Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

"So, what do you think is going to happen now, Cagalli?" Kira asked as he and his sister walked down down one of the beautiful beaches in ORB, together, in the evening. The battle had been won... ORB had been spared, although it was not ORB itself that had been the one to win the battle. It was Shinn Asuka who was responsible for crushing the Destiny Plan and raining on Chairman Gilbert Durandal's radical ambitions. However at the same time, he did not take to kindly to being the hero. After Messiah fell he found that both the Archangel and Minerva had crashed, and that he himself was being ordered, by his very Captain, to board an ORB vessel that was cruising nearby. When the hero of the Second Bloody Valentine War boarded the ship he did not take too kindly to the applause he was receiving. He simply asked the ORB crew soldiers for a room on the ship, and was guided to one. He never even left the room even once, and when the vessel made it's way to Earth he ran out of it as soon as it made it's way to the shore and didn't turn back, not even once. Captain Gladys, who Shinn respected, wasn't even able to get him to stop. The pilot of the Destiny ran from everyone, and wasn't found for the rest of the day. The time that Kira and Cagalli are walking on the beach is in the evening of the day that the ORB vessel landed on the island nation.

"Well the PLANTs will need to put a new Chairman into power. However I think this time they will pass legislation to restrict the Chairman's power. After the first two wars... I can say that's something they may do. As for ORB itself... I'll be taking the reins. I'll put the country back together the way it's supposed to and guide ORB how it's meant to be guided. I owe my people that much after what's happened." Cagalli said as she and Kira approached a familiar land mark.

"I understand. This time you won't have those Seirans to deal with, Cagalli." Kira said as they rounded the corner.

"Yes... the rest of the ministers are rather..." She stopped speaking as she saw something. "Kira... the memorial..." Cagalli said.

"There's someone there... could it be...?" Kira said as he noticed what looked to be a person kneeling on one knee before the memorial, their head lowered as the sun set off in the distance across the waters.

"Shinn... what's he doing out here?" Cagalli asked as the hibiki twins walked towards the figure. "Shinn..." Cagalli said as she approached the figure, but it tried to push her away with it's right arm.

"Please go away. Leave this horrible monster alone. I've... i've done so much... bad..." The figure said. Judging by it's voice, there was no way it wasn't Shinn Asuka. As the twins got closer, sad looks creeping onto their faces as they heard him sulk, they could hear what sounded like... crying.

"Shinn stop it. You're... not terrible. What's wrong? Let's talk." Kira said as he put his hand on Shinn's shoulder, the boy then moving away and gaining distance between the twins before he turned and faced them in an aggressive pose, his face red and soaked with the water of his tears.

"YOU DON'T GET IT AT ALL, DO YOU? NEITHER OF YOU? HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY FORGIVE ME FOR WHAT I'VE DONE? FOR WHAT I'VE TRIED TO DO? HOW? I... I KILLED ATHRUN ZALA... THAT LACUS CLYNE GIRL... AND EVEN MEYRIN HAWKE... YET BOTH OF YOU APPROACH ME LIKE THIS AND TRY TO TALK IT OUT? I'M A MONSTER. A HORRIBLE AND EVIL MONSTER AND ALL I DESERVE IS TO BE CAST OUT OF SOCIETY AND PITIED. NOTHING MORE... AND WHOLE LOT LESS." Shinn yelled at the top of his lungs, rage lacing his tone and filling the air. The two twins of ORB were a little shocked and choked after hearing that.

"Shinn! What are you saying! You were the one who stopped Durandal! Not me! You! You're a hero." Kira said.

