A Gundam SeeD Fanfic: A moment together

Written by Spiritblade

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SeeD. But, then, you already know that. This is another Kira-Murrue pairing, set in the days after the attack on the Earth Alliance HQ in Alaska, when the Archangel limps to Orb. This is a story that is the sequel to my Gundam SeeD fanfic: As I watch you sleeping.

The idea had been in my mind for some time now, and I suppose there are those out there who want to see another moment between Kira and Murrue. And so, here it is. As always, doing a pairing between Kira and Murrue (or even Natarle) requires work and drafts so that it fits. Alright, here's my second attempt to making this difficult pairing work. And a sequel...Good God, I'm digging my grave deeper every time I do a Kira-Murrue, or a Kira-Natarle pairing (though the latter is easier to write about, even though Natarle shows her affection of Kira in a different way).

I had to use a small WC2 and WC3 country's name, as well as make up events that had happened prior to the Cosmic Era calender. Now, in this, I only ask tolerance as you read this story of mine.

OK, this is the second draft. Hope that it sounds better than the first. That one, I DO NOT deny, was a mess. Also, I had to take certain liberties with the series itself to make this story click together. It is not easy writing a Kira-Murrue fanfic, and I hope this story is up to standard.

X X X X X X

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, 8th May, C.E. 71

When Murrue Ramius had been a young girl, she would spend hours looking at the night sky from the warmth of her bedroom, taking the breathtaking vista of the moon and the stars into her dreams. There, in the soft, warm embrace of slumber, she could whisper to an unseen companion all of her hopes and dreams, mourn her failures and take strenght from her victories.

She remembered when she turned 15 a lifetime ago, when her parents had taken her to a mountain resort in Alaska during her summer holidays, so she could see the star ocean in all its majestic glory. The aurora borealis that pulsed like the heartbeat of the heavens draped the glittering stars above like a multi-coloured cloak of an unseen king who smiled quietly, asking every individual in a soft voice if he or she understands what it is they are beholding.

And Murrue understood. Each star that shone brightly in the firmament above, formed a tapestry of beauty that had seen the birth of Creation, and had captured the hearts of lovers, dreamers, adventurers and idealists alike through the ages. Each one of those glowing celestial jewels promised a destiny, a way home, adventure, danger and glory to those who would seek it out. And the young race of Man, who stretched out his hands to embrace a promising future, did so.

But, like an angry ghost, the flaws of humanity followed them to the stars.

Historical records prior to the Reconstruction Wars that led to the birth of the Earth Alliance spoke of a time of tumult called the War of Wrath, which saw to the oldest human-held Empire toppled from power, and splintered its once-grand hegemony into warring shogunates. It spoke of an act of betrayal that set in motion the events that led to its ruin. Historical anthropologists on PLANT and Earth have tried to piece together a full account of that bloody era, but the ensuing chaos that followed the collapse of the Empire - the Imperial Dominion - as well as the passage of time, had made doing so extremely difficult.

It did not help matters that the only people who were able to help fill in the blanks were either unable or unwilling to do so. The theocratic-obligarchial Martian nation of Lordaeron was formed at the end of the War of Wrath, after their battered armies were expelled from Earth by the surviving Dominion armies who had managed to reach Earth during the closing days of the war. They had managed to save Earth from being claimed by Lordaeron, but not in time to save their Empress from being murdered by one of their champions. There was no doubt that Lordaeron or the Reyguard Empire - formed two hundred years after a schism within Lordaeron itself - held the answers as to what had really happened back then.

Lordaeron, she remembered from her history lessons in University, had been the name of the capital world of the Galactic Mission, the new Jerusalem for all humanity, shining the light of the Almighty wherever humanity held sway. When they were unable to return to their capital world - for whatever reason no one was sure of - they took over the Martian colonies and built a country named after the world they could never return to.

Over the decades, as the scars of the War of Wrath healed, another would erupt centuries later between the Reygard Empire and the Earth Defence League. The latter would become the Earth Alliance after the end of the Reconstruction Wars. In those days, the Earth Alliance had Assault Suits, built from technological templates, but they were quickly replaced by Mobile Armour, which packed more punch than the Assault Suits and had better maneuverability. The Reyguard Empire lost the war when its Emperor was slain in a daring assault that saw to an EDL Assault Suit taking the Reyguard Empire's ruler and his inner circle down on their very flagship.

But that had been over six decades ago. The reason for that war had been simple - the Reyguard wanted to return to Earth. The EDL government refused. The Reyguard pleaded and sent several emissaries. The EDL shot down the shuttle carrying the emissaries, and the war began. It was fortunate that Lordaeron chose to not get involved in the war, for Murrue had seen the level of technology that the country possessed. Had they done so, Earth and PLANT would be under Reyguard's imperial rule.

