When the elevator doors opened, Mare Strode walked with purpose. Briefly stationed at Aprilius One, he had a specific destination in mind before his next deployment. On an upper floor in the capital building, he walked past numerous soldiers and officials donning uniforms of various colors, nearly all of them engaged in deep discussion or activity. After Bloody Valentine, the place never stopped bustling.

Taking a right he nearly bumped into an officer in black. Mare didn't bother moving out of the way, and only the officer's last second swerving avoided a collision. He glared at Mare's retreating back but let him go, having more important duties than disciplining a ZAFT red.

Aprilius One was the capital, and more importantly where the ZAFT Supreme Council conducts their meetings. With that in mind, each Council member is given their own office inside the capital building. He reached one of them the same time he stopped walking. The secretary outside the door noticed his proximity and frowned. Her desk was incredibly disorganized and didn't need any interruptions.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I've scheduled an appointment in a few minutes with the Defense Committee Chairman. I'm Mare Strode."

"Mare Strode?" She looked at the decoration on his red uniform. The Order of the Nebula was rarely handed out, only to those with extraordinary achievements. "Oh now I remember you. Thank you for your contributions on the frontlines."

"Thanks. If I get the chance I'll do it again."

She smiled before pressing a button on her phone. "Defense Committee Chairman Zala sir, there's a Mare Strode here to see you."

"Very well. Send him in."

He walked inside to find the next ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman writing on some document. A slight case of anxiety crept up as he saw the man's frown. Mare hoped he didn't catch him at a bad time. Getting this appointment required turning in a rare and significant favor from a high-ranking ZAFT official with a son he'd saved during the recent battle. He knew a second chance was nearly impossible.

"You're the young man who fought at Yggdrasil beside Le Creuset, is that correct?" Zala knew the answer, but didn't understand for the life of him what this soldier wanted.

His mouth stretched into a smile. "Yes sir. The less Naturals around the better."

Patrick nodded. At least this soldier understood reality. "What do you want?"

Mare straightened further. Everything hinged on this conversation. "There's something I need to tell you sir. It's going to be hard to believe, but I assure you that it is all true."

Disclaimer
I don't own Gundam SEED or any series associated with Cosmic Era Gundam.

Summary
Durandal won at Messiah. By CE 78, with all hope lost the few remaining survivors against the worldwide accepted Destiny Plan resort to time travel in hopes of fixing mistakes of the past. Four of them are sent: Kira Yamato, Lunamaria Hawke, Mare Strode and Selene McGriff.

Note(s)
Pairings are undecided, but there could possibly be at least one male/female, male/male and female/female in the course of the story.

Only Road Forward Goes Back

8 Years Back

Chapter 2: Blindsided Wrench

By Big-Babidi

"Thank you so much! Please stay with us again!" Lunamaria hollered out to a customer leaving the hotel.

"Lunamaria!" Her manager called. When she approached he smiled. "You're doing great as always. Just go ahead and scrub the floors and I'll let you go early."

"Are you sure? I don't mind working the hours." She offered pleasantly. She worked for a nice guy that treated his employees fairly. When Luna decided on this job, she feared the person in charge would be a lecherous scumbag. That wasn't the case and she felt grateful. "Besides, my ride won't get here until the time I'm scheduled to leave anyway."

"If you insist, I don't mind." He chuckled. "You're the youngest here, but sometimes I wish the others could be like you."

Luna beamed before returning to her work. Filling one of the hotel's mop buckets with floor cleaner and she begun scrubbing by the reception desk. With each swipe across the tile, her thoughts strayed to her current plan, to why she applied for this job.

After spending a week of playing with Meyrin and basically hoarding her sister for herself, Lunamaria started brainstorming the first step in her contributions to saving the future. Joining ZAFT early first came to mind. Considering the date of her arrival, she had a shot at sharing classes with Athrun, Yzak and Dearka if she enrolled quickly. Tempting as hell –she would love to see those three in the academy– but reality made it unfeasible. Working for ZAFT meant eventually working for Durandal. No thanks.

