Strike Samurai

Summary: When a group of Samurai attempt to burn a village to the ground, Kira Yamato, know as the Strike Samurai, saves one girl from the flames. Now, they both set out to get revenge after joining up with the Rouge and Justice Samurai. KxL AxC SxS

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed, or Gundam Seed Destiny.

Chapter 1 Village of Flames

Lacus looked up into the sky while floating on her back in the water. Her pink kimono waved slightly in the water as she laid still, thinking of the Full Moon Harvest Festival that night. She was so absorbed in her thoughts; she didn't notice the small splash.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, smelling the fragrances of the forest. A small smile fell onto her face. She frowned when a shadow fell across her, and opened her eyes slowly.

"Finally found you!" shouted her brother as he splashed her. Lacus sunk bellow the splashes and came up when they stopped, and splashed him back.

"Jean!" she cried playfully as he spit out water.

Jean looked at his sister. Her light pink hair was now dark pink from the water, and her blue eyes sparkled playfully in the sun.

"Father sent me to find you. I need some help in the east rice garden." He said as they waded to shore.

She sighed as she rang out her hair. "Is that all?" she asked. Jean looked a bit disappointed.

"Well, you know that field is one of the bigger two," he said a bit uncertainly.

She laughed. "I was joking!"

They walked down a path and passed through an opening in-between the trees and reached the top of a hill that over looked the village. Lacus smiled proudly. Whenever she saw the village, she couldn't help but feel proud. The was a stable to keep traveling livestock and horses, a large tavern for travelers, a tea house, and small shops around the center of the town. Then there were twenty some houses that residents lived in. And then, there was their farm, the largest house in the valley where the village was situated. It also had the largest open land for growing crops. There were four rice fields, a fruit orchard, and other gardens. Then, in the far back, there was a shrine concealed by many trees.

The two made their way down the hillside, and were greeted by villagers as they made the small journey to the farm.

Lacus and her brother made their way to the fields after picking up the harvesting tools for the rice. As they worked, Lacus sang a small song. After a few minutes, Jean stopped and sat right down into the pool of water the rice grew in and sighed.

"Is it just me, or is it hotter than usual today?"

Lacus smiled. She dropped her basket on the thin line of land that ran around the fields and walked over to her brother.

"Jean, I thought you said help, not labor."

He scoffed. "It's labor whatever way you look at it." Lacus frowned and put her hands on her hips. "You know, I think it's cute when you do that." the blonde brother began laughing wildly at Lacus's bewildered look.

She smiled evilly and walked over to her brother. As Jean was busy laughing his head off, Lacus prepared to jump on her brother, and leapt forward. Jean sputtered as he tried to get his head above the water. Lacus laughed as she sat on his back.

The children's father watched from the house. Smiling, he breathed the fresh air, also anxious for the moon to rise and the village would begin to celebrate the full moon. Siegel walked back into the house after another glance at his son chasing his daughter around with a rake. He chuckled as he heard Lacus hit him on the head with a hoe. He felt proud of them, and went back inside.

"But, are you sure?" asked a blonde woman. The figure in front of her nodded.

"You two go on with out me. I'm going to stay behind to see what the Red Samurai are going to do. Then I'll meet you in Junius City."

The other man nodded, but the woman looked uncertain. "Are you sure you don't want us to stay with you?" her gold eyes wore worried about her brother.

"He'll be fine Cagalli. Don't worry about Kira." Athrun said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Kira, make sure you come back alive. I'll protect Cagalli."

Cagalli widened her eyes when she heard his statement, and became angry. "What do you mean, you'll protect me? I'll be the one protecting you! I can't believe that I'm still working with you." she muttered.

The blue haired man laughed. Kira smiled. "Alright, see you in Junius City."

The three Samurai split apart and walked away from each other. Kira disappeared into the shadows of the forest, and Cagalli and Athrun walked down the road till they could no longer be seen.

"Alright men. Their little celebration will be starting in a short amount of time. When they are all there in the town square, begin burning the farm. Then, burn the houses. Afterwards, move onto the Stable, Tavern and Tea House. Then finally," the man in a suit of red metal armor smiled thirstily. "Slaughter them all. Women and children alike." the other Samurai looked a bit uneasy, but some grew large, blood happy smiles on their faces. They couldn't wait to release their steel on the villagers.

Villagers gazed happily at the dancers while they ate food from the farm for the festival. Half of the dancers were girls, and the other half boys. Lacus and Jean were taking part in the festivities. The beat was lively and the dancing teens twisted, shook and swayed quickly. As the beat slowed, so did the dancers. Their bright colored kimonos were light by a large fire in the center of the square. Lacus's pink kimono from earlier now had a large, purple colored bow in front, and her sleeves were flying around her wrist or elbows depending on where her arms were. Jean was dancing near her, his moves equal to his younger sister. Young children ran into the dancers and started moving around with them. The villagers thought it was cute.

Some of the Samurai on top of the hill, preparing to strike, felt a bit guilty for having to kill all of the villagers, but what Rau Le Creuset ordered, was served. One man shed a few tears.

After dancing, the villagers all sat down at some tables. Siegel stood up with a cup in his hand. "Here's to another bountiful harvest, and the wonderful performance of the 'Dance of the Orchid' by our own youth. Please stand and accept your applause!"

The dancers all stood, some sitting with family, or friends. Everyone cheered happily. As Lacus and Jean sat down, Siegel stopped Lacus. "Now, my daughter will sing a song for all of us called 'The Breeze of an Orchid'." Lacus looked a bit embarrassed, but then smiled as Jean began playing a small reed flute. The girl took a deep breath.

