I liked this chapter a lot. And dude, I love the SUBLIMATED HOMOSEXUALITY that you seem to write oh so well. .<'

Anyway, I'm excited for the next chapter! XD

finally an update! it was pretty good. post another chapter soon.

Whew! That was intense! And I loved it! I can see how you think that this chapter is more in your swing of things. The flow and the interaction between these two was brilliant and breathtaking! Dearka's actions in the beginning had me confused, but Yzak's understanding of it and his emotions throughout the entire chapter were very intense.
Actually, my first thought, when I couldn't understand Dearka's weird behaviour was that he was trying to tell Yzak something like a hidden camera! But it didn't make sense!
This chapter really blew me away! Very little politics, not that I don't enjoy the politics, but this angsty, emotional, questionably intimate sort of chapter is really what I enjoy the most!
I don't know about your best chapter, because to me, they're all the best because they're all different chapters! Or something like that. I loved it and I'm looking forward to more, is that enough of a vote towards being the best? LOL

This is an amazing story so far. There's just one thing that really irks me. You use "The Blond" way too much. Repetitiveness makes me do the eye twitch.. Cut down on those and use a more broad description to describe him. Even using "he" every once in awhile wouldn't be bad when it's already known that you're talking about Dearka.

Dude, that was an intense chapter. With the outburst from Yzak meeting Dearka in the cell (though seriously, I didn't think ZAFT had dungeons... o.O) all the way to the finish. I was pleasantly surprised to see Shiho's mom on the council--I don't know if that's canon or just you, but I liked it. XD

Also, I'm really impressed with the council meeting. Seriously, I don't know how you do it. It has the feel of an important meeting, and everyone has an opinion and you balance them out and it all... works. I suppose it's that you can balance everyone's opinion in the meeting, and they are all working towards different goals, and they all try to work towards their separate goals in the context of pretending to work together. Seriously, it's amazing. I don't know why anyone would be bored with this meeting. It was intense, actually. And rather believable, with how the decisions were made to have Yzak prosecute Dearka, and have Shiho stand as Dearka's defense. It's really good and I'm really interested to read the next part.

Gah, you stil write Druandal really well, because he seems to be a good guy, but there also seems to be something off about it. He screams ulterior motives, but at the same time, you can't fault him. Good job. And I'm beginning to hate Lambert as much as Yzak.

Also, you managed to fit in the phrase "what were we fighting for" which kinda made me love Gundam SEED all over again. <3

Shiho? Why did Yzak pick her? I didn't think she was much of a fan of his, but does that mean she'll help Dearka?
Hm...
Whee! I loved this chapter though! Yzak's outburst was certainly interesting and I really hope Dearka takes some of his words to heart. Especially the part about not getting into anymore trouble. LOL
Looking forward to another chapter! :D

Amazing. I really love what you've started here, and the way you tell the story is flawless and intriguing. I can't wait to read more, especially about Yzak and Dearka's friendship and Shiho's character. I hope you update soon!

:)Bee

Oh, it feels so good to be back reading your work again. Or reading anyone's work again, for that matter. :D Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this but I am thoroughly enjoying it!
Heine is certainly an interesting character and I'm enjoying reading more about him, especially since his part in Destiny WAS so small.
Shiho is another interesting character that I, personally, don't know much about either. Nor do I really remember her from Destiny.. it's been a while since I've seen that but I quite like her! Yzak's dislike of her due to her resemblance to Athrun and the way he deals with Yzak too is awesome!
I love this! Looking forward to reading more!

this is it, isn't it? that epic fic you told me about?

the best thing i can say about this (and i've only read phase 00 at this point), is that the imagery is totally amazing! i'm serious, i could actually see the scenes from the last episode come out through your descriptions, of course, altered to fit yzak's point of view. it's almost funny how vivid the colors i imagine (the greens, the reds, blues, whatever) to fit yzak's adrenaline rush, and maybe even panic. very nice indeed.

that scene in the legged ship, i kind of thought there'd be more fuss since yzak's still with zaft. but then he has just saved cagalli, and there's really more important things going on outside of the ship than dearka bringing in yzak. so in the end, i liked what you did with it. it paints the right image that kira's side is neutral (or as healthily neutral as they can get in a war).