She thought of enjoying the peace with Meyrin, doing everything in her power to convince her little sister not to join ZAFT. There were so many things she wanted to tell Meyrin she'd never been able to. That idea didn't last either. If she spent this opportunity by running away, then someone else should've taken her place on the time machine.

Which brought about the current actions. Working part-time and attending school sucked, but with an adult's mindset she easily made it work. As a twenty two year old woman in a thirteen year old's body, her school work was comically simple, allowing more hours for her job. More hours meant more money. More money meant saving up for a trip to Heliopolis during January next year. She knew when Kira's adventure started, and couldn't think of a better way to involve herself in fixing the past than by his side.

Floor clean, Lunamaria placed a wet-floor sign in the center of her work before pushing the mop bucket to the other side.

'Don't worry Kira. We're all in this together. I won't let you guys fight alone.'

Hours passed and before she knew it Lunamaria left the hotel's lobby into the cool night sky. The exhausted girl walked past several cars in the almost full parking lot, heading to her mother's car nearby. She saw Meyrin in the passenger seat, slouched while playing around on her cell phone. Lunamaria opened the car with one hand, the other carrying her sister's favorite soft drink.

"Hey sis, is that fruit punch?" Meyrin asked once her sister stepped inside.

Nodding, Lunamaria wordlessly handed it over, enjoying the beaming smile on her sister's face as Meyrin slurped through the straw.

"How was work Luna?" Mrs. Hawke wanted to know, eyes on the road as she put her car in reverse.

She yawned. "It was good. With any luck, I think I can keep getting more hours."

"As long as you keep your grades up, your father and I don't mind picking you up." She turned around when driving backwards and used the opportunity to give her oldest a reassuring smile.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, sweetie."

Leaned back against the seat, Lunamaria securely fastened her safety belt and closed her eyes. She felt her mother's car drive forward and back home from another day of work. So far, so good. As long as she saved a mediocre amount of money from each paycheck, she calculated there would be more than enough in savings for the short trip. A benefit to her supposed childish age, her lack of bills and monthly payments was a definite asset to this objective.

"Don't fall asleep sis. I barely got to see you today!" Meyrin whined, her phone set aside and fruit punch placed in a cup holder. She tried to glare at her with big, sad eyes.

Her own eyes reopened, Lunamaria quickly placated her little sister. "I'm sorry Meyrin. Tell you what, we'll do whatever you want before bed tonight, ok?"

"Yay!" Meyrin clapped, her pigtails rocked when she tilted her head.

With a quiet sigh, Lunamaria understood she'd get a lot less sleep than she planned … but for that smile, it was worth it.

Seated on a booth in a local restaurant with his friends, Kira looked out the window in deep thought. Birdy sat on his shoulder, letting out the occasional chirp. He was grateful Sai kept it around when he passed out earlier.

He had almost a year to prepare for the big day: January 25. While he wouldn't pretend to remember everything that happened in the past, he recalled the raid on Heliopolis exceptionally. From his friends on the colony to Cagalli and Murrue and the Archangel.

"Kira?"

He wanted to make it right, but so much could go wrong he couldn't even begin to truly strategize. His last experience counted on so much luck. He had to be in the same room as Cagalli when the attack begun. He had to follow her and make the same right and wrong turns. He had to make sure she didn't get shot when stumbling upon the Strike. He had to convince that chauvinistic fucker to permit her access to their shelter for being a girl. He had to warn Murrue of a ZAFT shooter behind her. He had to see Athrun while caught in his fight against Murrue without getting killed in the crossfire.

"Kira?"

And that was only if he wanted to keep things similar. If events change, if his actions change, Murrue's death was almost certain and Cagalli's chances fared only slightly better. Planning to travel back in time and fix everything sounded both simple and awesome, but seemed more like an impossible nightmare after delving deep into specifics.

Even if he succeeded, the less he thought of fighting the Le Creuset team redcoats the better. Athrun was a bro, Dearka was cool, Nicol was Athrun's friend and Yzak had been a valuable pilot in the early stages of the rebellion, his GOUF cut in half down the middle during an early encounter with the Berserker almost two years after Orb fell.

