Epilogue

Five days had passed since the massive attack on Orb. In the end, the Earth Alliance had been pushed back due to the ZAFT forces, and the ZAFT forces had taken the rest of the day to exhaust Orb's defense until the country collapsed into their control. ZAFT now had forces stationed around the island country and floating around Heliopolis in space. They were to assure that no one got in and no one got out.

Two days ago, the PLANTs sent an offer similar to that which the sent Orb to Scandinavia and the Equatorial Union. After seeing what had happened in Orb, the EU caved and allowed themselves to be allied with the PLANTs. Scandinavia was negotiating the matter with the PLANTs, but it seemed sure that they would have to submit in one way or another. It seemed like ZAFT wanted to secure the Earth countries with Coordinators living in them, the people who could possibly try to stand up against their biological weapon.

Once that was done, it was clear to Cagali what ZAFT was planning to do next. They were going to set the S3 virus free in the major Earth Alliance cities. Then they would step back and watch the damage until the Alliance was forced to surrender. She couldn't help but wonder how many people were to die due to this engineered virus. Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?

Even so, there was nothing she could do to stop it. The world was set on its course, full speed ahead, and she sat on the floor, leaned against the wall, watching the bubbling wake left by the Archangel as it headed south to ZAFT's Carpentaria base. She watched the churning of the water, confined to this ship, where she couldn't do anything.

The thought was eating her from the inside out. An image was plastered in her mind of the ship's Natural crew suffering from the virus. She remembered the sense of panic that flew threw the Archangel's crew when the situation was made apparent. Imagining the same thing in one of Earth's cities was unfathomable. There would be no military superior to give instructions. Everyone would be infected by the disease. It would spread like a wild fire. People would try to escape the city. And when they escaped, they would take the S3 virus with them. Everything would fall apart, she knew. The government would collapse. Hospitals would overcrowd. The S3 virus would engulf their world in chaos and leave them completely vulnerable to ZAFT. Simple as that, the Earth Alliance would be obliterated.

Even so, it was like Kira had told her, "We're one ship, protecting a few islands from two massive enemies. What are we kidding ourselves? Thinking that we could make a difference?" The Archangel was one ship. She was one eighteen-year-old Natural girl. Everyone who had been with her in the beginning had either died or betrayed her. Her friends, her brother… If she were to try to stand against them, surely, they would stop her. If she were to try harder, they would lock her away in the brig. If she were to fight harder yet, perhaps she would end up dead. She could do nothing to change their opinions. She could do nothing to stop the flow of the world.

And so she relegated herself to sit near the hull of the ship, watching the disturbance of the water as the Archangel passed through. The place where she sat was comfortable. The view was beautiful. The sun gleamed off the waves, making the ocean sparkle. The soft noise of the ship was calming. She sat and watched, for there was nothing for her to do. There was absolutely nothing she could do. Was there even a point for her to be alive?

Cagali heard her name. She looked away from her view of the ocean to see Athrun standing beside her.. She looked back away from Athrun and towards the water. "Oh, it's you," she said, dully.

"Do you mind if I sit beside you?" he asked.

"Sit," she told him. "I don't care."

He sat down beside her. Athrun… That was a completely different matter of thought. She knew he cared about her. He had covered for her these last five days. He'd made sure her name or that number on her arm, O04172, didn't end up in ZAFT records for shooting Kira. She felt he was serving her an injustice; she deserved to be punished for what she had done.

Athrun reached for Cagali, taking a hold of her hand. She hardly noticed. She hardly cared. It wasn't painful and she didn't feel any emotion one way or the other. But there was little else she could do, now. She knew Athrun cared for her and such a simple, pointless gesture made him happy. So she let him. Let the ZAFT be happy.

They sat like that for some time before Cagali spoke. "Athrun," she said his name.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't want to go back to Orb," she stated impassively. The lull of the engines and the ocean filled the gap in their conversation. She watched the ocean, not looking at Athrun. It was so peaceful while the world was not…

He took a moment to respond. "Why not?" he questioned.

"I don't think it's my home anymore," she said simply.

Athrun was at a loss. What was she saying? "If your home's not Orb, then where?"

"I don't know," she said flatly.

"What's wrong with Orb?"

"I've got nothing in Orb."

"You've got everything there. You've got a house, opportunities, Kira…" Athrun reminded her.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to see him as the same person I once knew. After he betrayed me, I don't know what to think of him. I don't want to be around Kira, not for a long while."

"Cagali, he's your brother. He loves you."

"I know. And I think I still love him too. I don't know, but Kira has other things to love. He has a family. I'd be nothing but in the way. When I went back to the house a few days ago… I felt so out of place, like I was intruding into his life."

Athrun turned to her sharply. "What would he think if he heard you say that?"

The Natural blinked once. "I don't know."

Athrun watched her stoic expression as she stared at the water, and then looked to it himself, having nothing to say in response.

"Athrun," she said his name again.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't want to go back to Orb. Will you take me with you back to PLANT?"

"Cagali, the only Naturals on PLANT are Natural slaves. I couldn't allow myself to bring you back."

Her head never turned away from the ocean, and she spoke softly, as if in a dream. "But I'm already a Natural slave. I have the number and tracker, thanks to you, right?"

"That's not what I meant."

"You cared about me enough to come to Earth and try to track me down. Don't you want me back?" she looked towards him now. "I want to go back," she said.

"Cagali, you don't have any freedom on PLANT. You have no rights. You're not considered a citizen, just cheap labor. People treat you terribly. You don't belong on PLANT."

Cagali looked out at the waves once more. A long moment passed and she considered his words. "I understand," she said dully. Cagali sighed weakly. "But I don't belong in Orb either. Not anymore. It won't be the same. I know it won't. Please, when this war is over, when you return home, take me back to PLANT."

"I don't want you to loose all your freedom, all your rights…" said the ZAFT.

"I don't care," said Cagali. "I have a little bit of faith in you left, but no faith left in anyone else. I want to return with you to PLANT."

"Why me?"

She laughed, not a cheerful laugh, but a weak, dead laugh. "You never stabbed me in the back," she said simply. "You never betrayed me, Athrun. You've clearly been my enemy the entire time. I was a fool not to notice."

"Cagali, I…" he started, unable to find the words.

"I don't want to return to Orb. I don't care if I'm just Identification Number O04172 for the rest on my life. I don't care if I'm a Natural slave as long as I leave this Earth. It's horrible. It makes me feel so horrible."

"Cagali…" Athrun said her name, and grabbed a hold of her. He pulled her into an embrace. Several long seconds passed, and she didn't respond. Then she relaxed, and hung limply in his arms. It was as if he was holding a corpse.

She smiled, barely. More like her sad frown was brought to a neutral expression. "It's not as horrible when I'm not alone."

"You can come with me," said Athrun. "I'll have to leave you in Carpentaria for a few weeks until everything calms down, but after that, if you still want to, I'll take you with me back to PLANT."

She smiled, slightly more, and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Athrun."

Athrun held her like such for a few minutes, and then released her. "I'll have to talk to you later, Cagali. I still have things to check on." She nodded mutely. He left there, sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall as she watched the churning wake left by the Archangel. He stood and she looked away from him and out into the ocean idly.

Athrun turned down the hall, passing one of the newly converted ZAFT soldiers.

"She's dead, isn't she?" said Shinn. "Mentally, emotionally, we killed her."

Athrun stopped. He cast Shinn a single glance and continued on his way. He turned the corner, out of view and muttered to him self, "I hope not…"

The End

AN: Thanks for reading till the end. Sorry the ending's not so happy, but I always thought that the ending to Gundam SEED was cheesy the way things got randomly happy, and everything runs smoothly... That's something I wanted to write differently. Hope you enjoyed Identification Number O04172. Put me on your Author Alert to see what story I write next.

More Author's notes (April 2012, 4 years after completing this story)- Unfortunately, I had so many ideas for this story that I couldn't squeeze into the plot. So I've ruined the -perfect sad ending- to this story, and there's a sequel called The Cosmic Era Republic. Go check it out, and read and review~

And reviews are greatly appreciated on this story too~!