"I AM NO HERO! I AM A MONSTER IN HUMAN FLESH! I DON'T DESERVE THE LIFE I LIVE CONSIDERING HOW MANY I'VE KILLED." Shinn then ran towards a nearby cliff face that was near the memorial and leaned his head against it, his left arm bent over his head as the sound of agonizing crying could be heard. "How can you casually try to just forgive me like that after I killed Athrun and Lacus? I thought you two were friends with them? Are you just going to rub off the fact that I murdered your friends? Are you going to just shrug your shoulders and ignore the fact that I was one second away from killing both of you? Are you going to forget about the fact that it was I who tried to help Gilbert Durandal enslave humanity using the Destiny Plan? If so... then how? HOW? It's impossible?" Shinn raged. A look of determination took over Cagalli's face as she began to walk forward but was stopped by Kira.

"Cagalli..." He whispered.

"Kira don't stop me. I won't just let me sulk like that and waste his life." Cagalli said as she walked towards Shinn.

"Go away, Attha!" Shinn said, but then found his body flipped around and was looking the Princess of ORB directly in the eyes. "Go away." He said as she gripped his shoulders.

"Stop it! Enough! Listen to yourself! You're asking to be exiled from society! You're asking to be killed! Do you really want that? Do you honestly want that to happen?" Cagalli asked, a tear coming out of her eyes as well.

"Shut up! You don't get it! I've only now realized my mistakes but it's been too late! They're dead and they're not coming back AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Shinn raged.

"I KNOW! I KNOW! Let me tell you something Shinn. I told this to Athrun in the first war: If some takes a life for vengeance and then someones gets revenge by taking his life. How is that kind of twisted thinking every gonna bring us peace? Well? Are you really going to take your own life because you killed someone else, even though you were a soldier, someone who's occupation is to kill people to protect something valuable to them?" Cagalli.

"I don't see what the problem is, Attha, considering I don't have anything left in life, all thanks to YOU!" Shinn screamed as he pushed Cagalli away from himself, the blonde girl preventing herself from falling over as Kira closed in but Cagalli put her left hand behind herself and made a 'don't do it' pose as she looked back at Shinn. Kira, however, decided that it was his turn to talk.

"You can always rebuild, Shinn. We always replant the flowers in a sense. Your life isn't over and done with, nor is it something that cannot be salvaged. You can find somewhere to be happy and call home." Kira said.

"My home rejects me." Shinn said.

"Why? Well maybe when the PLANTs elect a new Supreme Council Chairman..." Kira tried to say.

"I'm not talking about the PLANTs, I'm talking about ORB. ORB is my home." Shinn replied. Both Kira and Cagalli were incredibly stunned by this line. 'And here they go. Mayu, I'm following your last wishes. To me, it seemed as if you wanted me to reconcile with ORB about what happened. I love you, little sister...' Shinn thought.

"What? You must be joking. You hate this nation, and you hate me! Every time i've seen you that's all you ever say!" Cagalli said.

"No! Shut up! Let me explain... Shinn said as he gritted his teeth, tears continuing to flow down his face as he looked at the twins. "I saw my sister... in a dream of sorts, along with Luna and Stella, my two past girlfriends. In that dream my sister said she didn't blame ORB and that I shouldn't hate you... I guess... sometimes people make mistakes. I'm sorry, Princess Cagalli. Although I know you have no reason to forgive me I'm sorry for all I've done to you and to ORB..." Shinn said, his legs failing as he fell somewhat to the ground, only sitting on his knees and legs with his head lowered. "I still just killed Athrun and Lacus... and I nearly killed both of you. I'm such an idiot..." Shinn said. Kira closed in and lowered himself so his face was looking at Shinn's. "So please, just go away... I know I can never earn your forgiveness and because of that I can never return to my true home." Shinn said.

"Shinn... please... stop. You just said that sometimes people make mistakes. Well... you made some mistakes in the last battle. On the other hand, you destroyed the Requiem, destroyed Messiah, and destroyed the Destiny Plan. You saved Humanity, Shinn." Kira said.

"As if I needed to... it's not like you would have been perfectly capable of ending Durandal and his madness if I had not gotten in your way..." Shinn said. Kira was mentally pushed back at this but then put himself back together and explained something.