"Hey Kira!"

Snapping back to reality, Kira realized that conversation ceased and he became the center of attention.

"Sorry about that. Guess I was spacing out." He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile, feeling extra stupid when noticing everyone else was halfway into their meals where his salad remained untouched. The fork beside it stayed trapped in plastic wrap.

"You doin' alright Kira?" Tolle asked, finally diverting attention away from his bacon cheeseburger. "You seem to be doing that a lot."

"Yeah, it's nothing. Sorry." Fork unwrapped, he stabbed into his meal. Before he could place it in his mouth, Kira felt a gentle grip on his arm.

"Are you sure?" Miriallia's face showed unmistakable concern.

Nodding, he showed her a smile. "I've just had a few things on my mind. It's no problem." He took a bite, feeling the combined taste of lettuce, shredded cheese and a grape tomato.

She narrowed her eyes in obvious disbelief and he barely restrained a groan.

Three months since traveling through time, and Kira Yamato learned that changing the course of history didn't always turn out for the better. Since his little collapse, the girl sitting close enough for their legs to touch hadn't left him alone. Constant phone calls, sticking to him like glue at school and sometimes riding home together to name a few, the latter led to her meeting a highly amused Caridad Yamato several times. She even dressed differently, with a tight sleeveless shirt above small jean shorts and white flip flops. In all the years of knowing Miriallia Haw, he'd never seen so much of her skin.

It bugged him. Tolle and Miriallia were great friends, and made an even better couple. When he thought of an excellent well balanced relationship between friends near his age, Tolle and Miri came to mind before anyone else. Compared to Athrun and Cagalli, Dearka and Miriallia and Lacus and himself, it never surprised him either.

Worse than that was his own involuntary reaction. Despite an extra eight years of life experience, Kira's hormonal teenage body enjoyed her affection. The other day she'd placed a hand on his knee with a slight caress, and all of a sudden he found it rather prudent to remain seated.

"Well if you say so, then that's good enough for me." Sai spoke up, smiling in Kira's direction and giving him the benefit of the doubt. He then dipped a French fry in a side of ketchup.

"Thanks Sai." A good friend, no matter what the year. Seeing him for the first time after showing up in the past had been a different type of awkward compared to the others. Sai Argyle had been alive during Cosmic Era 78, and at 24 years old he looked his age. An adult's face with a pair of sideburns the teenager seated across from him clearly lacked. A man who'd expanded his technological expertise while aiding the rebellion. From his usual position aboard a warship's CIC to engineering and mobile suit development and to help the group's Coordinators build a freakin' time machine. Kira remembered his friend's accomplishments well.

"Enough of that," Tolle said, "what are you guys doing this weekend?"

Kuzzey spoke up for the first time since Kira stopped spacing out. He sat on the same side of the booth as Miriallia and him. "Remember that game I bought yesterday? Playing it is what I'm doing."

"Oh yeah, that looked freakin' awesome." Tolle then finished off his hamburger with a huge bite.

Next to him, Sai nodded enthusiastically.

"You guys can come over if you want. My parents don't mind." Kuzzey gobbled down a chicken nugget.

"Cool. I'm in," Tolle replied with his mouth full. The group shared a good laugh at his antics.

"I'd join you guys, but I already promised Flay to take her out all Saturday." Sai shrugged apologetically.

"Didn't you say she was coming over here?" Miriallia asked. She'd let go of Kira and returned to her meal, the same salad and bottled water ordered by her crush. Sending unsubtle glances to him occasionally, she was pleased to see him paying attention to the conversation. The brunette considered that behavior vastly preferable to the sad yet intense look he'd get on his face when drifting off so commonly nowadays.

"Yep, any minute now. I'll order some desserts when she gets here."

"Good thing I haven't finished yet. I think I'll take my time with this," Kira said, taking another bite, this one with grilled chicken and apple added to the mix.

Tolle raised his plastic cup of soda. "You're a good man, Kira. Good man."

"I do the best I can." He returned the gesture with fake modesty. It felt good to joke around with the others like this. In peaceful times away from a ship and outside the horrors of war. A daily reminder of what he and the others were fighting for.

