story planned out, so I will start to work on the sequel once I have finished this one.

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam SEED Destiny, only own Harmony and plot. That's it.

Dedication: This fanfic is dedicated to one of my closest friends, Kate. Thanks for the inspiration and all the times that you've been there for me. This story is for you.

Phase 2: Meetings of Faith

We need to meet. War memorial. ASAP.

Shinn's mind flickered back once more to the text message that Harmony had sent him. It was extremely early in the morning, he hadn't expected Harmony to contact him only a mere week after their first meeting, in fact, he hadn't thought he'd be able to see either her or Kira before he left Orb.

~*~

Stepping off of the shuttle, Athrun Zala looked around, spotting the middle-aged man that was swiftly approaching him. Assuming that this man was his guide, Athrun turned to meet him.

“I know you've come a long way, but I'm not sure that the chairman will be able to meet with you right away. After all, another war has just been announced,” the man explained, he led Athrun along the corridors that Athrun knew so well. They arrived in a small lounge. “Please wait here.”

Athrun nodded, “Thank you.”

~*~

The memorial was exactly as he'd remembered it being. Harmony and Kira stood there waiting for him; Kira was looking out towards the ocean while Harmony was watching out for Shinn. When she spotted him, she called out, “Shinn-san!” And ran over, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

She released him, Kira came up behind her. Shinn noticed that there was a sharpness to the sorrow in Kira's eyes, while Harmony's just looked panicked, “I'm sorry that I had to contact you at such short notice; but we've recently heard that Orb intends to join the Earth Alliance!”

“What?!”

Kira looked up to him, amethyst and garnet met, “The Seiran family is pushing for the alliance; they've been known to side with the Earth Alliance on many issues. They're most then sympathetic to their cause; I believe they support it.”

“Cagalli-san is obviously trying her best to stop the alliance! I'm sure of it!” Harmony assured, she turned to Shinn. “What we are about to tell you Shinn-san cannot be revealed to anyone else. We're trusting you with our secrets.”

“What...? Harmony I-”

“There really isn't much time Shinn-san! Waltfeld-san will be sending a message to the Minerva to inform of this move and advise them to leave Orb! It's-”

“You mean Andrew Waltfeld, the Desert Tiger?”

She gave a wane smile, Kira kept his eyes on Shinn, “You did your research.”

“Harmony-san, you mentioned a Ramius-san, and-”

“Kanchou of the Archangel,” she held his arm. “We won't be in Orb for much longer either Shinn-san. We're going to leave once the treaty has been finalized. The Archangel is leaving Orb.”

“What? The Archangel?” Of course Shinn had heard of the battleship; anyone in the military could tell you about it and it's connections to one of the most famous mobile suits of all time, the Freedom.

“Here, let's go sit down.” She led them over to a bench. Harmony tugged Shinn down to sit beside her, while Kira stood to the side of Shinn. “It's the truth. We really are members of the Archangel's crew. We're both pilots; I pilot a customized Murasame, while Kira-san pilots-”

“The Freedom.”

Shinn couldn't help the look of shock that spread across his face. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped; Kira was the pilot of the Freedom?! The name of the pilot had never been known, although he assumed that the higher ranking officials in Zaft were aware of the pilot's identity.

Immediately, Harmony was trying to alleviate his fears, “If we ever meet in battle, I can promise that neither of us will do you harm. Kira-san likes you Shinn-san,” here Shinn blushed and looked at his hands at the implications, “And I do as well. You're like the little brother I never had; and I don't want to see this war hurt you. I want to protect you Shinn-san.”

Kira came over and placed a hand on Harmony's shoulder, “Harmony, why don't you go and wait? I'd like to talk to Shinn alone.”

She nodded, and stood up, casting a curious glance back at them as she walked away. Kira took her vacated seat. For several long minutes, they just starred out at the sunrise as the light spread across the ocean.

“If Lacus were here, she'd lament over how the flowers will drown...” Kira mentioned. “But even if they do drown, new ones will sprout up to take their place.”

“I... I guess... yeah. Wait, you said Lacus? Isn't she in the PLANTs?”

Kira looked to him, a look of surprise on his face, “Lacus lives here, in Orb. We both have since the war ended two years ago. We're staying with Murrue-san and Andrew-san.”

