Introduction: This is a story that I actually started working on back in January of this year. For those who remember, it was called Gundam SEED: Nemesis. Originally, that story was going to be broken into at least three or four different stories. But for reasons I can't quite recall. I decided to try and do the whole thing as a single story. And in the end, it started to seem like I had bitten off a little more than I could chew. So I decided to walk away from this story for a while, and after debating with myself for months I finally decided to just delete the story and repost it.

This is the same story that existed before. I'm just going to edit the chapters and add some more scenes here and there. And like I had originally planned, the whole story is going to be broken into at least three different books. This first book will obviously focus on Lacus and Kira, but will also deal a little with Athrun and Cagalli. So hopefully things will go a lot better this time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED.

Chapter 1: Shattered Future

Kira Yamato sat out on a bench in a small park near the military base where he worked. It was the middle of the day and he had decided to go and take a small break outside in the hopes that it would brighten his rather dismal mood, but the grey overcast sky above promised little chance of that. Kira's attention was taken away from the sky by the sound of a loud digital chime that rang from one of the surrounding buildings. Right at that moment, Kira's green and yellow mechanical bird, Birdy, landed on his left shoulder. Meanwhile the large screen at the top of the building Kira was looking at began to display a woman newscaster with green hair wearing a red blazer.

"This is Stephanie Blanc with the noonday news." The newscaster announced. "Our top story today, negotiations between the PLANTs and Earth have once again come to a standstill as the third Bloody Valentine War now enters its sixth month. In a related story, tomorrow marks the anniversary of the event that started the war, the destruction of the Clyne Colony."

Kira's violet eyes became filled with sadness as the screen cut to scenes of the aforementioned ruined space colony. And as he looked on he once again tried to figure out where it had all gone wrong. After then end of the second war it had seemed that peace had finally come to both Earth and the PLANTs, and that the human race was ready to become as one again. That was the dream that Kira, his friends, and the love of Kira's life, Lacus Clyne, all fought for in the first two wars. And a whole year after the war that dream seemed like it was finally coming true with the creation of the Clyne Colony, a small colony created to be the home of the people of both Earth and the PLANTs.

The colony of course was named in honor of Lacus and her family, and the era of peace that Kira had helped her forge. But a year later that peace was shattered when an unknown mobile suit came and obliterated the colony. Out of the sixty-five thousand people that lived in the colony, only a mere four hundred and fifty survived. When the dust had all but settled, ZAFT had determined that the mobile suit that attacked the colony was from the Earth Alliance. But the people of Earth denied that the mobile suit was from them and claimed that it was actually a ZAFT mobile suit, saying that they had evidence to that fact.

Endless arguing between the two parties began, arguing that not even Lacus could stop. Then a week after the colony's destruction, a rogue ZAFT ship launched an unprovoked attack on an Alliance base. The Alliance responded in kind with another attack, and soon enough a third war began. And it seemed that not even Kira and Lacus could do anything to stop it.

"In lighter news," Stephanie Blanc continued on the screen, snapping Kira from his thoughts, "the wedding date for Supreme Council Chairwoman Lacus Clyne and Councilman Martin Helios has finally been set for this Saturday at noon."

That was the other nail in the coffin for Kira. Originally when Lacus had become chairwoman of the PLANTs and he a ZAFT commander in order to ensure peace, neither of them had anticipated that they might have to adhere to the marriage regulations that the PLANTs had in place in order to keep the population up. And only six months ago, it seemed that whatever committee in place to enforce these regulations had decided that Lacus was genetically compatible with that man, Martin Helios. Of course Kira and Lacus wanted to fight this decision, but with a war raging on around them, they decided it best not to rock the boat. So as much as they both hated it, they went along with the regulations.

"You look like you're in a good mood." A voice sarcastically spoke, getting Kira's attention.

Kira turned his head and saw standing a few feet away a young man with black hair and ruby red eyes wearing a red ZAFT uniform with an unbuttoned collar. This was one of Kira's friends, Shinn Asuka. Kira and Shinn's friendship was an interesting one, as they were on opposing sides in the second war. Though they had not actually met each other until after the war was over, save for a brief encounter at a memorial in Orb.