Everyone gave applause for the song. Lacus was blushing madly. Everyone once again began eating. But after a few moments, a man came running in a frantic state for Siegel.

"Siegel! The farm! It's on fire!"

Everyone stood up at once, wondering how it could have happened.

But they didn't have much time to think, when all the buildings in the village suddenly became engulfed in flame. The children were crying and holding onto their parents. Lacus was staring all around, now noticing many men in red Samurai armor surrounding the square. Everything became a blur of red as the swordsmen rushed forward and started hacking at the villagers. Children's screams and cries of villagers rang in her ears as she began backing away when she felt someone grab her from behind. She turned and saw her brother's blue eyes burning with hatred. He pulled her away from the burning mass of the Village Square.

They ran to the farm house, and Jean dragged her in with him. He brought her to a room with very little flames in it, and turned to her.

"Lacus, those men, they are going to try and kill us, I want you to run, and do not turn back. I mean it. I'll hold them off for you, but I won't buy you much time."

Lacus was terrified by her brother's words. "But, I can't leave you, and father,"

Jean starred at her solemnly. "He's dead."

Lacus's eyes brimmed with tears. "Then I can't leave you, I won't!"

The wall behind her was covered in flames, and made it easy to penetrate. A man in red Samurai armor broke through it, and starred at the siblings. Tears were in his eyes for a few moments, but then he looked up angrily, and ran at Lacus, his sword's blade now deeply coated with fresh blood. Jean pushed his sister out of the way and took the blow, the steel cutting through his chest, specks of blood fell onto Lacus's face, her blue eyes filled with horror.

He collapsed onto the ground, his blue shirt now turning dark red. "Jean!" she cried as she knelt beside him, and pulled his head into her lap. Her tears were bitter, and fell like rain onto Jean's cheek.

The Samurai looked bewildered by what he had done and turned to the girl, tears in his eyes. But then, a blade cut through his chest and he fell over dead. The girl looked up and saw a man with shoulder length blonde hair, and pale skin. He wore a white mask and smiled ruthlessly and raised his blade. As he brought it down, she screamed.

She heard a clang of metal against metal and looked up. Another samurai had entered, but he looked nothing like the others. She watched as the two battled for a few moments, and felt something being pushed into her hand. She looked down at her hand and saw Jean's necklace. It was a thin black piece of cloth with two strings that formed a 'V' that held a small glass bead at the vertex. She looked at Jean's pained face and cried over him. He reached a trembling hand up and placed it on her cheek, and closed his eyes as he slipped away from his mortal body.

Lacus hugged him one final time, and stood up shakily, and ran out of the house which was now severely burning with flames. She looked back once to get a last glimpse of her childhood, before it went up in flames. Then she began running into the forest.

Kira and Rau battled ruthlessly, Kira unafraid to kill him, and Rau, bloodthirsty and cold hearted as usual.

"So, why do you bother with me now, Strike?" he sneered.

Kira hit his sword hard and pushed Creuset back.

"Why would I tell you?" he shouted.

Creuset smirked. "Because I burned down the village you, and those pathetic Samurai who travel with you, called a home!" he said with a laugh.

"Quiet you!" Kira shouted angrily. He then knocked the sword out of the twisted man's grasp, and pushed him to the floor, the tip of his blade level with Creuset's neck.

He smirked when he saw sweat beading down his forehead. Then an idea came to the crazy man. "If you were trying to save that girl, she's probably dead by now! She ran out in the beginning of the battle." he started laughing hard and happily.

Kira turned and fled the burning house to the back, and saw the rice fields with fire dancing around them. He looked up and saw a hill that was not yet burnt, and headed straight for it.

Lacus ran up the hill by the rice fields, hoping that none of the Samurai would follow. But one did.

As she stopped, she knelt down by a small pond of clear water, the same one that just hours ago, her and Jean had splashed each other in. As new tears flowed down her cheeks, she was too grief stricken to notice the noise behind her. As she stared at the rippling reflection in the water of herself, she saw a shadow appear above her. She turned her head slightly and looked up at the sneering face of a Red Samurai. His sword was raised, and he was ready to attack. He brought the blade down quickly, but then a sound like the wind was heard from behind him. The wind blew and rustled the grass. Lacus's eyes were still wide, and filled with terror.

The man fell over on his face in the grass. Another figure behind him brandished a sword, but put it away after flicking it, making the blood speck off. She got up slowly, and turned to run, when the figure reached over and grasped her wrist tightly.

"I wouldn't go any farther if I were you." said a deep, calming voice.

She turned to him with her large blue eyes, and glimpsed short brown hair, and lavender eyes, before falling against his chest and falling to sleep.

The man looked down at the top of her head and noticed her facial features up closely. Her pink bangs were sprawled against her forehead, but one side was held up by a golden, two crescent clip. He smiled wearily at her sleeping face.

"Rest well." he whispered as he lifted her up into his arms, and carried her away from the burning village.

From the village, one man sees Lacus Clyne being carried away by a Samurai, close to looking like the Strike Samurai. He watched as the Red Samurai slaughtered the other villagers like they were farm animals. "Well I won't be killed in an unhonorly fashion," he said to himself as he ran up the hill to the small pond. But to his amazement, it was as if no one was ever there. "I will find you Strike Samurai, and when I do, I will take back my woman." he said angrily to the night.

Kira watched the girl sleep with interest. "She'll be waking soon. But for now," Lacus breathed deeply, "I'll let her rest."