And honestly, Murrue did not want to see Lordaeron's technology fall into the hands of the extremists of the current era. Had they had it, they would have made their insane dream a reality. The image of Earth being reduced to a charred wasteland, or the PLANTs reduced to gigantic, floating graveyards, were the stuff of nightmares. And the worse thing was that it had happened before - and it showed every sign of happening again. The Bloody Valentine War was a re-enactment of the War of Wrath in all its bloody glory. But, unlike the latter, where the war was about liberating an entire galactic sector and its people from the iron-fisted rule of an Empress they had fought to put on the throne, the former was not about righting a wrong but its continuation.

A voice from the past echoed in her mind as she gazed upon the titanic form of ZAFT's newest war machine - the ZGMF-X10A Gundam Freedom - bringing a moment lost to history back to life. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday. Cheers and applause were silenced almost instantly as an explosions and heavy gunfire erupted from the speakers, followed by oaths and cries of rage.

When the picture finally came into view, it showed the face of a woman who was living through her worst nightmare. She had to speak loudly, as the sounds of a fierce battle raging outside the building she had taken cover in were thunderous.

"I pray that this recording finds its way into the hands of those who will see to it that the truth will not be hidden from those who seek to hide their perfidy beneath a veil of righteousness. All that is recorded here from the months prior to the War of Wrath to this, my final hours, on the cold Russian front, are of the time that...I have spent among Lordaeron's Fiery Sword Legion.

"My life's work is in these five dics, and covers every aspect of the war, from its beginning to this very moment.

"...We have been betrayed.

"On this day, 25th December 4051 of the Earth Calender, during the opening hours of the Siege of Terra, is a day that will forever live in infamy. A day when the Kingdom of Lordaeron betrayed one of its Legions to its enemies for a reason we will never know.

"I will not live to put these - my life's work - into the hands of another, and so, I bury them here, in a town that will soon be wiped off the face of the map. I can only hope that someone will find these, and then, tell the story to those who seek to commit the same mistakes.

"This is Nashra Gelinheim of the Galactic News Network, signing off." and paused briefly, as a voice shouted her name and told her to get out of the building, "For what it is worth, I am glad to die free..."

Murrue knew why the archaeological team had not smiled, had not exulted in the cheers and attention given to them by the professional community and the media. They had just seen a young woman's final moments, had seen the War of Wrath from a perspective that was devoid of glory and beheld a betrayal that was epic in its scope.

It was a betrayal that would be unmatched until centuries later.

The betrayal of the Fiery Sword Legion during the Siege of Terra would be matched by the betrayal of the EA regiments that had fought like madmen defending a stronghold already abandoned by its commanders. And to ensure that no one would discover their treachery, the EA commanders had set the CYCLOPS system beneath Joshua to self-destruct, annihilating every living thing within a 15 kilometre radius.

The fact that the vast majority of the EA army stationed in Joshua had no idea that the system had been installed beneath the base served to lend credence to Mwu's theory that their superiors had planned for this eventuality long ago. Two questions remained unanswered.

Why did ZAFT choose to attack Joshua Base instead of Panama? The latter had a mass driver, a strategic objective ZAFT would do well to either capture or destroy. The forces they had unleashed to devastate Joshua would have guaranteed the capture of the Panama Base, effectively decapitating the EA space forces of any support from their home ground.

The second question, more important that the first, was why did their superiors betray them. A cold, analytical voice at the back of Murrue's mind told her that activating the CYCLOPS system would not only annihilate the invading ZAFT forces, but also those who could accuse them of planning the massacre that would inflame anti-Coordinator and anti-Natural sentiments.

'For a blue and pure world' - that had been the slogan of the Blue Cosmos. Religiously motivated, they strove for a world cleansed of the 'taint' of the Coordinators, who had been created by the Naturals who had striven to reach for a perfection forever lost to them. It did not take long for the creators to become jealous of the strengths and advanced intellect of their creations, nor did the awakening arrogance of the latter take long to bloom.

There was no denying the one fact that Coordinators surpassed Naturals in every area save one, and it is the one reason that they had to win the war quickly. The PLANTs could not replenish the soldiers they lost as swiftly as the EA due to its low birth-rate. It was ironic that for all the strengths and abilities that the Coordinators possessed, here was the one flaw that made their supposed perfection imperfect - they found it difficult to have children.

But, regardless of how intelligent they were, how gifted or how strong, the Coordinators were as human as their Natural counterparts. Murrue had forgotten that. And it took one of them to remind her. Her lips curved in a smile as she remembered a private moment she, Mwu and Natarle had shared with Kira's classmates. Out of curiousity, she had asked them what Kira was like, and regretted it within moments. Murrue could not remember laughing as hard as she did at that very moment, and Mwu and Natarle had that look of utter disbelief on their faces which almost sent the commander of the Archangel over the edge.