A faint stab of jealousy came at Shinn, he tried to ignore it, “Well, there's a Lacus Clyne up in the PLANTs; she's been helping the chairman with calming the people down...”

“That bastard.”

Astounded, Shinn turned his head to look at Kira. His face was slightly dark, and a frown had creased his attractive features; Shinn had to stop his scrutiny when his blush became to much for him, and averted his eyes. Unfortunately, Kira had noticed.

Crossing his arms, Kira chanced a glance at Shinn, “I spoke to Athrun before he left for the PLANTs. He's confused, just like he was before. With everyone hiding their motives, I'm not surprised that some people would be confused about what they should be fighting for.

“I still believe what I always have; that the fighting can be resolved through diplomatic means... but that's not always possible when one side only craves for war and the destruction of the other.”

“You know Athrun?”

“We've been friends since we were little.”

Once again, that jealous stab came back with a vengeance. Shinn ground his teeth in annoyance, but continued on, “He was on board the Minerva with the representative. I met him there.”

“Cagalli?”

“Yeah...”

Kira looked back at his hands, “She's been having difficulties ever since her father's death. It's not easy to lead a country when you're only eighteen.”

“You know her?”

“We fought together in the last war; eventually, it came out that we're related... she's my sister.” Shinn's stomach practically dropped out at that statement. He gaped at the older Coordinator, a faint blush still evident on his cheeks. “Her mindset right now is troubling me, I don't think she'll be able to stop the alliance.”

Shinn looked away. He tried to sort through his tumultuous feelings. As he was so engrossed in sorting through them, he didn't notice the odd look that Kira was giving him when he failed to respond to his next statement.

“It's probably Yuna, I know that she'd normally seek Athrun's advise, the guy is a leader by heart; but he's gone now. I think he's most likely going to rejoin Zaft. Although, now that I know there's another Lacus, I'm not sure that I can trust the chairman. Shinn, what do you make of the chairman?”

No response. Kira watched his companion who was obviously deep in thought. Scrutinizing his eyes, Kira noticed how the emotions kept flickering through them. Although he wasn't sure of some of them; he was able to piece together a suspicion of what was going through Shinn's head. Gently, he reached out to touch his cheek. When the younger Coordinator didn't jerk away from the touch, part of his suspicion was confirmed. Determined to find out the full truth, Kira rubbed Shinn's cheek with his thumb; the garnet-eyed teen blushed.

“Listen Shinn, I want to know if you trust me.”

He looked up and their eyes locked again, Kira's eyes were sincere. Shinn found himself quickly becoming lost in the violet pools, but rallied himself to piece together a response, “I... I trust you Kira. I trust you.”

“I'll be honest with you Shinn; Lacus and I have no romantic relationship. At one point, I was interested in her; but those feelings... I guess I just felt lonely after Fllay died,” his other hand came up so that he could cup Shinn's face in both his hands. Shinn clung to every word, his hopes steadily rising. “But she supported me, and we became close friends.”

He took a deep breath, “I know that we've only known each other for a short amount of time, Shinn; and that we might never meet again. But... I think that... no, I know that I love you.”

Shocked by the confession, Shinn wanted to add his own; but was silenced when Kira's lips descended upon his. The kiss was soft and sweet, but Shinn swore he could feel suppressed passion. Before anything could happen, Kira pulled away.

Slowly drifting back to himself, Shinn reached up slowly to touch his lips and looked back up at Kira. The older Coordinator was truly handsome, the early morning sunlight reflecting off his brown hair, and his violet eyes looked incredibly deep and understanding; lips were kissable soft he recalled and his skin looked smooth. Shinn reached up tentatively to touch his face. His hand cupped his cheek, Kira nuzzled the hand gently.

“I... I love you too Kira.”

He leaned up to steal another kiss, this one more passionate then the last.

~*~

Athrun let out a sigh, he'd been waiting for a while now. Approaching the TV, which was reporting the weather in Aprius, he wondered, If the passwords haven't been changed, I should be able to find out what's going on.

Typing the appropriate sequence in, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the passwords hadn't been changed. A voice reported, “Earth Alliance forces have just breached area three!”