"Hey there Shinn." Kira greeted as he tried his best to put on a smile. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"The Minerva is docked here for awhile to re-supply. I had a few hours and decided to swing by and see how you were doing." Shinn explained as he went over and sat next to Kira on the bench. "Kinda gloomy weather out here today."

"Yeah, the colony's weather system has been malfunctioning for the last week or so." Kira revealed. "It's actually been happening in all the other colonies too. We've been getting a lot of rain because of it."

"…I guess you heard already that a date's been set for Lacus and that guy to get married." Shinn mentioned after a moment. "How do you feel about that?"

"How do you think I feel?" Kira answered bitterly.

"No, I mean aren't you going to try and put a stop to it?" Shinn asked.

"It's not that easy Shinn." Kira told him.

"Like hell it isn't!" Shinn snapped as he suddenly got to his feet. "Why the hell are you going along with these dumb regulations? It's not like they're actually helping anyone! I've heard the birthrate for Coordinators is still going down!"

"Lacus and I don't have a choice in this matter!" Kira retorted as he also got to his feet, startling Birdy off his shoulder. "Fighting the marriage regulations right now would only cause more problems. This is what's best for the PLANTs."

"Bullshit!" Shinn argued. "Both you and Lacus are being idiots about this!"

"Look Shinn…" Kira began to respond, but his thoughts were disrupted when he felt a sort of flash go off in his mind.

"Excuse me, Commander Yamato?" a voice suddenly spoke, causing both Kira and Shinn to turn.

Standing behind Kira was a man who looked to be in his early twenties wearing a green ZAFT officer uniform. He stood at over six feet and had very fair skin and blonde hair that almost seemed to shine like spun gold and iron-grey eyes that almost seemed to spark like lightning.

"I better get going before I get charged with striking a superior officer." Shinn decided before storming off.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything." The blonde said to Kira with an apologetic expression.

"Nah, you're fine." Kira assured him. "Just who are you again?"

"Lieutenant Gar Thorson, sir." The blonde greeted as he saluted. "I was assigned as your aid last night. I hope you'll forgive me for not showing up early, but I was unavoidably detained. Shall we be getting back to your office sir?"

"Yeah, I guess it's about that time." Kira sighed.

"Are you all right sir?" Gar asked, looking a little concerned.

"Yeah, just having a bad day." Kira replied.

"Sir, permission to speak freely." Gar requested.

"Yeah, go ahead." Kira replied feeling a little uncomfortable, as he had never really liked being treated as a superior officer or giving orders.

"I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation with that young officer. And I have to say I agree with him." Gar admitted. "Your relationship with Chairwoman Clyne is well known by many in the PLANTs and on Earth. And it was that relationship that helped bring an end to the first two wars. Would it not be better for you to stay together?"

"As I was about to tell Shinn before he left, Lacus and I can't afford to fight the marriage regulations." Kira told the blonde with clenched fists. "If we did that… the PLANTs would become divided. And things are bad enough right now with the war. That's why… Lacus and I have no choice but to go along with this, no matter how much we hate it. We have to make this sacrifice."

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, in other words." Gar commented. "How very noble of you both. But there are times sir when the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many, that what is best for one, or in this case two, is best for the society as a whole. You and Chairwoman Clyne seem to be far stronger leaders together than apart. And it seems to me that the human race as a whole would have far better chances if the two of you together were leading them."

"There was a time when Lacus and I thought that too." Kira chuckled darkly. "But look where we are now. C'mon, we should be getting back."

"Of course sir." Gar replied.

Rain was coming down quite heavily in the country of Orb. And the country's ruler, Cagalli Yula Athha, was stuck in her office doing her least favorite activity, paperwork. She would've thought that with all the people at her command she'd be able to dump some of this work on a few of them. But then running a nation was not an easy job, and as tedious as the task was it did keep Cagalli's mind off of everything else that was going on.

Cagalli was distracted from her work by a sudden knock on the door. "Whoever it is, come on in."