It was at that moment that Natarle asked, in a worried voice, if they should forbid Kira from piloting the Strike before he got himself killed. Mwu had calmed her down, saying that if she was so worried about Kira's safety, that she could hop into the Strike with him and mother him as he fought. Natarle almost strangled the blonde major for that remark.

But...most of all, Kira reminded Murrue of Darien Leonhart.

She closed her marigold eyes, conjuring up the image of her dead lover. When she opened them, there he was, standing before her in his immaculately pressed uniform, his amethyst eyes playful and his smile warm, leaning on the engineering gantry, looking down at her. The moonlight that shone upon the machine god that was Freedom made its armour gleam a glorious silver.

Murrue smiled, "Hello, Darien. It's been a while."

"That it has, Murrue. You look worn out."

"I am."

"And you've changed from the girl I once knew," and Darien studied his surroundings, "You know, I once said to Mary and Timothy back then that you were not ship captain material, but Admiral Halverton said otherwise. He said that you'd one day make the best ship captain that would graduate from the Academy. I can now see why, even though I am no longer alive to see how it happened."

"Flatterer," Murrue scowled.

"And proud of it," Darien deadpanned back playfully, before his expression became serious, "Though I know that the path to become the woman you are now has not been easy. Don't try to hide it from me, girl. I've been with you, in your memories, so I know the hardship, the tribulations, the doubts and fears, everything. And I won't judge you. Not then, not now.

"Bringing the kid into this war was wrong, Murrue...but this war is something that must be addressed by humanity - Naturals and Coordinators alike - as a whole. There is nothing about it that is right. Just as it takes two hands to clap, so it must have both parties come to the table to make an end of it.

"But tell me, Murrue, how do you stop a war when the leaders of the people who can stop it don't want it to end until they've exterminated their enemies completely?"

"I don't know..."

"In any case, Murrue, you'd better start thinking about what to do next. The first thing you need to do is find a safe port of call. The way the Archangel is, it is advisable to avoid any contact with either EA or ZAFT-aligned forces. I will recommend that you try to make for the neutral nations. Orb tops my list."

"Agreed."

"That young firebrand girl will be glad to see her boyfriend again," Darien said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Murrue rolled her eyes. Even dead, her long-dead boyfriend's perverted sense of humour followed him into the afterlife. But, nevertheless, he had made a sound suggestion. Of all the neutral nations on Earth, it made sense to go there. They were known to its leader and his daughter, the latter of whom will be glad to see Kira alive. Going to the Equatorial Union was out of the question, as both ZAFT and EA were pressuring its member nations to join them. If they went there with a badly-battered Archangel and Freedom, it would very well put the Equatorial Union's Parliament in a far worse fix than the one they were already in.

"Murrue," Darien added, "you are aware that if you join Orb, you will be dragged into the war again, don't you?"

"I know. But if we do nothing, this nightmare will not end. If I simply ran to some safe corner, Kira will simply fly off with the Freedom to fight on his own. My crew will make me walk the plank if I so much as make the suggestion. He's their little brother; they practically owe him their lives. You should see the way he inspires loyalty, Darien. Natarle wanted to see what he would be like when he grows up...and now I'm beginning to see what she meant."

Darien chuckled, his amethyst eyes merry.

"I never thought I would live to see the day when my sweet, gentle, shy Murrue would fall in love. And fall for someone a decade younger, and blush like a High School girl when she talks about him. God...how I've missed seeing that! The last time you blushed like that was...what? Eleven years ago?"

Murrue tried to speak, but found that the cat had run off with her tongue.

"Don't deny it, Murrue. You love him, don't you?"

"I..."

"I'm not jealous. Why should I be? I want to see my favourite girl happy. I saved her all those years ago to make sure she can live to see the tomorrow I no longer can. And I regret nothing. My girl has grown into a beautiful and brave woman. And now, she has become strong. The Murrue I knew was gentle, sweet and shy. The Murrue I see now is still that, and more. She met a boy who made her so...and for that, I am thankful."

Darien turned his eyes upon the Freedom, his expression thoughtful.

"Do you remember the drawing our teacher gave you all those years ago? I always thought that she was weird...but now, I'm not so sure."

"Darien...there are no such thing as coincidences."

The ghost floated down from the engineering gantry, before turning his eyes back on Murrue, his eyes gentle, "I know that I said those same words many times before when I was alive, but...aren't you glad that I'm wrong anyway?"

The sound of the pressure door leading to the hangar bay hissed open, and Murrue looked over her shoulder to see Kira Yamato walking towards her.

"What are you doing here, Murrue-san?" the young Coordinator asked the brown-haired commander.

"Just trying to make sense of things."

"I see."

