A/N : This chapter is perhaps not as good as I wanted it to be, but I promised myself I will publish this by Yzak's birthday, so here it is !

Thanks to all those who have read and especially to those who have reviewed. Your support means a lot.

0000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000

" I must admit I was a little worried at first. But I am glad things went well during the Peace Talks." Lacus Cylne said in her usually chirpy manner. " What with most of Eurasia clamouring for independence from the Alliance and taking a more pro-Plants approach, things are looking good."

"But not for everyone," replied Yzak after a brief moment.

"Oh. Why do you say that?" Lacus enquired.

"Well, I met that girl who wants to set up the cultural exchange programme. She said you refused to give her permission to go ahead."

"You met Flay?" Kira enquired, looking up from his food , which he had been focussing on all the while , letting Lacus do all the talking. The three were having dinner at a restaurant after a long week of negotiations.

"Yes," came the brief reply.

"But why was there a meeting arranged with a ZAFT official? She hasn't even had an approval from the Council yet?" Lacus was genuinely surprised.

"Oh, it wasn't an official meeting," replied Yzak, carrying on eating his dinner.

"You mean, you know Flay?" Kira's voice mirrored the surprise on his face. "How"?

"She was on board the Vesalius, and then… it's a long story. Basically, I guess you can say, she owed me a favour."

Looking up, Yzak found his dinner companions staring at him. Yamato had sounded surprised but that was only to be expected but Lacus? Could it be that Flay's accusation had a grain of truth?

" I see," Lacus said. " Well, as you know, after the Requiem destroyed six of the PLANTS, anti-natural sentiments were quite high . While I agree with the proposal, I don't think the timing is right. There would be security concerns with such a project under any circumstances but to allow a natural to stay in the PLANTS indefinitely may not be in our interests. We don't want to be held responsible should anything happen to her."

"Granted that anti-natural sentiments run high among some members of the population. But coordinators don't have a record of xenophobia like the naturals, " countered Yzak."Surely, we can get her to sign an undertaking saying she will be responsible for her own safety at all times whilst in PLANTS. " Seeing Lacus hesitate, he added "Or is it the case that you think she is the wrong person. I understand the girl threatened to kill you once." He paused for a response.

"You know Lacus would never hold a grudge like that," came Yamato's swift response.

Yzak replied with a scowl, "I do. I am just trying to investigate all possibilities."

"And Flay is not the wrong person. In fact," he added looking at Lacus whose resolve was wavering, "she's definitely the right person for the job."

Looking at Yzak , he added " She needs to do this, just like we need to do our work for peace."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Flay put down the phone, emotions a mixture of surprise and annoyance. She had just spoken with Yzak. The man calls me up at night and asks to see me at 9:30 the next morning at the ZAFT base in Gibraltar! I mean, does he think I have nothing to do! Before she could say anything, he had cut her off by telling her it's about her programme and he hoped it was possible for her to make it. Curious, she had agreed. But now, she thought, what am I going to do about tomorrow?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Commander, your visitor is here," saluted the green uniformed ZAFT soldier as he stood at the door.

"Send her in," replied Yzak, putting down a file. Looking up, his eyes widened in surprise as he took in the sight in front of him. What is the girl wearing? was all he could think. For standing in front of him was Flay Allster, wearing a dull grey coat made of some light material which reached down to her knees with a riot of plain mauve erupting underneath. A similar set of frills were threatening to explode from under the jacket sleeves. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun with a white rose, a white pouch hanging from her right hand, and large white loop earrings dangling from her ears, completed the picture. Now he didn't know the girl well but somehow, he had the impression that she had a good sense of dress. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he gestured her to take a seat.

"You made it in time," he said.

"I did. Took the first train out this morning." Flay replied sitting down. "Can you please explain to me why I am here?"

"The PLANTS Supreme Council will consider your proposal in a favourable light but there is a stipulation. The PLANTS will not be held responsible for your safety at any point." Yzak replied firmly.

"That's why you called me here?" Flay looked somewhat annoyed now. "You could have told me this over the phone last night? I wouldn't have turned up looking like this, attracting the stares of all ZAFT forces at the base!"