and another that's really nice is the pity yzak sees in dearka's eyes when the blonde looks at him and how yzak doesn't like to be looked at like that. it almost makes me want to know what yzak's really thinking at that time, probably wondering why he's being pitied when it's dearka who has nowhere to come back to.

i like the tension that's there and not there at the same time, like something that's natural since they're friends but they're friends who're suddenly finding themselves on different sides this late in the war. the good thing about dearka and yzak's relationship dynamics is how it's not set in stone, not entirely established, and authors can put in so many things between them and still make it believable, and i know i've said this many times before, but i just absolutely adore how you write them, whether you make them angry and playful, or driven and confused. gosh, i bet i'd go on rambling about them once i've finished reading the chapters you've put up. lol.

"I stayed here because there’s someone — an old friend of Athrun’s — that asked if I wanted to find the answers like he did." i was surfing the channels when i passed this program showing gundam seed, and the episode airing was this one, where athrun and kira and dearka were talking, and kira was offering to discover the answers together. when i read this line, i was like, hey i just saw that reference last night! lol.

whew, just the first chapter yet you've managed to make me itch to write. i get that when i'm reading something good, and it's been quite some time since i last touched my gundam seed WIPs. i've kind of fixated on finishing a standalone for a different fandom, and for some reason, i want to really get it done first before going back to gundam seed, but this prologue of yours, it made me want to go back to GS right away! funny that.

this is the first GS fic i've read in a very long time and i'm so NOT disappointed.

oh yeah, before i forget, i love your title. i don't know, but i have a thing about titles, phrase titles, like something simple and mundane but speaks of something deeper. haha, can't explain it, but, well, yeah, i love your title.

Inconsistency? Well, it kind of seems that way from a character point of view too. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I'll read further.

Okay, so I rather got the impression that Shiho didn't like Yzak much. Now I can understand her apologizing after Yzak made her realize how terrible she was acting, but... to completely flip-flop into wanted to be his ally and speaking so casually with him (It was this sentence: "'Yeah right,' Shiho retorted. “Someone has to back you, Joule, and it might as well be me.'") kind of makes me wonder. It seems a little too much in such a short span. Maybe that flip-flopping inconsistency is supposed to be there, but it makes her a little less awesome as a character, methinks. Yeah, she goes from running after him in a rather subordinate puppy fashion to her a walk that radiates confidence in three lines of dialogue.

"Yzak didn’t like thinking that Shiho had been analyzing him without his knowledge or consent." How true. LOL, oh Yzak, you're amazing.

But I do like your use of Shiho to give an analysis of Yzak's actions. It's neat because this is all from Yzak's pov, and you've managed to get us inside his head and then also how other's view him. Nicely done for both.

Erg, maybe because I've just been so harsh on Shiho, I feel like that paragraph about her is... awkward. Shouldn't a lot of that be obvious? It's not bad writing, to be sure, and the bits at the end that is more about Yzak and her are important. I just feel that this seems an awful lot like telling (as opposed to showing) that I'm not used to seeing in your writing.

"The only other soldier Yzak had known to be so impervious to his dislike had been…." Yeah, I sort of expected that to be DEARKA, rather than Zala. But upon a second reading, I suppose one can argue that although Yzak treats everyone to his verbal abuse, he doesn't dislike Dearka.

OH. Poor Yzak. That just sucks balls... realizing Athrun was right.

*snort* Offensively orange hair? I love it. XD

"“Has anyone told you that your obsessive knowledge of suit types extends far beyond the realm of normal?” Yzak asked." LOL.

"Yzak’s face contorted. Ten seconds and he already hated Westenfluss." Again, LOL.

Dude, Heine is so... well, like his hair: offensive. Not purposely, but he still is.

Er, I don't think Yzak would believe Heine's story so easily. I don't think he'd believe that Heine would be fighting on par with someone like Le Creuset or La Flaga. He'd probably chalk it up to exaggeration.

Ew, did you really just compare Heine to Durandal? Shame on you. Then again, your Heine seems a little less cool than the one that Zala meets later.

HELL YES, RIGHTEOUS FURY. GO YZAK.

OH DEARKA! HOW COULD YOU?! Argh, that was Yzak's faith in you that you just betrayed. Sure, they were dismantling the Buster, but seriously, SERIOUSLY?!

