Second to the last chapter. I could have updated sooner, but my old laptop betrayed me… My hard drive crashed on me. Everything, my stories, my art, pictures… Everything was erased… Very frustrating, but I've finally gotten me a new laptop. =) But now I have to start from scratch… grrr…

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Yzak believed he had not done anything as stupid as what he was doing now. The sun was barely setting over the mountains, and here he was, crouched over the wire fence that separated the soccer field from the school like an idiot。

Looking over his shoulder to make sure he was alone, he started digging on the dry soil with his fingers. As he did so, his thoughts kept wandering back to the time when he had first met Kari at this very spot. He could not help but curse that fated day. He should really have written it off then, nipped it in the bud. He should have listened to his soldier instincts then. Maybe if he did, maybe if he did not give in to his emotions, maybe if he had been stronger then, if he had not been too caught off guard by the peace, maybe he could have saved himself the heartache he was experiencing now. Too many maybes… He hated the feeling of being unsure. He was Yzak Jule. He was never unsure.

Once he had finally dug a deep enough hole in the ground, he plunged his clean hand into his pocket and pulled out the only reminder he had of Kari; long locks of strawberry-blond hair he had kept ever since that day when Kian had unceremoniously cut Kari's long hair. Yzak stared down at the reminder in his hand, feeling it between his fingers, remembering the silkiness of it and feeling even worse than before. Anger catching him suddenly, he stuffed the locks of hair into the hole he had dug, and filled it with soil in a hurry. He was angry about so many things, angry that Kari did not even consider his feelings about this.

Remembering the letter in his pocket, the one that Kari had given him through Kian, he paused a moment, stopped his shoveling of soil into the hole, and retrieved the letter from his breast pocket. He looked down at it as if it had said something offending to him, in one swift move crumpled it into a tiny ball, then dropped it into the hole with the locks of hair.

It took him a few minutes to get the job done. When he was finally through, that was when he realized someone was standing behind him. He heard him before he saw him.

It was Kian.

"What do you want?" Yzak asked silently, brushing his hands on his shirt as he turned to face the guy.

Kian was staring at him intently. With the fading light that afternoon, his green eyes that reminded Yzak so much of Kari looked like it was glowing as the setting sun reflected against it. "I didn't know you were a sentimental guy."

Yzak narrowed his eyes at him. "You came all this way to be flippant with me?"

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't care less about you. But my sister has experienced enough already. Why can't you just leave her alone?"

Yzak looked away. He knew what Kian was talking about. It had to be that day when he had helped Kari carry her books to her locker then. "I'm trying. You don't know how much I am trying to forget about her, to leave her alone."

"Try harder. You're not trying hard enough."

Yzak nearly snarled at him, but he knew the guy was right. It was easy to say things like this when Kari was not around, but that was the point. She was always there, always appearing at the most unexpected places, unexpected times. But he, for all that was good and holy, did not believe he was obligated to explain this to Kian of all people.

"I'm leaving for space tomorrow, Kian. There's nothing you have to worry about because I'll be gone. Does that make you happy?"

Kian stared at him silently. Yzak could not believe he was having this conversation with him of all people. He competed with Kian stare for stare, blue eyes meeting green ones. Those eyes reminded him so much of Kari that it hurt to look away.

"Look," Kian said suddenly, something in those eyes softening. "To tell you honestly, I did not come here to argue with you."

Yzak smirked. Now he tells him. "Then why the heck did you?"

Kian looked uncomfortable. The emotion seemed as if it were unfamiliar to him; he looked like he was having a hard time. When he did not speak, Yzak rolled his eyes and was about to walk away. He had better things to do than wait for this guy make a fool of himself with foolish sentiments.

"I came to thank you," Kian suddenly blurted out haphazardly.

This made Yzak freeze in mid-step. He slowly turned to the red-haired boy and looked at him quizzically. "You came to thank me?" he asked dryly.

Kian looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face, opened his mouth as if to speak, then shook his head. "Forget it. Forget I said anything." He turned to leave. But before he did, he looked over his shoulder at Yzak and gave him a nod. "You know what, if we were born in a different era, maybe – just maybe – we could have been friends. Take care of yourself." And he walked away in a hurry, as if he couldn't wait to get away from the Duel Pilot.

Yzak followed him with his eyes until he disappeared out of sight behind the school. Sighing in relief that he had finally left, he turned back on the grave he had created, frowned. It was over. It was time to wake up from the dream he'd had about loving a girl, and receiving love in return.