"You?"

"Sorry?"

"Why are you here?" Murrue asked, "Can't sleep?"

Kira smiled briefly, "Tried to, but I..." and his eyes turned to look upon the massive MS that towered over them both. Murrue knew then what was causing the young Coordinator his sleepless night. And truth be told, she couldn't blame him for worrying. The pink-haired princess of PLANT had, quite literally, put her neck on the chopping block when she gave Kira the Freedom. In the eyes of the Coordinator supremacists who followed Patrick Zala's ideals, the songstress was a traitor to both her country and her people. Should ZAFT's Military Intelligence or the current Chairman's Internal Security Agency get hold of her, there was no question in Murrue's mind that she would be tortured before she was eventually executed.

"She will be all right, Kira-kun," Murrue said, putting a hand on the young Coordinator's shoulder, "If Lacus managed to get you within touching distance of ZAFT's top-secret weapon and then make a clean getaway after you ran off with it, I would daresay that our pink-haired princess has some very powerful - and loyal - allies within ZAFT and the Council itself."

"I..."

"Why did they name it Freedom, Kira?"

"I don't know," the young Coordinator replied, momentarily wrong-footed.

"I can think of a few possibilities," Murrue said, holding one finger up, "Earth had once oppressed the PLANTs, and when they declared independence, it set in motion a chain of events that led to the Bloody Valentine. This war was not about bringing to heel a rebel, it was about the refusal to accept differences. Patrick Zala wants to eradicate Naturals from the face of Creation; he will not stop at the Earth Sphere should he win. He will take the war to Mars and Venus - there're Naturals there, too. Likewise, the Blue Cosmos. Should they win, they'll take the war to Mars and Venus.

"This war will end, Kira, only when the Coordinators or the Naturals are exterminated. I admit that I am jealous of Coordinators, Kira. Your kind are so strong, so intelligent - you are everything Naturals like me want to be. But, from your lofty heights, those Coordinators who believe themselves superior to Naturals forget one fundamental fact - they are still human."

"Commander Bartfeld said those same words when I fought him in Africa," Kira said, "But, is it possible that I can make that difference?"

"You already have, Kira. By coming back, by trying to end the battle in Joshua before the CYCLOPS array exploded, you have set in motion events that are irrevocable. It is time for this sick war to end, Kira-kun, before it brings humanity to the edge of extinction. The Archangel, myself, its crew, your friends - we are with you. It took Junius 7, the fall of Joshua Base and so many lost lives to remind us that there are things worth fighting for."

"And what is that?"

Murrue smiled and took several steps into the shadow of Freedom, before turning to look at Kira, "Freedom of fear, of hate and prejudice. For such is the reason why Freedom was named, Kira-kun. It was made by a man who thought that he could give his race the freedom from the pain, fear and hate that the war has brought about - but here and now, this sword that Lacus Clyne has given you can serve all of humanity."

Kira saw how brightly Murrue's marigold eyes burned in the darkness as they regarded him. He could see her lips curve into a gentle smile that bespoke of the faith and trust she had in his vision for the future - a better future than the past they would leave behind when the hundred battlefields fell silent and the warriors who fought on it would see not the skies choked with smoke and flames, but where the sun, moon and stars shone upon them blessedly.

He knew that he would no longer fight alone. Ironically, he would not be given the freedom to. If Kira felt any doubt then, its lingering traces died a final death. There would be no more questions, no more doubts. Tomorrow, when the sun rose, he would walk forward to that future he had envisioned.

And it came sooner than expected.

The sun's warmth soon caressed his neck with a gentleness that made him turn as he gazed as the glorious orb sent the darkness of night in swift retreat. But, more than the sudden touch of the sun's warmth was the realisation that his lean body was pressed against Murrue's own, and Kira gave vent to a strangled squeak. Murrue was more developed than any girl he had known, and the fact that she was holding him this tightly told him that it would be in his better interests to let this moment come to pass.

And...somehow, in some strange way, like this in Murrue's arms...it felt right.

"Thank you, Kira-kun," she whispered in his ear, "I am glad that I have met you all those months ago on Heliopolis. Had I never done so, I would have never been the woman I am today. And most of all, thank you for coming back for us, for not abandoning us when we needed you the most and for making me believe in fairy-tales again."

'And for this once, I surrender my dream, Michiru-sensei. It would have been a sweet one, but I want to see the one he is going to make real.'

She could not fight back the tears that threatened to spill, as they stood together, watching the sun rise.

And somewhere, at the back of Murrue's mind, the image of a young boy with dark brown hair and familiar marigold eyes, sitting upright in his bed holding a teddy bear in his small arms, turned and smiled at her. Though it was a dream that will never be made real, she could almost hear that boy's soft voice, rich with love and warmth, thanking her.

Fin.