"What about you?" Sai asked.

"Huh?"

"That's right! What are you doing this weekend?" Miriallia smiled pleasantly.

"Hmm … not sure. Probably hit the gym, maybe spend some time at the shooting range, though if you got room for one more Kuzzey, I wouldn't mind hanging out with you guys either." Some days Kira wondered if he traveled too far back in the past. He wanted to prepare, but as a barely fifteen year old technical college student, there was little he could do save for keeping himself in good shape.

"Yeah sure. It's no problem. Heck, we'll probably order a pizza or something," Kuzzey said.

At that moment, a door chime sounded from behind them. Three teenage girls emerged past the opened door. Kira hardly remembered the brunette in pigtails, nor the girl with short black hair, but the redhead in a matching pink blouse and skirt along with red shoes was someone he would never forget. Flay Allster led her friends to their booth upon making eye contact with Sai. A small, weak part of Kira couldn't help but wish the tender smile that lit up her face was because of him, a part he quickly ignored. This hadn't been his first Flay sighting since the time travel, but her presence still managed to leave him slightly shaken.

"Hey, I'm grabbing some dessert with Flay. Do you guys want anything? Like a shake or pastry." Sai asked the group.

"It wouldn't surprise me if everyone wanted one. The shakes here are pretty damn good." Tolle mused. "Am I right or what?"

Everyone beside Kira agreed with his assessment. It didn't escape Sai's notice.

"What about you Kira?"

"Sure why not?" He shrugged amusedly. A single milkshake wouldn't defeat the Ultimate Coordinator.

"Alright. We'll need some help carrying them back though."

"We'll do it!" Flay's brunette friend offered. The other girl was quick to join her. Additionally, Tolle stood up to help as well.

Kira had a gentle smile as he observed Sai and Flay. The two walked side by side like the nervous yet eager teenagers that they were. This was how it should've been. For years he'd never stopped feeling like an asshole for twisting Sai's arm in the desert and taking his girl, even if Flay made the first move. Not this time. His friend deserved to be happy, they all did. He had to ensure that, regardless of his own fate.

"Man, it's too bad they couldn't have something cooler on." What Kuzzey referred to was a large screen television set placed against a wall approximately thirty feet away, another booth and several tables in between them. The volume was too low for them to hear, resulting in the teenagers easily ignoring it. Other customers near the screen viewed with almost undivided attention, barely giving their own food a second glance.

"What channel is that?" Miriallia wondered.

"I think they're covering news in the PLANTs, what with the ZAFT symbol in the upper corner," Kira replied. Furthermore, he happened to recognize the reporter onscreen. Bernadette Leroux had been ecstatic to carry Jess Rabble's child, the pregnancy lasting eight long months before mother and baby suffocated to death while trapped inside a burning building.

"Oh right. Silly me." Miriallia stuck out her tongue before making a cheeky grin.

Kira smiled back. He dug his fork through lettuce and diced onion and placed it inside his mouth.

"You'd think there would be something more awesome on. Like a sci-fi show." Kuzzey let out a sigh before taking a sip from his soda.

"Or a cooking show."

Kira looked at her with wide eyes. "I didn't know you cooked."

"Oh … well, I've still got a way to go," Miriallia said, accompanied by nervous laughter. "A long way to go."

At that statement, Kira recalled a memory. Another lifetime ago, Tolle mentioned her atrocious skills in the kitchen. So horrendous that he ended up making all decisions regarding the culinary arts during their dates.

"Don't feel bad. Just keep practicing. If you want some help, I'm sure my mom would give you a hand."

"Really? Thanks."

Afterwards, silence reigned between the three. Kuzzey didn't have much to say, Kira kept eating and Miriallia felt content that nobody insulted and instead encouraged her feeble attempts at cooking, something she revealed for the first time. A couple minutes later and their friend's voices came closer and closer.

"… and after that, I've never pet an alligator without wearing floaties again." Tolle swung his arms animatedly while talking to Flay's pig-tailed friend, who kept giggling at his antics. The shakes he carried in both hands would've made several small splashes of cookies & cream across the floor without the lids tightly sealed up top.