Starting off with a bang I see.

“We have another enemy approaching from polar orbit! Confirmed two parties of nuclear missiles!”

What?! Nuclear missiles?! No!

Athrun stumbled backwards, he heard Yzak's voice shut over the chaos, “Head back! We can't let them hit the PLANTs!”

The door to his left opened, the last thing that Athrun heard over the communication was, “Neutron Stampeder exposed.”

Closing his eyes, Athrun entered the hallway beyond. A red Haro bounced over to him, “What?! Haro, why are-”

“Athrun!”

“Lacus?!” he found himself nearly knocked off his feet when she collided with him. When she pulled back, he noted that she definitely was not Lacus. Lacus, for one, would never wear what she was wearing.

“I've been waiting for you to arrive!” she gushed with a bright smile.

“Hello Alex,” a new voice greeted. Athrun recognized it as the chairman's.

“Chairman Durandul,” he greeted politely. “Who is she?” he indicated the Lacus look-a-like behind him who was giggling. He had the odd feeling that she was ogling his butt.

“Ah, shall we step into my office?” the chairman requested. Athrun nodded and followed him into his office, where he was seated on a couch. He was vaguely surprised at the changes that Durandul had made to it since Patrick Zala had inhabited it. Durandul took a seat across from him, a glass coffee table with a chess set on it between the couches.

“I'm sorry about the long wait,” Durandul began. “But I've been rather busy lately.”

“I saw the news.”

Durandul's eyebrows raised slightly, “Well... then I expect this meeting to be brief.”

“The Earth forces launch a nuclear attack almost immediately after declaring another war. What does Zaft, I mean the chairman, intend to do about this?” Athrun asked.

Durandul frowned and took a sip of his tea, “For now, they've retreated to the moon. This is just the beginning.” He sighed, “I'm under pressure to strike back, but if I cave into the people's desires, we can be certain of another full scale conflict, which I would rather like to avoid if at all possible.”

Athrun was vaguely aware of a news report happening in the background, the chairman had left his screen on.

“However,” Durandul continued. “The nuclear assault was halted by the Neutron Stampeder. Although, I suppose it is only a matter of time until they decide to strike again.”

“We interrupt this news report for a special announcement,” the woman on screen was saying. Athrun turned his attention to it.

The girl from before was suddenly on screen, she announced loud and clear, “This is Lacus Clyne. Please listen to me!”

Athrun was stunned. He stared as she continued her speech, “The events of Junius Seven and the declaration of war by the Earth Alliance are both troubling events. We must calm down before ordering for any action; if we let ourselves be controlled by our anger, we will only have another war!

“The Supreme Council is doing their best to find a solution to this catastrophe. I beseech you all to support the council and chairman Durandul during this difficult time.”

Durandul had stood up and walked over to a door during this time, “You can laugh if you want. Her name is Meer Campbell; that's my Lacus Clyne.”

“What...?”

“It may be a dirty trick, but I am in need of her power,” Durandul said. “I am also in need of yours. Follow me please.”

Athrun fell into step behind the chairman. Eventually they came into a hangar, where the chairman stopped. The lights came on, revealing a mobile suit.

“This is...!”

“ZGMF-X23 Savior,” Durandul responded. “While it's capabilities may differ, it was developed along with those three stolen machines.” He paused and turned to look at Athrun, “This is for you.”

Athrun was stunned, his response was, “You want me to return to the battlefield.”

“This is your choice; you can give me your answer at any time. Until you come to your decision, I'll have security sent to your hotel as body guards.”

“Thank you chairman.”

~*~

Meer rushed over to greet him once again when he exited into the lobby. She latched herself onto his arm and whispered, “I'm Meer, but when we're in public like this please call me Lacus!”

“Uhh...”

“Why don't you two go have dinner? I'm sure that will give you two time to talk,” Durandul instructed with a smile. Meer beamed back before dragging Athrun off with giving him time to respond.

The two were seated a secluded table that looked out over the city. Athrun gazed out for a few minutes before turning his attention back to Meer.

“Well? What did you think of my performance? Was I good? Did I look just like her? How did I sound?” Meer gushed out. When Athrun didn't respond for several long minutes, her face feel, and her voice got small and depressed, “Was I really that bad...?”