That was it, a dream. It could not be anything more. It would be better to think it as that…

Tearing his eyes from the grave, he walked towards the orphanage. There were things left unfinished that he had to tie up before he left.

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That day, Murrue had come over from Orb by private plane to help them with the packing. Miriallia had observed she had gotten thinner, but there was a smile on her face when she greeted them after disembarking the plane. Her hair, longer than Miriallia would have liked, was tied back in a loose, disheveled bun, and dark glasses perched on her nose hid her eyes. She probably hadn't had enough sleep the previous night.

"How's it going?" Murrue asked cheerfully as Cagalli, Miriallia, Lacus and Kira crowded around her.

"Everything's contained in boxes. All we need is to lug them all out of the dorms. We rented a van." Kira answered as he jerked his thumb to the van waiting to bring them back to the R.Q.

Murrue looked at the Freedom Pilot and winced. "You need a haircut."

Kira shrugged. "I like it this way."

Murrue snorted. "Your head looks like a mop. When you get home, get a haircut." Kira was about to shake his mop when Murrue turned to Cagalli. "Kisaka wanted me to hand you these." She produced a thick stack of envelopes from her tote bag.

Cagalli looked at the envelopes suspiciously. "Is it work?"

Murrue shrugged. "Nope. They are from the children residing in the orphanage in Orb. Apparently, they seem to know that their princess is coming home to them and wanted to wish you well." She pulled a larger envelope from her bag, and laid it on top of the thick stack of letters. "This, on the other hand, is work. It's a request from the representing houses for a press conference regarding the Import and Export of goods between the PLANTs and Orb."

Cagalli sighed. "Can't they at least wait until I get there before making me read this?"

"No," Murrue said simply.

"Are there any news from the PLANTs?" Lacus asked.

"Now that you mentioned it, I almost forgot." Murrue looked back at the plane behind them. "Someone is here with me to help with the relocation."

Miriallia didn't know but she thought Murrue's eyes lingered on her face a second too long at that moment. At that moment, she instantly knew why.

She had never seen even the slightest shadow of the man, but from the moment she had laid eyes on him, there was no mistaken that the person who had just disembarked from the private plane, short blond hair and skin as dark – or maybe darker – than his son, was none other than Tad Elthman. For a brief moment, she felt herself heat up. It was like looking at Dearka's future self. And in that brief moment, she liked what she saw.

That brief moment, however, lasted for just a few seconds. After that she felt like an orange had been shoved down her throat. She had dreamed and daydreamed about this day when she would be able to introduce herself to this man. But never in her wildest imaginations did she wish to introduce herself without Dearka there.

Where the heck is Dearka?

But before she could react even more, Athrun who was supposed to be waiting in the van, had materialized out of nowhere and had rushed to meet with the tall vision of influence who was looking at him warmly.

Athrun came to an abrupt halt a couple of feet away from Tad Elthman and awkwardly – as if having forgotten how to do it – gave the salute Miriallia had seen Yzak do with his mother once before in Orb during the Memorial of Honors.

For a whole minute, Tad Elthman looked at the serious-looking Athrun with an unreadable expression, then with a nod gently placed a hand on his head, like how a father would have done to a son.

"You did well, Athrun. You did well." Tad Elthman smiled painfully at Athrun and ruffled his hair lightly. "I would like to offer my sincerest condolences on your father's demise. I am truly very sorry about the turn of events that you at such a young age would have to go through."

Athrun's eyes, which had been wide with shock the moment Dearka's father had placed his hand on his head, looked down sadly at the consoling words he had to offer. "Thank you, Representative Elthman."

The hand that rested on his head shifted to his shoulder, gripping him firmly. "If there is anything you need, anything that I could possibly do for you, never hesitate to tell me." And with that, he let go of Athrun and started towards the group. Athrun stood there dumbly, eyes still cast down.

Miriallia felt her heart jump twice in her chest as the man started to approach them. She felt like running away, scared of how this confrontation was going to turn out. But she felt Cagalli rest a hand on her arm, and smiled at her encouragingly. She nodded back, but she still felt like running away. She froze when Tad Elthman stopped right in front of her and Cagalli.