"Yeah, I'm sure it happened just like that," she said brightly, shaking her head.

Tolle's smile widened as he slid onto the booth first until reaching the window and sitting across from Kira, then set down a shake and straw in front of his Coordinator friend.

"Thank you." Straw utilized, Kira took a sip and enjoyed the sensation of chocolate cookie and ice cream combined.

"No prob."

The pig-tailed girl followed suit, sliding in next to Tolle. Flay was next, handing a shake to Miriallia and Kuzzey, then received her own from Sai as her fiancé sat beside her and on the booth's edge. Across from him was Flay's short-haired friend, who scooted to Kuzzy. The boy in question appeared to had been knocked out of his comfort zone, surrounded by cute girls. He quieted down, and seemed to take extra time finishing off the last remaining French fries on his tray. Afterwards, he would slowly savor each ounce of his shake.

"You can make it by noon right?" Flay asked her betrothed.

"Yeah. It's no problem."

"And you're coming too right Misha?"

The short-haired girl nodded. "Yeah I'll be there."

'Misha. That's right.' Kira thought. 'Flay's friends were Jessica and Misha.'

"What about you Miri? All day shopping!" Flay sang jovially, her hands clapped together.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe." She gave a sidelong glance to Kira. The Coordinator had just taken the last bite of his salad, and when he caught her staring, he had two cheeks puffed full of food. He blinked with wide eyes, and she found herself blushing. 'Cute!' She thought before turning away. Miriallia crossed and uncrossed her ankles repeatedly.

Flay smiled at her and mouthed the words "good luck".

Kira pretended to miss it, along with ignoring the twist in his stomach of sheer wrongness.

"Aww come on!" Jessica pouted, lightly pounding the table. At the other girl's shrug, she turned to Tolle. "Are you going with us?"

"Sorry, but I already got plans." He nodded at the grateful look Kuzzey sent his way.

"Seriously?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What could possibly be cooler than-"

"Holy shit!"

That exclamation brought the teenager's discussion to a halt. Everyone on Tolle's side of the booth turned around, noting that some sort of commotion had taken place near the television. Four diners had been watching, and all of them acted in various degrees of panic. One of them ran past Kira and his friends in a mad dash, only stopping when face to face with the nearest employee.

"Sir, could you please turn up the volume? Everyone needs to hear this, it's horrible!"

Like the first exclamation, this too was heard by the teens. They paid extra attention to what showed on TV: a ZAFT official (likely the Supreme Council's press secretary) on stage in what looked like a press conference, speaking to journalists from all over the Earth and its space colonies. Near the bottom of the screen were the words "Breaking News: Supreme Council Chairman Murdered Last Night".

'That … can't be right. There's no way Seigel Clyne could be dead now.' Kira paled, his fists curled with enough force to whiten his knuckles, though he completely ignored it all as he tried to contemplate something that shouldn't be possible. Lacus' father had been killed in their time, but his murder happened over a year from now, after a certain mobile suit theft involving Kira's own participation. What could've possibly occurred to cause this radical change from everything he remembered? The obvious answer was one of the others, but none made sense. Lunamaria and Selene would never kill such an outstanding leader, and Mare tended to hate Naturals not Coordinators.

"For further detail, I present to you the Defense Committee Chairman, Patrick Zala."

The entire screen was white momentarily from the cascade of flashing cameras. Once they diminished, the high official in question had already stood behind the podium. Kira couldn't help the way his eyes narrowed. Patrick Zala had been responsible for so much destruction in the first war. His anti-Natural rhetoric fueling the flames of hate, the catastrophic weapon GENESIS and putting a bullet in his own son, a wound that Kira's best friend had never fully recovered from. Along with Blue Cosmos and Gilbert Durandal, he had to be stopped.