Athrun rushed to correct her, “No no! You were quite good! I couldn't tell the difference!” The last past was a bit of a lie, but he didn't feel like being completely honest with Meer about it.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you were just like her...” he looked up to finally meet her eyes. “How did you come to start doing this Meer?”

She looked serious, maybe a little sad, when she began, “They came one day when they heard how much I sounded like Lacus-san. They said that the chairman needed my help. I was so happy to be able to help!” she looked downright depressed now, “As Meer, I can't help anyone, but as Lacus-san, I can help lots of people. I wanted to help,” she smiled and gave a little shrug, “Even if it's just for the time being, I'm game.”

Athrun didn't respond, but looked out the window. Meer watched his moves closely, then spoke up, “I know this might be surprising, but your engagement to Lacus-san was never formally broken. People don't know about it; so outside this room we have to pretend that I'm still your finance.”

“... I guess...”

“I really hope that we can be friends, Athrun,” she added. “I don't have romantic interest in you; I met someone before that I hope to one day settle down with.”

This information surprised Athrun, “You-you have?”

“Yes! He's really nice! Promise not to tell the chairman? He wouldn't approve of it, and if it got out it could ruin me and him as well...”

Athrun gave her a reassuring smile, “Your secret's safe with me.” Meer beamed back at him before returning to her menu.

“Thank you Athrun; I'm sure that you'd like him too.”

~*~

Athrun sighed. He had only met with the chairman earlier that day, but the discussion and his thoughts on the whole matter continued to echo around in his head. He gazed absent-absentmindedly out his window. The dinner he'd been forced to go on with Meer had been a little unsettling and tiring. He thought about going to visit everyone's graves. Yeah, he'd like to do that...

There was a knock at his door. Expecting it to be the security that Durandul had sent checking in, Athrun opened the door. He was shocked to find Yzak and Dearka standing there, both in casual clothes.

“We got pulled from the front lines just so we could babysit you,” Yzak told him snappishly.

“Yzak! Dearka!”

“So what brings you back here?” Dearka asked, defusing what could've become a rather loud and volatile argument.

“I came to meet with the chairman. And I was actually planning to go out right now.” He stepped out past them, both turned.

“You are NOT dragging me shopping Zala!”

Athrun rolled his eyes, Yzak hadn't changed much.

Later saw the three comrades in a car, Athrun in the back with three bouquets of flowers on his lap. The group headed out for the cemetery.

Once they'd paid their respects to Athrun's mother and Rusty, the trio stopped in front of Nicol's grave. Athrun placed the last bouquet upon it and saluted, as did Yzak and Dearka.

“I should've been executed,” Yzak stated. “If the chairman hadn't stepped in, I would be just like them; tried as a war criminal.”

“Yzak...”

“You have the power to make a difference Athrun. Why not use that power? Just don't go stealing my authority!”

Dearka shot Athrun a sympathetic look. Athrun shrugged his shoulders in response; he was half-right. Yzak had matured, but he was still the same in some areas.

As Athrun settled down into bed later that night, he found that he'd finally come to a decision.

~*~

Be happy! I finally finished phase two at around one thirty in the morning. The reason this phase took me so long to write was because I wasn't sure of what I wanted everyone to say and what exactly I wanted to put in it. I actually had to edit parts of it because I wanted to build on Meer's character (both she and Lacus are my favorite female characters; including Stellar); and I thought that it would be an interesting scene to write.

Parts of this chapter I had to reference to my Gundam SEED Destiny manga (and I don't mean The Edge, I don't own that, wish I did though); and others were referenced directly from the show.

And as well, no complaining about my time line. I know that love normally takes longer to form, but Shinn's leaving Orb soon, and there is such thing as 'love at first sight', I've experianced it myself. And no complaining about the length of time the Minerva was in Orb. The damage would take time to repair, so I estimated on it, and decided the briefest time I could afford was a week.

Once again, I have no idea when phase three will be finished. But I have finished phases eighteen, twenty-one and twenty-two. I'll probably work some more on this story tomorrow, as it's REALLY late right now. Please read and review! It helps keep me wanting to continue this story. And look! This chapter is really long!

Night.

Kat.