"Cagalli, remember the time when we were in Libya and..." Kira began to say, turning to his sister.

"OH SHUT UP! WHAT THE HELL DOES LIBYA HAVE TO DO WITH ALL THIS?" Shinn raged. Kira sighed.

"Shinn please calm down and listen." Kira said as he turned to his sister, an expecting look on his face.

"Oh... when we met Andrew for the first time?" She said. Shinn could still be seen pissed off.

"Yes. Remember how we were attacked by Blue Cosmos? Remember how even though I had a gun in my hand I didn't kill that terrorist... how I couldn't pull the trigger just looking at him?" Kira asked.

"Yes..." The blonde said, a confused look in her eyes.

"Well... when me and Mwu met Rau over at the Mendel colony I had to be reminded to take the safety off my gun." He then turned to Shinn. "The point is, Shinn, as much as I am a good gundam pilot, I cannot kill someone with a pistol. I'm not strong enough and I just can't bring myself to do it. If that was me facing Durandal, I would have died. You on the hand, you were strong enough to realize that he needed to be stopped... no matter what... and so you did just that." Kira said. Shinn then looked up at Kira.

"Really? So what you're saying..." Shinn tried to say.

"Is that you were the only one who could kill Durandal out of the two of us. You are the reason that the world is saved, and although you made some mistakes... and even though Athrun was a very close friend and I was closer to Lacus... I... I forgive you Shinn, I really do." Kira said to the black haired boy, who then stood up, the hibiki twins doing the same.

"You... forgive me..?" Shinn asked.

"And so do I... kinda. You saved ORB... you saved your home." Cagalli said to Shinn. "So please, come back home." She said. He turned to her, breathing in as the tears stopped falling from his eyes.

"Alright, fine then. I'll... come back home to ORB... I want to make the world a better place. I want to rebuild what has been destroyed but this time I want to fix the mistakes of the past and make it better." Shinn said. Kira smiled and stuck his hand out.

"I want to too. Let's work together, Shinn. Let's replant the flowers and grow an even better looking garden." Kira said as the red eyed boy shook his hand and smiled, a grin of happiness on his face. A grin that Shinn rarely if ever showed, but this time, there was something different about it, something stronger. The two boys then saw Cagalli place her hand over theirs.

"Yes... let's all do this. I... I think I've just come up with an idea of something both of you could do... something you could be part of..." Cagalli said as the scene shifted.

The scene then shows Talia Gladys standing on what seems to be a balcony in the Attha mansion. For the time being, or until the PLANTs had got everything under control, Cagalli had offered the Minerva's crew a temporary place to stay until things got settled. The blonde haired women stood leaning across the balcony, her hat still on her head and her white uniform still worn on her body. The captain of the now sunken Minerva then heard footsteps come closer to her and then saw someone stand a couple feet away from her. It was Murrue Ramius.

"Hey..." The brunette said.

"Hello... it's... nice to see you..." Talia said, a little shocked by the fact that Murrue just walked up to her and began talking. Sure it's true that the crews of both vessels did board the same ORB Izumo-class ship after their vessels destroyed each other's engines, however neither Captain had much of a chance to talk to each other.

"I know it's kind of weird for you... that I just walked up to you like this... the Captain of the ship that you fought against just recently and tried to destroy... however... I think it would be nice to have a friendly chat." Murrue smiled, Talia doing the same.

"It's completely understandable. It's just... everything changed. One day you're the Captain of one of Zaft's most powerful vessels, and the next... you don't know what to do next."

"I understand. For me it was the opposite back when the robbery at Heliopolis took place. One day you're an engineer, and a couple minutes later you've been pushed into the Captain's seat of a top secret military vessel." Murrue said.

"Well... what do you think you're going to do next, Captain?" Talia asked, smirking.

"I'm going to offer myself to Princess Cagalli. I hear she has something planned... and if she so desires, I shall serve her. She's probably going to ask me to Captain a new vessel or something like that... this time I'll officially be a part of the ORB military. What are your plans for the future, Captain?" Murrue asked.

