The Freedom of Destiny

A/N: Well, I finally did finish up and publish the second phase. Now I'm down to working on the third phase; surprisingly, I'm now trying to work on these phases in order so I can publish them more quickly and so that you guys can get a look at them. I hope that you guys are happy with the lengths of the chapters. Please give me more reviews... I live for them. They make my day.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED Destiny; I only own Harmony and the plot. That's it, so no suing me.
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 3: A Soldier's Resolve

Lunamaria stalked along the corridors of the Minerva towards the cafeteria, hoping to corner Shinn there. The Impulse's pilot had been acting strange ever since he'd returned from their first excersion into Orb. Determined to get to the bottom of the issue, she had tried to enlist Rey and Meyrin in her endeavor, but both had declined and scurried off (in Meyrin's case).

Shinn was poking at his food, a faraway look in his eyes. He didn't even notice when Luna plopped down across from him with her tray.

“Shhhiiiinnnn...” she called softly, waving her hand in front of his it.

“Ah! Oh, it's just you Luna,” he muttered, returning to his food, which he continued to poke at; occaisonally taking a bite. Luna pouted, he wasn't going to get out of this that easily!

“Listen Shinn,” Luna cut straight to the chase. “What's wrong with you? You've been acting funny ever since we left Orb. And you still haven't given Gladys kanchou a reason for why you were so late that night!”

Shinn, realizing that Luna wouldn't stop until she got a satisfactory answer. Quickly putting a lie together, “I... I ran into an old family friend in Orb.”

“I didn't know you had any friends in Orb...”

“She's an eldery woman... she brought her daughter to the monument,” Shinn lied fluently. “But they insisted on catching up so...” he turned a little pink; apparently Luna took this the wrong way.

She gave him a knowing smirk, “Ohh... I see, you like the daughter. What's her name? Is she pretty? Is she nice? Are we going to get to meet her?”

Fed up with the probing, Shinn stood up suddenly, slamming his fists on the table, “I don't! And it's none of your business!” All eyes were on the angry pilot as he stormed out of the cafeteria; leaving a stunned and slightly hurt Luna behind.

Shinn walked right by the shooting range, Rey was there, which meant that their room was empty. Heading straight there, Shinn opened the door. He wondered whether or not Harmony and Kira would risk contacting him. Mayu's cell phone, which he'd adopted as his own, he flicked it open; surprised that he had several messages.

“Hey Shinn! It's Harmony! I hope you're doing okay, I heard about what happened with that ambush. I know you probably won't believe this, but Cagalli's really sorry about it. Anyways, we're doing fine; I hope you get this message soon! Call me back soon so we can catch up!”

The beep indicated that the message ended. Shinn pulled it away from his ear for a moment; lounging back on his bed, he mused over the message. 'Cagalli's really sorry...' He had to force himself to quell the rising anger at that, but then the revelation of her being Kira's sister, dulled it. Shaking his head, he'd prefer an apology in person, but this would do for now.

“Shinn? I hope you get this message and call back. Listen, I'm really sorry if I rushed you at Orb; but since you were leaving so soon, I just thought... that it might be best if I did express how I felt about you.

“Aside from that, the situation here in Orb has gone downhill. I'm glad Andrew-san managed to warn you guys in time. If you have anything that you want to talk about, you can call me. Just leave a message if I don't answer. Love you.”

Shinn gave a small smile at the message, he hit save, and wondered about the messages. Deciding he'd call Kira, then if Harmony wanted to talk to him, she could use Kira's phone. Using the speed dial shortcut he set up for it, the ring tone echoed in his ear.

“Kira Yamato here.”

“Kira?”

“Shinn! You got my message?”

“Yeah, and there's no need for you to apologize; I'm actually really glad that you told me. If you hadn't... I would be spending my time wondering how you felt about me... and maybe I would've made some bad choices. But thanks Kira.”

“I'm glad Shinn. You're doing well?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. We had a scuffle with the Earth Alliance, but we managed to get out of it.”

“I heard. You're an excellant pilot, Shinn. The Orb military's been talking about you and the Impulse. Most don't know who you are as the pilot, but they talk about you indirectly.”

“Oh. What about you? How are you doing?”

“Right now? The Seiran's are searching out any Coordinators who might pose a threat to their regime and their treaty with the Earth Alliance. I'm hiding now; I might have to leave Orb, but...”

“What? What happened Kira?!”

“Well... I wouldn't trust Durandul if I were you. Just after you left, Coordinators from the special forces division of Zaft... they were after Lacus. They even had their mobile suits; the only way I could stop them was by piloting the Freedom.”

“Kira...”

“I shouldn't dull you with the details; needless to say, it's more then likely that we'll meet again on the battlefield. Shinn I... I won't hurt you. At the very least, I won't hurt you... in fact, I'll try to avoid fighting you... if I must, I'll just disarm your mobile suit.”

“I... I understand Kira... I don't want to hurt you either. You're really all that I have left.”

“Harmony wants to talk to you; I love you Shinn.”

“I love you too Kira.”

“Oh my god! Hi Shinn!”

He smiled, “Hey Harmony.”

“I'm so glad that you're alright! I mean, I knew that you'd be alright; but that didn't stop me from worrying! You're stationed on the Minerva? Sure, I figured that out. But you could've told us that! What, you on't trust us?”