UGH, YOU MADE IT ANGSTY NOW, YOU KNOW. GRAH!

*slaps forehead* Why did you have to go and be all stupid Dearka? *deep sigh and shake of head*

I'm looking forward to seeing how Yzak's gonna try and sort their way out of this mess. Poor guy could do with a holiday!

Yeesh Silver Sole you're storming through these chapters at super fast speed! I logged on today to discover such a plentiful reading treat, it's easy to see why I always loved you so much ^__^ And yes, I do think your writing's matured, though not in a sense that I think your stuff was less amazing before, more in a sense of me reading and thinking, Whoah, the complexity of the politics going on in here is so damn deep I think you could easily write the next gundam script! Haha!

*Giant squishy hugs*

First, I think your translation is quite accurate. And now the title makes sense. XD

I'm going to be moving right on to the next chapter, and I don't have that much to say about this one, other than... there's something a little odd about the flow of it. Maybe it's just me though, getting interrupted by Beowulf and hunger. But I'm not sure that it all really fits together as nicely as some of your other pieces do. Durandal seems to suddenly appear, and then just as suddenly disappear, and then the conversation with Dearka is... gah, I can't decide now if you've done it on purpose, making that conversation all faulty in a way because there are gaps in their relationship. It feels like something is missing in here, though, and I can't decide if it works, or if it doesn't. Yzak seems a little too quick to attack his old pal, though. Then again, he was just accused of being the bad guy, and... oh well, I'm going to read the next part now.

You make Ezalia Joule sound so nice. XD But it's hella creepy how they're not allowed to speak. Makes ZAFT seem like a bad place... way to screw with Yzak's head and loyalties.

And Shiho is awesome. I love how she's arguing about mobile suits. So awesome. <3

But I can see how Yzak isn't sure he can even trust her right now. This is kind of a creepy, surreal chapter in some ways.

“It will take more than a pop singer and Zala’s son in a heisted mobile suit to win the Earth Forces over." OH. MY. GOD. I LOVE YOUR SHIHO FOR THAT REMARK!!

THEY TOOK THE DUEL?! Good lord, Yzak is losing everything, isn't he? And yeah, the respect of his fellow pilots (*coughShihocough*) too.

Yeah, I think she went a bit too far to lash out at Yzak that way, so I'm glad he got her back. Gr.

"Could that be because we’re in space?” Oh Dearka. Somehow, as soon as the word "gravity" had been mentioned, I was already anticipating a pun. XD I'm ever-so-glad you didn't let me down.

Damn, your prediction IS scarily convincing, Dearka. Sounds like someone's been spending time around Yamato. XD

Poor Yzak... everyone's blaming him for being a soldier. Sounds like what happened when soldiers came back from Vietnam or something. Not appreciated because they were ordered to be soldiers. Seriously, that's a position I'd never want to be in. I mean, it's hard enough to be out there fighting, but to come back and have people give you a hard time because you were protecting them or whatever... gah, Dearka needs to get it through his head that Yzak too, was simply doing the best he could at the time.

And I rather hate seeing them angry at each other, but I'm so glad that Yzak still has his loyalty to his friend. XD

Oh god. Oh god oh god. You are positively killing me right now...

I am really amazed at how seamlessly this story is fitting intot he timeline so far, it's almost like I'm reading an official release. Good job!

I love the way you portray how the world is literally about to turn upside down for all the former soldiers, especially one like Yzak who almost blindly fought for what he was convinced was right. It's more than unsettling when your world and your values are questioned so completely, and what was heroic yesterday suddenly is something wrong and unethical. It's also heartbreaking to see how Yzak feels like he has the fate of Dearka on his shoulders too... i feel like he's just that kind of person who thinks he is responsible for everything and doesn't realize how his friends really care or want to help him...

I am looking forward to the next update!

So here is my review that i promised. I'll keep one short and sweet cuz I need to go and read the next two chapters, the end of this one is KILLING me...

It's just so amazingly great that you decided to write this fic, because aside from the obvious problem of the lack of Yzak and Dearka in the actual series, we are just left to imagine what could possibly have happened in the blank two years in between GS and GSD.

Your writing always manages to just grasp the reader and it's amazing. The last line has just got me shaking with anxiousness...