"I think I'm done with the military, at least as a soldier on the battlefield. I have a son at home right now in the PLANTs. I'm thankful that the PLANT he was in wasn't hit by the Requiem, but I think it's time he was allowed to spend some time with his mother... to not have to worry if his one parent is going to die..." Talia said.

"Perfectly understandable. If you've managed to command a vessel as well as you have then I know you'll treat your kid well, Captain Gladys."

"Thank you, Captain Ramius." Talia replied.

Several days had passed since then. A treaty was forged between the remnants of the Earth Alliance government, the government of ORB, and the government of the PLANTs. The power of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman had been restricted in order to prevent another Patrick Zala or Gilbert Durandal from coming to power and doing something radical to try to force major changes on the world. All three nations were now forced to limit their military size to some extent although the Alliance and Zaft had got the brunt end of it... ORB never really surpassing the size it was limited to in the first place. Yzak Joule was now placed on the Supreme Council as a moderator who would keep the Council in check, much like a guard dog, and Talia Gladys now held an important seat on the Supreme Council as the new Minister of National Defence. A new Chairman was elected, and this man was an older man who seemed moderate, and for the most part, he didn't seem to have any radical ambition.

Cagalli had started to rebuild ORB and her people were very pleased with her progress and were happy to see their mighty Princess back in charge. Unlike before the Council of Ministers agreed with the Princess and thought it wise to listen to her and follow her. One very important aspect of the treaty forged between the nations of the world was that it recognized the Archangel crew as being a group that did what they could in order to ensure peace and minimize bloodshed. The Minerva was also recognized in the same way as a vessel that desired peace and justice, but was officially part of a military most of the time. Because of this, both of the vessels were lifted off of the Lunar surface and brought to the nearest city where they were repaired and upgraded to some extent, their paint jobs being changed to have a primary color of black and a secondary color of blue, matching the colors of the unit they would be a part of.

Due to this recognition of honor and bravery, a new group was made that although it belonged to ORB itself, it's sole purpose of it's existence was to prevent another war from taking place, and in addition to this was fully backed by the Minister of Nation Defence for the PLANTs Talia Gladys. This group was called PEACE, which stood for Protection of Earth Autonomous Combat Entity and it consisted of the Archangel commanded by Captain Murrue Ramius and the Minerva commanded by Captain Arthur Trine. Kira Yamato, hero of the First Bloody Valentine War with his ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom as well as Shinn Asuka, hero of the Second Bloody Valentine War and his ZGMF-X42S Destiny were now recognized as the two greatest mobile suit pilots to have ever lived and were the two main pilots of the PEACE along with several other aces from either the Earth Alliance, the Zaft, or ORB military. PEACE, tasked with preventing another conflict, was first assigned to space a couple days after both of it's vessels were repaired and had landed on Earth in ORB territory.

"I stand before the entire world right now to usher into existence a new group designed to prevent another war from taking place." The Princess of ORB said as she stood on a podium on a dock in an ORB port, right in between vessels as they sat in the water nearby, waiting to launch, a large crowd in front of her and several news crews capturing her beautiful and elegant image. Behind her were several important people sitting in chairs including Kira, Shinn, Murrue, and Arthur, their modified ORB uniforms now black where there was once white standing out and being noticed by all. The Strike Freedom and Destiny gundams, which were now fully repaired, were standing side by side behind the Princess with their phase shift on, seeming to glow in the sunlight in the early morning.

"Peace is something we all desire. It gives us humans freedom from stress, war, and oppression. Although at the same time, I have recognized that in order to maintain justice and peace, the world must have a watchful eye capable of detecting threats and neutralizing them. The last war was brutal and bloody, and the war before that an even greater conflict. I do not wish to see another war break out during the rest of my time on Earth... nay... I wish to never see it break out again. That is why we have decided to take our brightest and best, and assign them to be the watchful eye designed for neutralizing threats to our world. That is what PEACE is. However, I am only a politician. Yes I have designed and commissioned PEACE, however I find it exponentially more suitable to allow two very special of this group to speak about what they think PEACE is." Cagalli said as she moved off of the podium, the crowd cheering at the Princess of ORB as her brown haired sibling, Kira, took the stage.