"I thought it best we discuss this face to face. " came the stern reply "Besides, if you agree to the terms and condition , you can sign the documents right here and I can submit them to the Council, " he said passing her a file. " Why are you dressed like that anyway?" Yzak asked raising an eyebrow.

" I take it you are not familiar with the place or the traditions of the area," Flay replied narrowing her eyes.

Upon meeting with a silent reply, Flay continued " This is the Feria de Abril season in Andalusia. Every year in April, the fair is held over a week. It is a time for festivities and celebrating the cultural heritage of the region. Many people dress in traditional clothes when they visit the fairground. I plan to go there later today and figured I would save time going back to my house and getting into my costume later if I came here in these clothes." Then, looking down at her dress, she added, " I didn't want to turn up at the base looking like a Flamenco dancer, so, I borrowed my housekeeper's coat." She had a slight look of distaste on her face as she said this.

"I see." Yzak replied somewhat thoughtfully."Anyway," he straightened up, his face taking on a stern appearance again, "Aren't you pleased your project has been given the green signal?"

"Yes," replied Flay, her face relaxing. " I am just surprised." She paused for a second. Then, tilting her head slightly, she asked cautiously, "Did you speak to Lacus Clyne about this?"

" We discussed it . Yamato supported the proposal saying you were the right person…."

"Kira said that?" Flay's eyes widened as she said this.

Yzak noticing the girl's lost wide eyed look, frowned and said " I brought the matter up with Lacus!"

"Oh" said Flay, returning to the present. "Thank you," she said, smiling warmly at him.

"But what about you? Are you really ready to do this?"Yzak said ignoring the smile. "You have a record of trying to shoot unarmed coordinators. First , Lacus Clyne, then a ZAFT prisoner of war on board the Archangel…"

"I don't go about trying to kill people, natural or coordinators," snapped Flay, clearly annoyed. Leaning forward she continued " I've only done this when someone I love is threatened or killed by ZAFT forces. And that was a long time ago. You know why I threatened to kill Lacus Clyne. The other ZAFT guy? That was when I thought Kira had been killed and …I...was … upset…" Flay's voiced trailed away.

Yzak Joule sat through the outburst with the same frown until he put two and two together.

"You love Kira Yamato?" he spluttered out.

The question had clearly startled Flay. She hadn't realised what she'd said. She clenched her fists, closing her eyes she said " No, I mean , we were on the Archangel together and…". Exasperated, she opened her eyes and looking directly at Yzak she demanded, " What sort of a question is that anyway? How is it any of ZAFT's busy who I may or may not have a past relationship with?"

Yzak, who was still stunned by the revelation, simply muttered "Nothing." Then, straightening himself, he resumed " In any case, you are responsible for your safety…"

"I know that. You've told me already remember?" snapped Flay.

"Then, why don't you sign the documents?" Yzak replied in his crisp Commander tone.

"I'll read them first !" replied Flay as she started going through the file.

After a few minutes, she asked for a pen. As Yzak handed her one, a knock was heard on the door. A soldier entered and nervously informed Yzak that owing to some mechanical problems, his shuttle needed to undergo some repairs and thus, it's departure would be delayed to 18:30 hours.

"What?" Yzak shouted back at the perspiring soldier."An entire day wasted! Couldn't you have done these checks yesterday?" he shouted.

"We are sorry, sir," the poor guy replied. "I.. wa was jj just…" stammered the soldier.

"That will do," snapped Yzak. "Imbeciles, never get anything done properly," he muttered to himself.

He turned to look at Flay who had finished signing the document. "This Feria de Abril thing you are going to. This is one of those things that's been happening for hundreds of years right?"he demanded.

"Yes," replied Flay.

"So what happens there? Do people re-enact important events from their history, do they sell historical artefacts or something?"

Flay looked thoughtfully for a second before replying. "Well, some of the songs do tell popular folklore stories. There are stalls that sell handicrafts unique to the region. The shops in the old town do sell antiques. In the past, most of the shops used to be closed during the festival season but because of the poor economic conditions in the region in recent years, most of the shops stay open during this week. There is still a bull ring but they don't practice Bull fighting anymore. "

Yzak looked at her for a second, something going through his mind.

" Can I come along?" he asked in his usual crisp manner.

