Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: T

Notes: My latest GSD fanfic - where I shall totally change parts whereby I actually disliked in its' main series. Therefore, a total Alternate Universe - this story will be.

Pairings: Auel/Lunamaria & Athrun/Meyrin

Chapter 28 - Unexplainable Actions & the Blooming Love Between Us! (Part 2)

Cosmic Era 73, October 23

GMT: + 08 00 hours

Venue: Archangel Medic Wing, Room A

/Heck! My head hurts like hell ... / That apparently, was the first thought that pops into the mind of a certain pale-haired 'Extended' pilot - upon his regaining consciousness.

Forcing his eyes open, the said 'Extended' pilot was promptly greeted by the sight of a certain redhead dozing off in a seat situated right next to the bed which he was lying atop of.

Silence. Then, it was followed by the sudden gasp of shock emerging from his lips - upon the sight of the unfamiliar scenery about him. That, and the fact that a certain ZAFT female elite whom he had allowed to escape from his alliance party previous - was now openly seen dozing off by his side.

The term - "What the hell?! ... " was out of his mouth, before he could even stop himself. Being overwhelm by the feeling of shock, his body jerked towards the side. However, not realizing that he was injured and covered with wounds from waist-down. His sudden jerking movements causes him to wince aloud in pain.

In the meantime, the redhead whom was previously dozing off was startled by the sudden commotion and could be seen bolting up to an upright position upon the sound of the wince of pain originating from the fellow injured pilot.

There was a slight pause of silence, whereby the redhead glances about the surrounding - trying to recall her current location - before her sight landed upon the now awake 'Extended' pilot.

It took her only five seconds of silence, whereby she fixed her unmoving gaze upon the fellow 'Extended' pilot - trying to figure out that the sight was not part of her hallucation before she flee from the medic wing and went in search for the medic crew members on duty.

Meanwhile, Auel Neider - the fellow 'Extended' pilot could only stared dumbly at the now open door leading towards the corridor outside in response. For, he was trapped in a torrent of confusion. Part of him was wondering about his current prediacment and his current location, whereas the other part of him was confused about the redhead's presence by his side.

Surely, he was not currently being situated on board of a fellow ZAFT ship - right? After all, the redhead was not dressed in her typical red elite uniform of the ZAFT Forces ... So if he was not being stationed with the ZAFT Forces, then where on earth was him being held - now?

His thoughts was abruptly put to a temporary stop - when he heard a series of thundering footsteps heading towards the room where he was being situated in. The next moment, he found himself being surrounded by a cohort of medical personnels whom was crowding about him, and inspecting his body condition by conducting various examination and tests on him.

"... " Auel said nothing in response, but remained strangely still and subdued while the many medical staff conduct various tests upon him. All he did was to stare intently at the silent, and unmoving redhead figure whom was loitering somewhere behind the medical personnels but had her gaze fixed on all the wounded areas of his body whereby the medical crew was busy fixing up.

Auel had no idea how long the whole period of examination and treatment had took up, all he was aware was that he was not on board of any vessels from his own alliance party - nor was he being situated on any ZAFT vessels. Since he could hardly see any ZAFT personnel around the place, with the sole exception of the redhead that he had first sighted upon his regaining consciousness. Then again, the redhead was not spotting on either of the ZAFT personnels uniforms.

Eventually, the medical crew seemed to be satisfied with their findings and observations that they have retrieved from his body condition. Nodding towards the redhead in silent acknowledgement, the group of medical crew left the room - leaving behind the redhead with him.

Awkwardness. That was the only term that could be used to describe the current atmosphere that hungs between the two people whom was present within the medic wing. Neither of them spoke, for they each seemed to be waiting patiently for the other party to take the initiative to start a conversation.

Eventually, it was Auel, himself - whom could withstand the awkward silence no longer and thus being the one whom initiated the conversation session. After all, he needed answers - and and probably some explanations that might help him in understanding his current situation better.

Moreover, he wanted updates on the outcome of the last battle which he had taken part in. For the last memory which he could recalled prior to his losing consciousness was that the attack coming from the 'Blast Impulse' had somehow managed to penetrate through his unit of 'Abyss'.

Although, the attack did not exactly hits the cockpit - it had successfully in penetrating through the engine of the said unit. Thus - eventually, resulted in the explosion of his unit that followed soon after the attack.

