How Things Should Have Been Chapter 2: Aftermath, a gundam seed fanfic

Disclaimer: Gundam SEED belongs to Bandai. "Photograph" is Nickelback's. (great song by the way)

How Things Should Have Been

The Aftermath

By Storm Wolf77415

The Bloody Valentine War is over! The crews of the Three Ships Alliance had succeeded in preventing the Earth Alliance and the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty from causing their own mutual destruction. In the months that followed the war, moderate officials in the Atlantic Federation government, led by President Henry Hayes himself, Proceeded to do what should have been done in the first place, eliminate Blue Cosmos and LOGOS, ferreting them out from their places of power in the government, and then either arresting them or eliminating them altogether. The Atlantic Federation then pulled its forces out of the USSA, and began sending aid to rebuild the country.

Hayes then surprised the entire world by issuing a public apology for the Atlantic Federation inciting the war in the first place. He gave an impassioned speech, saying that the fear, prejudice, and hate had to end, and it had to start now. Hayes took a very large first step by welcoming several Coordinators into key positions of his administration, and revealing that his daughter was in fact a Coordinator.People were skeptical at first, but Hayes won them over, a credit to his diplomatic skills and natural charisma. The tension between Naturals and Coordinators was slowly dissipating, both sides finally accepting each other…

But for one couple, none of that really mattered. For Kira Yamato, and Flay Allster, all that mattered was that they had found each other again. Even though Flay had started out using Kira to avenge her father's death, against all Coordinators, she came around and realized how much she truly loved him, and that all Coordinators are not that bad.

Kira thought he almost had lost the love of his life when her shuttle was nearly destroyed. Only the quick thinking of another saved Flay's life.

Romance had blossomed for many of the other crew members of this rag-tag band. Athrun Zala, Kira's best friend and almost brother had grown to love, Cagalli Yula Athha, ironically, Kira's twin sister. Sebastian Connor, The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due, was another that Kira considered as a brother. He was also the one that saved Flay's life, and so is her hero in many regards. After months of separation, Sebastian was finally reunited with his fiancé, Lacus Clyne.

These six people, along with rest of their adopted family, had occupied a beach on the northern side of Orb, and were celebrating like there was no tomorrow. Uniform of the day was tank tops and board shorts for the guys, swimsuits for the girls.

Kira, in his blue shirt and black shorts, was sitting on the beach reading. He put his book down and looked over at the red-haired beauty lying next to him sunbathing. Flay was wearing a pink one-piece swimsuit, and a wide brimmed, beige straw sun hat, with a pink and white checked ribbon tied around it. She turned to look at him, and smiled.

"What are you looking at?" Flay cooed.

"Looking at the most beautiful creature in the world", Kira said. Flay simply giggled and kissed him right on the lips.

"Mr. Yamato, you flatter me. I love you so much!" she said.

"I love you too, Flay", Kira said simply.

"I hope we're not interrupting your intimate moment?" a rich baritone voice said. Kira and Flay turned to see Sebastian and Lacus, as well as Athrun and Cagalli, standing over them. Sebastian was wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt with a wolf on it, and grey shorts with green trim while Lacus was wearing a white swimsuit with a pink flower print, and a pink rose behind her left ear, her cherry blossom colored hair pulled up into a ponytail. Athrun had settled on a red tank top and shorts. Cagalli was wearing a black bikini that did an excellent job of showing off her lithe body. Athrun was certainly having no problem looking at her.

"I'm just telling Flay how lucky I am to have a girl like her," said Kira.

"We have a little surprise and we came to get you" Lacus said, a knowing smile on her face.

"Ooh, I love surprises! Come on Kira!" said Flay, nearly pulling her boyfriend's arm out of his socket.

"Okay, I'm coming! I'm coming!" said Kira laughing. The six ran across the beach to where several others were standing near a small stage. Kira and Flay were very surprised to see Dearka Elsman with a guitar, Mu La Flaga on drums, Tolle Koenig on bass and Nicol Amalfi sitting at a piano. Sebastian and Lacus hurried onto the stage while Kira, Athrun, Flay, and Cagalli took a seat up front.