The door opened and walking in was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. Her height was about four and a half feet, and she had fair skin and short blonde hair that was like spun gold. Behind her large red-framed glasses was a pair of iron-grey eye. Her outfit consisted of a short-sleeved pine green jacket with a white blouse and a pine green skirt that ended just above her knees. The young woman had a very nervous expression on her face.

"Well, who are you and what do you want?" Cagalli asked in an impatient tone.

"Oh, uh… good day, ma'am." The young woman greeted. "My name's Tara Thorson. I'm your new secretary starting today."

"New secretary? What happened to Margaret?" Cagalli asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, well I don't know for sure ma'am." Tara answered. "But um, the rumor is that she won the lottery and retired early so she could live like a queen. Those are the words of one of my coworkers, not mine."

"Whatever." Cagalli sighed. "If that's all, then get out of my hair so I can finish all this."

"Well, actually there are a couple of other things, ma'am." Tara informed her. "First, the defense secretary wants to speak with you later this afternoon. Also, you've been invited the wedding of Chairwoman Lacus Clyne of the PLANTs."

At this, Cagalli's expression saddened. "I see… that's six months from now, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Tara confirmed. "Shall I inform them that you'll be attending?"

"Yeah… I guess it would help keep things friendly between us and the PLANTs." Cagalli decided. "Plus there's going to be someone there who I'm sure could use my support."

"Who might I ask is that, ma'am?" Tara inquired.

"…Never mind." Cagalli answered after a moment. "If there's nothing else, please leave."

"Of course, Lady Cagalli." Tara bowed before quickly leaving the room.

Cagalli sighed and turned her attention to the two pictures on her desk. The first was of her late father. The second was of a young woman with brown hair holding two infants. The woman was Cagalli's biological mother, and the other child she was holding was Cagalli's bother, Kira. It was only three years ago when Cagalli was in a similar situation to the one Kira had landed in with Lacus. During that time, Cagalli had been forced into an arranged marriage to a man she didn't love or even like. And that marriage had done permanent damage to her relationship to someone she truly did love.

Cagalli could only imagine the pain that Kira was going through. It was probably the same sort of pain that the man that she was in love with went through back then. Of course there was a difference between Cagalli's situation and Kira's. Back then, Cagalli was able to get out of her arranged marriage when Kira crashed the wedding in his mobile suit and abducted her. Cagalli wished that she could do the same, but she knew that wouldn't go down as well. All such an act would accomplish was cause trouble between the PLANTs and Orb. This time, they were all truly powerless.

Late afternoon had come to the PLANTs, and a worn out Lacus had returned to her office after another long meeting with the Supreme Council. Rain began to pour down outside her office window as the pink-haired woman sat down at her desk. Lacus then sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She then reached over and pressed the intercom button on her desk.

"Akiko, please hold all my calls for the next ten minutes." Lacus requested.

"Of course Madam Chairwoman." Replied the voice of Lacus's female secretary, Akiko. "Oh, and I was supposed to remind you about another meeting you have in thirty minutes with the finance minister. Do you want me to move it to another time?"

"…No, it can't be helped I don't think." Lacus sighed.

"As you wish ma'am." Akiko replied over the intercom.

Lacus turned her chair to face her office window. As she watched the rain pour down outside, Lacus began to reflect on all that was going on. Needless to say, she was not having the best week. Negotiations between Earth and the PLANTs had once again failed, and the conflict between both powers was only getting worse. And even though she was chairwoman of the council, Lacus was having trouble controlling them. Lacus had always believed that all that was needed was to decide what needed to be done and then just do it, but since the destruction of the Clyne Colony that had proven to be difficult to do, especially when some of the other council members would fight her.

Plus it had seemed like many of Lacus's decisions since the start of the war seemed to blow up in her face. One of the most disastrous of those decisions was when she attempted to send a peace envoy to Earth, only to have him killed by an Alliance mobile suit. Needless to say, Lacus had begun to doubt her capabilities as a leader. The other thing that was troubling Lacus at that moment was her impending marriage to Martin Helios. She had known it was coming for quite sometime, but with the date finally set it suddenly became very real. A wedding to a man she didn't love was the last thing the pink-haired songstress of the PLANTs wanted, but it was clear she didn't have any choice. At least not without causing more problems. But Lacus wished with all her heat that she were marrying Kira.

Suddenly there came a knock on the door that stirred Lacus from her thoughts. "Come in."

Slowly the door opened, and walking in hesitantly was a woman with long blue hair wearing glasses with red frames, a short-sleeved yellow sweater, and a green skirt that went past her knees.

"What is it Akiko?" Lacus asked

"Sorry for the interruption ma'am, but this item was just delivered to you." Akiko explained as she held out what looked like a black rose and a card.

Lacus stood up and took both items from the secretary. She then opened the small card to read what it said. The only thing written on the card was, 'See you soon.'

Suddenly a sort of flash went off in Lacus' mind and a chill ran down her spine. She quickly turned around to look out the window, expecting to see someone standing behind her. Yet when she turned she saw nothing.

"Ma'am, is something wrong?" Akiko asked.

"…Uh, no. It's nothing." Lacus assured her after a moment. Though the pink-haired songstress did not take her blue eyes away from the window. "Thank you Akiko, that'll be all for now."

"Ma'am." The bluenette said with a bow before turning and leaving the office. After a moment Lacus finally turned away from the window and sat back down at her desk.

In a dark room on the top floor of a building right across from Lacus' office, a man in the shadows grinned as he watched Lacus through a pair of binoculars. He was quite pleased that Lacus had received his little gift, and amused that Lacus seemed able to sense his presence. Satisfied with his work, the man put away his binoculars and left the room.

Evening had come and the rain had finally stopped. Gar had stepped outside the building well away from Kira. After making sure he was alone, Gar pulled out a device that resembled a white cell phone. After pressing a single button, Gar put the phone up to his ear.

"Come in Agent Fifteen." Gar spoke into the phone.

"Reading ya loud and clear Agent Fourteen." Replied a young-sounding female voice on the other end.

"Anything to report Tara?" Gar asked.

"All's quite down here." Tara answered. "Though I have to say, it's a miracle that Orb has stayed together with such a hothead as their leader."

"She's proven to be quite capable in her duties as chief representative in the past." Gar reminded her.

"Yeah, I guess." Tara admitted. "And things do seem pretty peaceful with her in charge. Still, I kinda wish something would happen. So far this mission's bee one big yawn. Did you ever think we'd be stuck doing this sort of thing when we joined the CIA?"

"All of our missions are important, Tara. Even if they aren't exciting." Gar pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah." Tara replied. "But even so, I don't get why HQ put agents like us on this mission. We aren't even sure if there's really anything going on here."

"It's not out place to question Headquarters." Gar told her in an almost scolding tone. "For now, just continue to observe and report. For all we know there could be a genuine crisis here."

"Okay, okay!" Tara responded. "You don't have to bite my head off. So how are things on your end?"

"Not well actually." Gar admitted. "It seems that with all that's happened with this war, Mr. Yamato and Ms. Clyne have been losing hope. At least that's the impression I'm getting."

"Then maybe we should tell them what really started this war." Tara suggested.

"We can only do that as a last resort." Gar reminded her. "And as you said before, we aren't even sure if there's really a crisis here."

"True, but isn't part of our mission to make sure those two hook up?" Tara asked. "How 'bout this? We just get those two together, get them both hammered, and just let nature take its course."

"I keep telling you that won't' work." Gar told her as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Besides, we can only do so much right now, if anything at all. But you are correct little sister. It is in the best interest of the human race if Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne become their leaders. Even so, for now we can only watch and provide guidance if we can."

"Then I guess we'll just have to do the best job of that we can." Tara sighed. "Take it easy, big brother."

"You as well Tara." Gar told her before hanging up.

Author's Note: For this first chapter I added the scene between Cagalli and Tara. That scene wasn't in the original version. One mistake I made with the original version was that I probably focused a little too much on Kira and Lacus. Of course one problem with adding that scene was it probably blows away some of the mystery behind the Thorson siblings. But at the same time it also allows me to give Tara a few more scenes in this story.

Please review and let me know what you think.