Cosmic Era 73, October 23

GMT: 09 00 hours

Venue: Archangel Medic Wing

"... So ..." Auel started, only to find himself at a loss of speech. Though, he has quite a number of questions lingering on his mind - still, he found himself having trouble voicing them aloud to the redhead whom was standing in front of him, unmovingly.

Lunamaria Hawke, at the same time, seemed to be awaiting for the pale-haired 'Extended' pilot to finish his statement - patiently. However, as the seconds turned slowly into minutes; she knew the former was not going to speak up - anytime soon. Either that, or that the former was indeed having some problems with expressing his thoughts aloud.

Just as she was contemplating if she should be the one to make an attempt in addressing some of the doubts which she believed the former might be needing answers to - the door leading to the medic wing slided open, at that exact timing.

With a sigh inwardly, Lunamaria turned around to look at the person whom had intruded in on them - only to find a certain brown-haired Coordinator, named Kira Yamato standing in the doorway; as though debating if he should stepped in.

"... " Neither Lunamaria or Auel Neider, made an attempt to question reason behind the brown-haired Coordinator's sudden arrival. They merely stared at the newly arrived Kira Yamato, silently and with anticipation.

"..." Kira's eyes flickered between the two occupants, before clearing his throat awkwardly and started his intended speech.

"Alright, sorry to interrupt. However, I do have some questions for the fellow alliance pilot. At the same time, I believe there should be some questions that - you might be needing answers to ... Am I right to assume that? " Kira said, fixing his gaze upon Auel Neider - specifically.

Almost immediately, the pale-haired 'Extended' pilot shifted his glance from the redhead towards Kira. Feeling exceptionally relieved that there was someone else whom could provide him with an explanation or sorts to his current prediacment, since he was obviously unable to form a coherent sentence when he was facing the fellow redhead.

On the other hand, Lunamaria Hawke was feeling anything but satisfied with the fellow 'Extended' pilot's reaction to Kira's arrival. For - it made her feel as though she had been left out on the conversation, on purpose. Yet, there was nothing she could have done to intervene, since the fleet that she was now currently on board was the Archangel - not the Minerva.

If it had been the Minerva that she was currently being situated on, she would have more than enough authority power to intervene and take part in the ongoing questioning session between Kira and Auel. However, unfortunately for her - that was not the case. For, she was no one but a mere refuge on board of the Archangel.

Keeping half her attention span on the ongoing conversation taking place between the two male occupants in the room, Lunamaria allowed the other half of her mind to wander off on its' own. She was in the middle of reflecting back on her days spend with the alliance party as their hostage, when the question of whether Auel wanted to be send back to the alliance party or to remain on board on the Archangel - reaches her hearing range.

Immediately, her eyes landed upon the pale-haired 'Extended' pilot still situated on the bed . Auel, too had his eyes widen somewhat upon Kira's suggestion of letting him choose between returning to where his alliance party was or to stay and remain on board of the Archangel.

Subconsciously, he felt his eyes darting towards where Lunamaria had been standing all this while - only to find himself locking gaze with the fellow redhead. The look of silent intent in the former's eyes causes him to look back at the brown-haired ORB officer - instead.

Instinctively, he could felt Lunamaria staring a hole into his skull from his current location. Finally, he let out a sigh and asked if he could have some time to consider things over before giving them his response.

Silence. Followed by a careful nod of Kira Yamato's head, as the fellow brown-haired Coordinator spoke up.

"Sure, just let us know when you have your decision made. "

With that said, Kira departed from the medic wing - leaving behind the two occupants whom seemed to have lots to communicate about.

Once outside, Kira Yamato could not helped but shake his head in response. Inwardly, he was wondering about the reason why he had been so stupid to volunteer himself for the questioning session, when he obviously knew that Lunamaria Hawke would be in the same room listening in on the questioning session.

Even now, he could still remembered the sight of Lunamaria's heated glare upon him when he had suggested for the pale-haired 'Extended' pilot to return to the alliance party. Thankfully, he had emphasised on the part that the 'Extended' pilot could choose between leaving or staying. Else, he had a very clear idea of what Lunamaria would be doing to him - at a later stage of time.

For now, he was considered still safe and sound. At least, until the 'Extended' pilot had his decision made.

Cosmic Era 73, October 23

GMT: 12 00 hours

Venue: Minerva's Medic Wing

Shinn Asuka had been walking past the medic wing, when he distinctively heard the conversation going on between his Captain and the Medic Crew Head person in charge. At first, he was about to shrug and walk away - but upon hearing them saying something about the 'Extended' pilot. Shinn Asuka paused in his steps, and decided to eavesdrop on their conversation till' the end.

As soon as he heard the doctor's words that the 'Extended' probably would not be survived beyond the week, Shinn felt his heart drop to its' pit. For there was only one 'Extended' currently on board, and that was Stellar. Initially, the idea of returning Stellar to the Alliance party was only an impulse. However, upon hearing about what the Captain and the medic crew would be doing to the blonde once the 'Extended' had passes on. Shinn had his decision made.

There was no absolute way for him to stand-by and watched Stellar being disected by the ZAFT Forces. It was bad enough that the Alliance party had played around with the genes and mutated with Stellar's genetic information when she was alive - there was no way that he would stand aside and watched his own allies doing the same with Stellar when the former had passes on. Therefore, he decided that very minute that he would be returning Stellar to the Alliance party - that very night, itself.

After all, according to what the medic crew member had said - the reason why Stellar was unable to survive was due to the lack of knowledge about how the 'Extended' body function. That and the fact that they do not have the required medication that was needed to help in the daily functioning of the body organs of an 'Extended' body. So if returning Stellar to the Alliance Party meant getting the former treated, Shinn was willing to let her go back to where she came from - just this once.

His mind made up, Shinn moved slowly away from the medic wing - careful not to let anyone discovered that he was listening in on them. Heading back to his room, Shinn had his mind pre-occupied with ideas to get the blonde 'Extended' pilot away from the ZAFT Forces. Being too engrossed in his thoughts, he failed to take in his surroundings. Thus, eventually - his odd behavior had managed to catch the attention of his fellow room-mate, Rey Za Burrel.

Cosmic Era 73, October 23

GMT: 14 00 hours

Venue: Space, Aprilius City

Dearka Elthman shifted uncomfortably in his seat, which was situated opposite of his childhood friend cum superior. Yzak Joule, the Commander of the Joule's Team, meanwhile was eyeing the blond with a look of skepticism.

Somehow, he finds it incredibly hard to believe that the shuttle that was rumoured to be stolen by a terrorist whom impersonated as Ms. Lacus was merely discarded near their area of supervision by coincidence.

"Are you absolutely sure that it was just sheer luck that they discarded the shuttle where you are supposed to be leading a squad on a routine check? " Yzak Joule asked, again - sounding stern.

Dearka Elthman gulped inwardly with nervousness, but he forced himself to remain calm and collected before repeating his previous answer to the silver-haired Commander seated opposite of him.

"... " Yzak Joule remained silent, before sighing aloud and dismissing the blond from his office. The blond was lying, that much - he could tell. Then again, he could understand the reason behind the blond's decision to turn one blind eye on the stolen shuttle issue.

After all, the terrorists whom had stolen the shuttle was not an impersonator of Ms. Lacus but Lacus Clyne, herself. In fact, it was the Chairman whom was lying outright to the public - since the Ms. Lacus whom had been actively participating in events all year round - had been the real fraud.

That much, he could still tell. Still, being a mere subodinate to the Chairman - there was nothing he could have done. Hence, the reason for him to turn one blind eye upon the Chairman's actions. He believed that there would be a logical reason behind the Chairman's every word and actions made or taken.

Yet, what he failed to comprehend was the Chairman's decision to get someone to impersonate as Ms. Lacus and to point a finger at the real Lacus Clyne - calling the former an impersonator when the real Lacus Clyne made her re-appearance.

Then again, if he could understand the motives or the reason behind the Chairman's actions - he would not be stuck here thinking about what to write in that official report that will help to prove his teams' innocence with regards to the stolen shuttle and the escaped terrorists' issue.

Mentally cursing Dearka Elthman for putting him in such a troublesome position, Yzak threw the offending piece of report a death glare before calling in Shiho for a discussion session. For he knew, if there was anyone on his team whom was an expert at preparing a well-written report over-night, it would be Shiho.

~to be continued~

Date started: 05/05/08

Date completed: 30/05/08

Date edited: 30/05/08