"Huh?" came Flay's surprised reply.

"I said, can I come along? I have more than 8 hours to kill. How long does it take to get there?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO

Yzak found himself actually enjoying the landscape as it swept past the train. He could see that Flay was happy and in good spirits as she pointed out sights of interest to him.

"Look, that's one of the Pueblo Blancos i.e white towns, so called because all the buildings in the village are white. There are several of them in this region. Oh and that's the ruins of an old fortress over there. Can you see it?" she was pointing in the distance.

"You know this place well?" he asked.

" My mother was from here" she replied. Still looking out into the distance, she carried on with a small smile, " We used to come here often to visit my grandmother. When my mother became ill, we moved here while my father worked in the Atlantic Federation. " She was quiet for a moment. "After she died, my father was posted to Paris. I would still visit my grandmother from time to time until she too passed away. Around that time, Daddy was posted back to the Atlantic Federation."

"You've lived in quite a few places then?" he commented.

She nodded her head, turning to look at him. "That's one of the perks I suppose of growing up with a parent in the Foreign Service. I was 9 when we moved back to the Federation and 11 when we moved to Orb. A couple of years later, when tensions escalated between the PLANTS and the Earth nations, my father was called back to the Federation. He decided it would be safer for me to carry on living in a neutral nation. For some reason, he felt living in space was a good option and that's how I ended up in Heliopolis."

"What about you?" she asked relaxing into her seat. Have you always lived in The PLANTS?"

"Yes," he responded by relaxing in his seat. "Did you ever finish college?"

"Last year," she replied with a small smile.

"I see. So what have you been up to since then?" he asked.

"Oh, working on this, raising money for war victims, doing some interior designing work for a friend's new hotel," came the reply.

"So what are you doing at this fair?"

"Dancing," she replied with a small laugh which led a glow to her face. For a second, Yzak caught himself thinking she reminded him of some painting he had come across in his art books at school. Renaissance Art or the Impressionists or something like that was the term his teacher had used. Unsure what the meaning of Yzak's silent stare was, she continued "Oh, it's very safe. People here are not as anti-coordinator as those in some other parts of the world. With the presence of the ZAFT base in Gibraltar and the events of the second war, the naturals here enjoy fairly decent relations with coordinators. So your uniform is not going to cause you any problems," she said, impulsively touching the top of his hand as if to reassure him.

This contact jolted Yzak out of his reverie. Noticing this, she quickly pulled her hand away.

"Getting back to your question," she carried on as she settled back into her seat, " I was invited to go to the fair by some neighbours who own a caseta which is a marquee tent at the fair. I was there a couple of days ago as well. It's fun. You'll like it."

" What else do people do at this fair?" he asked, straightening himself .

" Party," she replied with a gleeful look. "I hope you won't be disappointed with the Fair. To be honest, most people go there to party. You see, this fair has been going on for a hundreds of years. It's popularity has waned at times but, in times such as these, where lives have been torn apart by war, people look at traditions such as these to help them through. It's the same everywhere. In times of uncertainty, traditions thrive because they offer people some sort of assurance," she finished with an air of confidence. Looking out of the window, she exclaimed "Look, we are here."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO

True to Flay's word, Yzak did not find any unwanted attention at the fair. In fact, he not only spotted a few ZAFT uniforms, he was sure some of the people dressed up in the colourful costumes from a long time ago, were also coordinators. He was briefly introduced to Flay's friends, who appeared to be people of high standing in the area. He watched Flay and the dancers as they tapped their feet to the beat of Flamenco music. She had removed her garish grey coat and he had to admit, the flamenco dress looked better than he'd imagined. In fact, the dress, and Flay, looked much better than most of the other young girls in traditional attire. As he watched Flay clapping her hands, swirling her body, and encouraging a couple of children who had stood up to dance with her, he couldn't help but think "Nice curves".

"You bet," came an unexpected reply in a masculine voice."Specially, on the red head."