“N-no! I trust you two! I just... I just never thought... you never asked...”

“I'm just kidding Shinn! Soo... you and Kira, huh?”

“How did you-?!”

“You two picked a lovely place to have a little battle of the tongues, I could see you two from where I was waiting! Now that, was the hottest thing I've ever seen!”

“You... you don't have anything against it?”

“Naw! I saw that coming! I mean, the way you two would keep sending each other those looks I could just tell that it was a matter of time before you two made a move on each other! I just had too, give you guys a little helpful nudge! Plus, I'd already figured out by then that you were stationed on board the Minerva so... you guys didn't have a lot of time.

“Yeah, yeah; I know I meddled! But I don't like seeing people be unhappy, and who knew when you two would see each other again? So I... I just felt that I had too...”

“So you arranged that meeting?”

“Duh, Kira would never do it; so I took matters into my own hands. That meeting was not only for the truth to come out, but also so you two could come to terms with your feelings for each other.”

“Well, thanks Harmony. I guess I owe you one.”

“That's okay! So where are you guys headed now? Or is that classified?”

“Diokia.”

“I see... listen Shinn, Kira's probably already warned you, but be careful around Durandul. If anything happens, call one of us immediately; preferably Kira first. Oh! I have to go Shinn! Meeting! I'll talk to you later! Bye!”

She hung up; and Shinn snapped his phone shut. Smiling, he rolled over onto his side and curled up. He wanted this war to end... he wanted it to end so badly. He wanted it to end so that he could be with Kira.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

~*~

The Minerva stopped to resupply and rest at Carpentaria. The crew members had been allowed to wander around the base until the resupplying was completed. Shinn was wondering around the dock that the Minerva was docked at, when he saw a red shuttle-like mobile suit heading towards the Minerva.

Racing to the hangar to see what it was about, Shinn skidded into the hangar of the Minerva, calling out to Luna, “Did a new mobile suit land?!”

“Shinn...”

He spotted the pilot, and his eyes widened and jaw nearly dropped. It was Athrun Zala. Shinn would've blurted out a greeting, or something indicating that he knew about him; but he stopped himself. Instead, he noticed the Faith insignia on Athrun's pilot suit. Curious, but holding his tongue, Shinn managed a salute.

Luna gave him a funny look, but otherwise ignored him. Athrun returned their salute, before asking, “Could you tell me where the kanchou is?”

“She's in her office I believe, sir,” Luna responded. Athrun nodded before he turned to find Talia, briefcase in hand. Luna immediately turned on Shinn, “You were going to say something crude to him weren't you?!”

“N-no!” Shinn managed to stutter back. Luna could be downright scary when mad. “Luna I-”

“Don't say anything that could jeoprodize your career Shinn! Athrun-san is a member of Faith! He's higher-ranked then us, and a far-better pilot and marksmen! Remember that Shinn before you go picking any fights with him!”

Shinn glared at his friend, “Yeah, yeah... whatever you say Luna. You're only so defensive of him because you like him!”

Luna blushed before storming away from Shinn to her own room, or somewhere where he wasn't. Shinn shrugged before going to find something to occupy the time until they departed for Diokia.

~*~

“We need information,” Cagalli was saying. “And to do that, we're going to have to make a move. Where's the nearest Zaft base?”

Harmony looked up, “That would be Carpentaria; but there's no way we'd be able to enter there without them finding out about Lacus. Besides Carpentaria, the closest base would be the one at Diokia.”

“Diokia?”

“There's a town there,” Lacus added. “It would be much easier to slip into the town from there and see if we can gather any information from there. Of course, we'd have to have the Archangel land somewhere where it would be hidden.”

“But I doubt that Lacus could easily enter the town without being recognized,” Kira told them. “Having Cagalli go would also be risky, but not as risky as Lacus going.”

Murrue frowned, “So are we heading to Diokia?”

“Definitely,” Cagalli answered. “But who should we send?”

“If... if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to go,” Harmony whispered. “There's... an old labratory near Diokia that I'd like to investigate...”

Kira placed his hand on her shoulder, “I'll go with Harmony to make sure that she's safe. Is that alright Cagalli? Lacus?”

The two women nodded. Harmony smiled, “Should we stay the night there? I'd like to go to the labratory, but we should gather information first. So, we could gather information the first day and then head out to the labratory the next day.”

Lacus worried her lower lip with her teeth, “I don't know... I'd be worried about you two spending too long in Zaft inhabited territory...”

“Don't worry, Lacus-san; Kira-san and I will be fine,” Harmony reassured. “We'll be careful.”

“Alright then.”

“Set course for Diokia!” Murrue ordered the bridge.

~*~

Ugh, this phase took longer then I would've liked; but I finished it. I have to admit, however, that I don't like this phase as much as I liked the last two phases, but I'll deal with it. Now, however, I get to FINALLY work on the phase that I have been super excited to work on!

To make everyone who is reading this happy, next phase be a lemon. So let's all do a happy dance for the marvels of smut. I've been looking forward to writing this phase for a while now, but I have a few kinks to work out as well. I also have to edit and rewrite parts of phase twenty-one.

So thank you and please leave a review.

Kat.