"Cagalli Yula Attha, Princess of Orb Emirates. I have always wanted to meet you in person. My name is – "

"I know who you are without further introduction, Representative Elthman. And in this meeting, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine." Cagalli extended a hand, and Tad Elthman shook it firmly. "I was hoping you would have stayed in Orb and waited. All that's left to do here is evacuate the residential quarters."

Representative Elthman shook his head. "I had wanted to see with my own eyes, how your accommodations have been for the past months after the cease fire. I am not disappointed with what I have seen so far."

Cagalli nodded. "There couldn't have been a better place to go. They have been very nice to us here. It made me wonder a few times if this is how it would have gone, had the war not started."

Tad Elthman did not say anything, but there was something in his eyes that somehow made his hard features look gentler. Could it be regret? Miriallia swallowed hard when those eyes, so much like Dearka's eyes, looked at her directly.

She felt her heart jump to her throat and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when Tad Elthman looked away indifferently and started to walk towards Murrue.

Miriallia felt a weird sensation of pain stab her chest at that moment. She lowered her eyes to the ground and blinked back the tears that threatened to flow. She did not know why she felt like crying. She had said to herself many times that there was a big chance of rejection from this person if they ever did meet. Rejection was one thing. Her existence having been denied of recognition was another. Didn't Dearka tell his father about her at all?

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By the time Yzak reached the orphanage, he had already worked up a speech to deliver. Unlike most people, who made this thing look like it was a piece of cake, he was naturally born with hardly a speck of sincerity when it came to apologizing. But then, who in this world would be able to come up with a great speech when you go apologizing to someone for killing their mother?

He did not even know why he felt obligated to apologize to Fallon. It was a war. It had been his job in the first place. It was not as if he was doing it out of spite.

Of course he had told this to himself for about a million times already, but it was an unfamiliar feeling – was this guilt? – that had been making his stomach ache, and he did not like it hurting this way. He had to apologize. It was now or never.

Preparing himself, he turned the alley leading to the orphanage. He blinked in surprise when he saw a little girl sitting on the stairs, playing with a doll. She looked awfully familiar to him. The moment she looked up, he instantly remembered. She was the girl Kira and Lacus had taken to Kitami Family Land, the one who had given him money, thinking he needed it.

"Hello!" she greeted when she saw him. "Have you seen Big Brother Kira? Or maybe Princess Lacus?"

Yzak raised an eyebrow at her. "Who?"

The girl's face fell. "Oh never mind. I knew they wouldn't be coming today. They said they were busy with packing. Are they moving somewhere? I wonder if I can come, too."

Yzak looked at her blankly. Kira and Lacus, hadn't they told this child they were going back to Orb? "What's your name?"

The girl looked up at Yzak questioningly. "I'm not telling you unless you tell me yours."

Yzak frowned. Cautious kid. "My name's Yzak Jule. I'm a, uh, a friend of Kira and Lacus'."

The girl beamed up at him with a toothy smile. "My name is Eiko. Did you know that Eiko is the Japanese word for glory?" She frowned. "I read it at a book called a Japanese-english d-dicshunar-ry…"

Yzak kneeled down in front of her. "You must be a smart girl, reading a dictionary at your age."

Eiko looked at him again, this time more suspiciously. "Big brother Kira told me to be wary of people who praise me, he said that they'd probably want something in return."

Yzak felt a muscle in his left cheek twitch in irritation. Trust Kira to teach a child to doubt. "He's not lying when he told you that. Anyway, go back inside and while you're at it, can you check if Fallon is inside?"

Eiko shook her hear. "Fallon isn't here. She left a few hours ago with the guy who smiles too much."

Yzak frowned. He never did like Yalin. He got to his feet. "I see. What time do you thing she'll be back?"

Eiko suddenly pointed over his shoulder. "Right now!"

Yzak did a double turn and found himself staring at green, ever so familiar eyes. Fallon was looking at him as if she had never seen him before, and it seems like she was not liking what she was seeing. Behind her was Yalin, feeling obviously unsure of what to do.

"What do you want?" Fallon whispered weakly, placing a hand on her temple.

Yzak was not expecting her to be this calm. He had actually expected an outburst. He was actually preparing himself for a few scratches from her as well. But there she was, probably in the calmest state he had ever seen him.

"I came to say I'm sorry…" Yzak said uncertainly. He felt his hands sweating, and he stuffed them in his pocket.

Fallon shook her head tiredly. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. In reality I don't even know how to take this." She turned to Yalin. "I have to go. Thank you for your help."

Yalin opened his mouth as if to speak, but never got the chance when Fallon rushed away from him, heading for the orphanage.

"Welcome home!" Eiko greeted her.

Fallon ignored her and, giving one more hurt glace at Yzak, disappeared through the door of the building. Eiko, who seemed too young to recognize a dismissal, jumped after her.

It was Yzak's turn to now know what to do. He looked at Yalin then at the door, then at Yalin again.

Yalin drew in a breath and immediately exhaled as if in frustration. "I'm sorry about that. She's very upset right now."

Yzak frowned. He did not know why Yalin was speaking for Fallon at all, but he decided that before he left Japan, he at least wanted to find out what was happening with the daughter of the Kari he never knew. "Did something happen?"

Yalin scratched his head. "I… took her to Mrs. Takano earlier. I figured that her grandmother would have wanted to see her… "

Yzak felt his mouth go dry. "And?"

Yalin bit his lip. "She didn't want her. And that was that."

And that was when someone picked up the world and started spinning it. Yzak did not know where the anger bubbled up from, but he felt as if he had never been this mad since Mrs. Takano kidnapped Kari and erased her memories of him. But he felt as if the guidance councilor was going too far. His feet appeared to have moved on their own, and the next time he looked, he found himself standing in front of Kari's house, knocking hard on the door.

Much to his annoyance, Kian was the one who answered the door.

"Yes?" he drawled boredly.

"Get your mother out here! Now!" Yzak screamed.

Kian's eyes widened, looked over his shoulder and sighed. "So you heard about what happened with that girl?"

"She's her grand daughter! How can she reject her like that? Bring her out here!"

"Yalin what's all this racket? I – oh it's you." Mrs. Takano came out from the kitchen in a hurry. She frowned when she saw Yzak standing at the door. Shoving her son away, she stepped out of the living room, closed the door behind her and crossed her arms over her stomach. "Are you here again for my daughter?"

"I came here for Fallon."

"As always, sticking your nose into other people's businesses. Why can't you keep away from us?"

"Trust me, after this you will never see me again," Yzak hissed. "All I wanted to ask you was why you turned away your own daughter before, and now your grand daughter."

"That is something I don't feel obliged to answer, Yzak Jule. Don't think you can understand, because you can't. Please leave."

"What did that girl ever do to you? She didn't do anything wrong. You're the only family she's got!"

"If I take her in, that will bring too many complications in this family. And we already have too much of that, thanks to you. That girl is not my granddaughter. I don't want to have anything to do with her. You are not in the position to tell me what to do. I hope you know that."

Yzak felt his blood pressure rising dangerously. He hadn't thought he would be able to meet anyone of human blood to be this cold, even in the war. "I hope you have a nice life with your children. I'm looking forward to their freedom when you finally croak." And with that, he turned to leave, Mrs. Takano saying something rude to him which he couldn't quite make out.

He was so mad. He stalked away in a hurry, his head spinning. He was so mad, he did not even realize someone was standing by the corner and he nearly ran her over. Things were turning out to be the worse for him. It was Kari.

She brushed back her hair behind her ear. "It's you."

Yzak looked down at her, his eyes meeting hers, and for some unexplained reason, he felt all the anger melt away from him. He took a deep breath. "I wasn't looking. I'm sorry."

She smiled her small, secretive smile. It drove him crazy. "You're in a hurry?"

"I – uh, yeah. I have… stuff to do," he said lamely.

"I didn't see you at school today. Where are you going in such a rush?"

Yzak couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked a bit tired, but still very very beautiful. "I'm going away… "

Kari looked a bit shocked. "You are? But the semester's almost over. Couldn't you wait until then? I was hoping to bump into you again and maybe have a cup of coffee?"

At that moment, Kari's words back in Higashimokoto before she lost her memories rang inside Yzak's head like a gong.

"Because even if I do forget about who I am, even if I get my memories erased, I have no doubt that I will just fall in love with you all over again… "

Yzak bit his lip painfully, hard enough to draw blood. And at that second, he just couldn't help it. With a swift move, he pulled her to him in a tight embrace, burying his face into her neck, breathing her scent for probably the last time. "Goodbye, Kari." And with that, he broke away from the embrace and ran like mad, as far away from her as possible.

He did not want her to see him crying, because he knew she wouldn't understand.

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ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GOOOOO!!!

Wonder how many years it'll take me to post them up?