"People of the PLANTs, and fellow Coordinators among the Earth, I bring to you a most devastating piece of news. Yesterday night at approximately 7:18 P.M., a group of six well trained assailants snuck inside and attacked the manor of ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman, Seigel Clyne. While his security detail fought to protect him to their best ability, they were unable to protect him. The attack lasted approximately five minutes, but by the time reinforcements arrived, it was already too late."

A long pause. Cameras lit up the screen once again and journalists exploded out of their seats, trying to talk over each other when asking questions. Patrick raised an authoritative hand. "Please." He waited until they resumed their seats and kept quiet. Zala took a deep breath, and for but a fleeting moment, his stony visage twisted to a grief-stricken expression. The look surprised Kira more than he expected, but despite this man's hideous actions in the future, the fact remained that one of his closest friends had recently died.

"Unfortunately, yesterday's tragedy didn't end there. At the time of the attack, Chairman Clyne had invited several colleagues for a meeting over dinner, and it pains me to say that none of them survived. Along with Chairman Clyne's servants, kitchen staff and security detail." He paused again before continuing. "Diplomatic Committee member Eileen Canaver, Legislative Committee Chairman Ali Kasim as well as Clyne supporter and genetic expert Gilbert Durandal had also lost their lives in this massacre."

If Kira had been surprised before, it paled in comparison to the overwhelming shock that now consumed him. Durandal … dead? What the hell? How could this happen? Who could've done this? Again he brainstormed the others, but didn't think any of them could arrange this. Mare Strode was a soldier, but no one that high up that chain. Even if Lunamaria decided to enlist early, she couldn't have graduated already. Was it Selene? He doubted her initially, but she could've deemed Clyne's death a necessary sacrifice if it meant killing Durandal. The DSSD engineer did earn an impressive salary from her work, possibly enough to hire the hit squad skilled enough to make the kill. Between the four of them, he couldn't imagine anyone else having better means to pull it off. If so, he hoped she laid low for a while.

Regardless, their work wasn't over yet. They had other problems, like the man on screen.

"The six assailants had all been apprehended shortly after the attack. Their affiliations are unknown at this time, however an early examination of their health has confirmed that all of them are Naturals."

If Selene arranged it, and if they talked under interrogation … she better have a contingency plan. Kira shook his head. Too many what-ifs. Uncurling his fists, He thought of the other names. He knew almost nothing of Ali Kasim, but Eileen Canaver shouldn't have died yesterday either, normally becoming Supreme Council Chairwoman after Zala once the first war concluded.

"Due to our lack of information, we cannot completely state their motives at this time. As a result, we have kept Chairman Clyne's daughter, Lacus Clyne, under our protection. Until more information is uncovered and her safety can be guaranteed, she will remain under a strict heavy guard. As she is with us today, she has made a request to speak tonight, and as one human being to another, I have decided to honor it. We would all appreciate if you refrain any questions or interruptions during her time on stage. Please keep in mind this is a young teenage girl who lost her father, not the sensational celebrity you're used to interviewing."

Patrick stepped aside. In his place, a pink-haired girl stood in front of various microphones above the podium. She trembled and her puffy eyes made it obvious she'd been crying. "My name is Lacus Clyne. As you've no doubt heard, my father was murdered yesterday by a group of Naturals …."

"This is … this is impossible." Kira whispered, staring at her with undisguised horror. Among these insane revelations, none scared him more than what he saw. Birdy chirped at him in concern.

As she continued speaking, the other teenagers finally shared their own thoughts in a jumbled smorgasbord of comments.

"Damn, that's so messed up."

"What do you think will happen now?"

"Get a new chairman I guess."

"That's so horrible."

"No kidding. I can't believe something like that could actually happen."

"That poor girl."

"Kira, what's wrong?"

"Will the homeland be in trouble?"

"Nah, Orb will be fine. We're neutral!"

"I hope so."

"Nothing good can come out of this."

"Hey, are you gonna drink that?"

But Kira Yamato barely registered anything they said. A different yet equally terrifying thought stuck in his mind.

He wondered what the fuck Meer Campbell was doing on that stage.

Review please! :)

EDIT: LMAO ... kudos to the anonymous reviewer who pointed out what's probably the most amusing typo I've ever made, one that's now fixed.