"Everyone! Everyone! I have to something to say!" said Sebastian, waving his arms for everyone's attention, "Well, it's finally over! We won! Earth is not a scorched wasteland, the PLANTs have not been reduced to space junk, and We. Are. ALIVE!" this last part caused everyone to cheer and applaud loudly.

"We did well everyone," Sebastian said more calmly, "But a lot of good people died, and we should never forget them for it. I know that we would all want them to be here with us now." A choked sob came from more than one person.

"I also know that they'd want us to move on with our lives, and enjoy the peace that we've fought so hard for, and by God that's exactly what we're going to do!" Another round of applause came up.

"We have a very special treat for you. Sebastian and I had been talking about this for a while, and after some searching among our ranks, we found some people who had some musical talent, and we're going to perform for you tonight" Lacus said.

"This next song is one of my favorites. It reminds us of a simpler time, and how important that time is, and should be treasured because of it. Let's get this party started," Lacus donned a headset microphone and Sebastian picked up his guitar, with a howling wolf on it.

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red?
And what the hell is on Joey's head?

This is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneakin' out

Sebastian and Lacus' voices complemented each other perfectly. Lacus smiled the entire time, clapping to the time of the beat. The Storm Wolf of Jachin Due was putting his soul into the song.

This is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice
I must've done it half a dozen times

I wonder if it's too late
Should I go back and try to graduate
Life's better now than it was back then
If I was them, I wouldn't let me in

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say
It's time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking forIt's hard to say
It's time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye

A few of the people began to dance to the song, Kira and Flay included. They held each other close, love in each other's eyes, determined never to be separated again. Especially for Flay.

"I'm having a wonderful time, I don't want it to end", Flay whispered. Tears running down her cheeks.

"Who says it has to end, Flay?" Kira said. Flay smiled and snuggled even closer to him, knowing she was safe in her lover's arms.

Remember the old arcade
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hangin' out
They say somebody went and burned it downWe used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we'd know
We said someday we'd find out how it feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel

Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then
I haven't seen her since God knows when

Not to be left out, Athrun and Cagalli also began dancing. Athrun reflected how he had almost ended his own life to destroy GENESIS, no one knew it at the time, but he was depressed, borderline suicidal in fact. Cagalli had changed that. She had confessed her love to him. He instead joined Sebastian and Kira in defeating Le Creuset, and now he had a reason to live more than ever.

"Cagalli, there's something I need to tell you…" Athrun started, but Cagalli held a finger to his lips.

"Don't say a word, I already know," she said softly, "Don't spoil the moment". Cagalli then gave a beautiful smile, resting her head on Athrun's shoulder.

It's hard to say
it's time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye

"Who says that you can't go home?" Sebastian thought, "Home is where you make it, with the ones you love, and the one I love is right here next to me. I'll protect Lacus with my life, she completes me."

I miss that town
I miss their faces
You can't erase
You can't replace it
I miss it now
I can't believe it
So hard to stay
Too hard to leave it
If I could relive those days
I know the one thing that would never changeEvery memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say
It's time to say it
Goodbye, Goodbye
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
Every time I do it makes me

The music ended, and everyone began returning home, although Sebastian Connor, Lacus Clyne, Kira Yamato, Flay Allster, Athrun Zala, and Cagalli Yula Athha remained just a little bit longer. Enjoying the time together with the ones they loved, and in each of their hearts, believing that maybe, just maybe, things would work out for the better. Do you?

A Better Ending, The Way It Should Have Been.

Wow, now that's REALLY how Gundam SEED should have ended. Ever since seeing Phase-50, I thought that it could have ended better. Flay's death especially bothered me. So I wrote this for all Kira/Flay fans. Originally this was just a one-shot, but I figured some closure was needed as far as Kira and Flay's relationship. I'm doing some preliminary work on a new Gundam SEED AU "Song of the Storm Wolf" that will put the relationship between Sebastian and Lacus into a proper context.