Yzak turned to his left in horror. He hadn't realised he had voiced out his thoughts aloud. He scowled at the man, who most people would have described as an attractive young man, but Yzak could only think of as a pervert. Luckily for the man, he went off to get himself a drink, leaving Yzak to cast a glance at the dancers. Flay glanced at him, and with a genuine smile, beckoned him to join her on the dance floor. Taken aback, he tried to turn down the offer by taking a step backwards, only to stumble into a middle aged woman who did not look pleased despite Yzak's mumbling apologies. From the corner of his eye, he saw Flay giggling over his mishap and as soon as he could, he left the caseta.

He strolled along the fairground, soaking in the sights, sounds and aromas of the place. The weather was lovely, the music not to his taste but watching the dancers swirl gracefully, children playing in traditional clothes , young couples courting, he couldn't help but compare the scene to the PLANTS. There were no such traditions in his homeland; coordinators from all over the world had arrived there, leaving most of their traditions behind to form a new world. So focussed had they been in developing this new world, they had not even bothered setting new traditions, most coordinators seeing such things as "regressive" and "something that naturals do". A year ago, the world was at war, but looking at the fair today, you would think nothing had happened. Perhaps Flay was right, perhaps beliefs and traditions thrived in times of strife to give people reassurance.

"Hey, there," Flay's voice made him turn around. " Are you hungry? I am famished. Let's get some tapas" she pointed to a nearby stall.

" Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked after they'd placed an order.

"Yes,"he replied.

"So do you think something like this will work? I was thinking of having a flamenco show as part of my programme. You know, get some of the best flamenco artists to perform in The PLANTS?"

He looked around him. A couple of flamenco performers had stood up. Before he could reply, Flay gushed " Oooh, I love this one. The song is based on an old folkore. It tells the story of a pair of star crossed lovers. He was a Prince and she was a Princess from warring kingdoms. They fell in love when the Princess was captured during a war. But he had to return her to her kingdom. They spent much time apart but eventually, she ran away to be with the Prince. It was a forbidden romance. You can just see how passionate the dance is !"

They watched the rest of the performance in silence, the soulful song and the dancers clearly mesmerising the audience. After they had finished eating, Yzak asked if there were any particular handicrafts the region was famous for. She took him to some stalls and pointed out to some exquisitely decorated combs.

"These," she said picking one up and examining it " are a speciality of the region. They say that if a man gives a woman a comb, it's a sign of true love and they end up getting married. You must have seen some of the girls wearing these in their hair today. " Then, looking just a little too mischievous for his liking, she asked, "Why don't you get one for your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," he almost barked. He had a feeling he was blushing so he turned his face away, hoping she would change the topic.

"Oh, " she replied in a surprised manner. "Well ," she started looking around, " How about something else then, for yourself or your mother?" she suggested. " This region is famous for beautiful jewellery set in semi-precious stones. The best place for this would be the old town."

"No, I don't have that much time," he replied gruffly. "Can't we find something here?"

"I don't know," she replied doubtfully. "But let's have a look around shall we?" she suggested with a beaming smile.

"You are very happy today, aren't you?" he asked as they carried on walking.

"Of course," came a chirpy reply. "My programme has been approved, I am having a great time at one of my favourite places. Look, that stall has some jewellery, "she said, pointing to the right.

Once Yzak finished making his purchase, he tried excusing himself. But Flay was insistent she'd walk him to the train station.

"I am a Coordinator, a ZAFT Commander, I am fully capable of finding my way back ," he'd replied with a frown.

" This, has NOTHING to do with being a coordinator or natural. It's just manners," she'd replied. That shut him up.

As they made their way back to the train station, Yzak found himself asking when should be moving to The PLANTS.

"I don't know. I was planning to stay here for a few more days. I guess within in a couple of months, if everything goes well," Flat replied. "Your train will be here in a minute," she said, looking at the notice boards.

Yzak stood quietly for a moment, his hands in his pockets, unsure of how to proceed. Suddenly, he took something out and giving it to Flay said "Here, this is my card. You'll probably need some help being a natural in the PLANTS. " He looked away as he said this.

Flay looked surprised but she thanked him for the card. Wishing him a safe journey, she watched as he proceeded to the platform. Just as he was about to board the train, Yzak turned around. Flay was about to turn back herself but stopped herself from doing so when she saw him. He was not surprised when she gave him a small smile and waved. What surprised him was when he repeated the gesture with a small wave and a smile that he himself knew was rare.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOO