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PHASE 01: Times of Change
Council room, Aprilius 1, C.E. 73 5.4
"Sneak Athrun out of the PLANT to Orb? What sort of crazy idea is that?" Yzak bristled with barely disguised agitation.
Leaning back in a seat next to him, Dearka chortled, "Man, did Athrun mess with your mind? You sure sound a lot like him now, Councilor Clyne."
"We do not have a choice," Lacus continued evenly. "Word of the incident had somehow leaked out to the press and the people of the PLANT are now after his blood."
"It serves him right. The imbecile does not deserve to live." Yzak muttered darkly.
"One shouldn't judge another until the whole truth is revealed."
That broke the limit of Yzak's patience; he exploded: "The whole truth? Of course I know the whole truth, Lacus! Dearka and I were there when Kira..." he broke off, trying to rein in his conflicting emotions. "Watch this, you will see what I mean."
He clapped three times: the lights dimmed and all eyes were glued to the screen as the tragedy unfolded on it. The clip started with a close-up of the satellite. Both Yzak's and Dearka's (who was almost definitely the carrier of the recorder) voices were heard confirming the source of the SOS signal before they disembarked the vessel and made their way to the barely visible doorway in the side of the satellite. The door slid open after a few minutes of tinkering with the electronic lock device and the process was repeated as the party made its way into the airlock.
The second door opened as the captive audience looked on. A struggle had obviously taken place in the satellite control room; in the midst of the chaos, Athrun stood staring blankly ahead, revolver in hand, disbelief written on his face. The focus of the clip shifted to a figure suspended in the background: it soon became apparent that the figure was that of Kira, albeit unconscious with blood trickling out of a small bullet hole in the forehead.
"Why, you..."
The disembodied voice was cut off as its owner stopped the clip: "Now that you've seen for yourself, how could you still insist on his innocence?"
"Athrun may be involved in Kira's death, but that doesn't make him a murderer, Yzak," Lacus paused, adding as an afterthought: "And you should know better than to treat him the way you did."
"The guy's mind is gone, I tell you. He could have fought back but no: he just stood there and let Yzak knock the hell out of him," Dearka shook his blonde head. "And he's been like this since. It might be quite some time before we can get anything sensible out of him."
"That's precisely why we have to get him out of the PLANT. We will know the truth only after he has recovered sufficiently to tell us what exactly happened," Lacus nodded in the direction of Cagalli who had been uncharacteristically withdrawn throughout the meeting. "Cagalli and I have agreed on that and I have already obtained consent from the investigational team."
"But..."
"The decision has already been finalized, Yzak," a steely edge crept into Lacus' voice. "Both of you are free to decide whether or not to come with us, but the Hegira is set for Earth at three the next morning."
Yzak stormed out of the council room.
"Great, now I have the delightful job of going after him. Oh well, see you ladies at the port at three then," Dearka shrugged before exiting the room.
More than once when they were alone, they would regale each other with updates on their lives: how wonderful and curious it was to discover the richness of an existence without war, of friendship unmarred by political boundaries, of love that shone like an unemulous ray of light.
Cagalli decided it must have been a false peace – designed to lure its victims into a sense of security before disaster struck.
She glanced at Lacus: the reflex from the window lit her face; she smiled, but her eye was melancholy. Cagalli wished there was something she could do to alleviate her friend's pain.
"Don't bottle it up, Lacus. You would feel much better if you let it all out."
In return for this speech, she got a look of some surprise. And then it was as if the seal of a fountain had yielded under the strain: with many a deep sob, with thrilling, with icy shiver, with strong trembling, and yet with relief – Lacus wept.
When he was sixteen, Yzak Jule had vowed to kill the Earth Alliance pilot who bequeathed him the terrible scar across his face. He never came close to fulfilling his vow: in fact, there was many a time when the opposite almost happened.
Now, at the threshold of his adult life and with the war behind him, he had dissolved the vow, removed the scar surgically and hell: he had even become fast friends with his one-time nemesis.
While he may be hotheaded and impulsive at times, he was decidedly not the unreasonable twit that some made him out to be. Alone in his spacious apartment on October 2, he mulled over the recent conversation he had with Dearka.
"Look, we both know that Athrun would probably be the last sentient being in this solar system to do such a thing without a very good reason. I am not asking you to forgive him, no; but I do hope you will give him a chance to explain everything..."
Give him a chance.
Yzak groaned. Only three more hours and he had not even started packing for the trip; he would most likely not be getting any shut-eye tonight.
FREEDOM PILOT MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD.
SON OF COUNCILOR ZALA MURDERS BEST FRIEND
Try as she might, she simply could not reconcile the tormented figure in front of her with the monster the press made of him.
Like father, like son.
Was the statement applicable in this case? What she really needed to know now was the truth; but all she said was:
"How are you feeling now?"
Athrun remained silent, staring at the ceiling as if he could see right through it. Cagalli drew her chair nearer and waited patiently.
"I have to tell you something, Cagalli," he suddenly spoke up. "I think we should go our separate ways: I am not right for you."
"Wait! Why are you doing this?" She cried, tears gathering unbidden in her eyes. "If you think I have lost faith in you, I..."
"Well then, would you have preferred to remain with your brother's murderer?"
Their eyes locked and Cagalli noticed for the first time how truly beautiful his eyes were: deep wells of emerald that almost glittered with sorrow and pain.
She shoved away the chair, which rolled across the room and hit the wall, "You have changed, Athrun."
Even as she turned her back on him and spun out of the room, Athrun tried to soften the harsh words: he opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Gripping the pendant that hung around his neck, he turned to his pillow; and, still gripping it, steeped that pillow with tears.
... ... End of Phase 01 ... ...
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