"I think that it's a good thing that we have tried to do this. I started piloting a mobile suit when I was sixteen... and although I didn't like what I was doing... I did because it was for a cause I believed in... at the time. In the Second War my reasoning was no different. I wanted to end the conflict... and I wanted to see the bloodshed brought to a halt. However, I was trying to douse the flames after they had been ignited into one massive inferno. What I should have done, and what my friends aboard the Archangel should have done was try to douse the embers before they could ignite. That is what PEACE is all about, simple as that. Thank you." Kira said as he walked off of the podium, Shinn then taking the stage as the crowd cheered for both of them.

"Everything that my friend Kira has just said was indeed true. We exist to stop the conflict before it becomes a war. That is our duty. However, I must state a disclaimer. We are humans, and humans make mistakes. We will do our best to stop any kind of rebel group, terrorist organization, you name it, from starting another war. That is our job, and that is the initiative of PEACE. However, I ask you right now, to not be angry with us should we fail and a few people die. I'm not saying we will fail, but since all humans make mistakes, it's certainly a possibility that it may one day happen. Should that happen, I ask you, the people of the world, to not blame us, to not hate us, but to help us and understand that we did the best we could with what we could, and that we did things the way we did because that's what we thought was right. That is all." Shinn said as the crowd cheered for him, the red eyed coordinator looking at the Princess of ORB and winking, a slight smile appearing on Cagalli's face. Shinn had just told the world not to do what he did after his family died and he blamed the Atthas. He had told them to understand human nature, and to realize that mistakes happen and everyone acts on what they think is right. A couple minutes later the Princess of ORB and the crowd waved the two ships goodbye as they began to take off.

"Archangel, taking off!" Murrue ordered as the massive vessel began to move forward, the ship lifting itself out of the water and ascending. At the same time the Minerva did the same.

"Engines to maximum. The Minerva is launching!" Arthur announced as the black and blue vessel then began to take off next to the Archangel, it's wings extending as the two vessels began to head into space, Cagalli saluting them as they did.

The former Captain of the Minerva, Talia Gladys walked into her house, her purple and black Supreme Council uniform looking to match her style very well as she heard running.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!" The young boy said as he ran towards his mother, the women leaning down to hug him as he ran into her arms. "Guess what I did at school today?"

"What? What did you do?" She asked kindly as she hugged her child.

"You'll never guess! You'll have to play a game of chex... chez... chess with me first!" He said.

"Alright then. Mommy will play a game of chess with you if you want!" Talia said as she picked up her son, the boy hugging his mom's head.

"I missed mommy while she was fighting..."

"It's okay... mommy's not going to be fighting again. Mommy's going to stay with you." She said as she held her son, the child embracing her more.

The camera now cuts to show what appears to be the Strike Freedom on the Archangel's launch catapult and the Destiny on the Minerva's.

"Kira Yamato, Freedom, taking off!" Kira announced as he launched from the Archangel and activated his phase shift.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, launching!" Shinn said as he also took off and activated his phase shift, the camera then freezing as the Destiny flew through the air, the Strike Freedom being seen a little bit beside and behind it and the Archangel and Minerva in the background.

-Fin-

Author's Note: I had fun writing this as a little bit of a break project from Humanity's Fate, of which Phase 31 should be coming out soon with the next section of the story.

In case you're wondering, I'm going to say right now I DON'T have any plans for a sequel for this. For those of you who are reading Humanity's Fate, you shall be the ones to help me decide my next project. I have a couple ideas in my head that I think I could work with, some of them I haven't written down anywhere, not even on my profile.