Lacus's Resolve

Lacus's long lashes trembled slightly, and a complex, indescribable emotion flowed through her eyes—surprise, confirmation, and a lingering sense of shock.

She gave a faint nod and replied in a voice as soft as heavenly music, "...Yes, I saw it."

She paused, as though choosing her words, or perhaps savoring that immense, awe-inspiring torrent of information. Then, with a trace of uncertainty and inquiry, she continued, "That was... your memory, wasn't it? A very... profound memory. And likewise... you also... saw mine..."

Her voice was as light as dust floating in the air, yet in this utterly silent space, every word was perfectly audible and reached Xia Ya's ears with complete clarity.

Xia Ya nodded slightly, his expression still grave and not the least bit relaxed. "Yes, I saw it." His voice was low and certain. "Your memories from these sixteen years... in this world. Not every detail, perhaps, but I saw the feelings you experienced and the important fragments of memory."

A profound look involuntarily surfaced in his eyes.

During that brief connection, what flooded into his mind was not merely Lacus's glamorous life as P.L.A.N.T.'s songstress, but also her joys and sorrows as an ordinary girl.

He saw her growing up surrounded by gentle, loving parents, spending every pearl-like moment of her childhood and adolescence happily in a home filled with art. He saw the pure joy she felt when she first raised her voice in song, and how her singing gradually crossed political barriers, spreading throughout the entire Earth Sphere, adored and acclaimed by countless people until she was crowned the "Songstress." He even saw, deep within her heart, her longing for peace and her faint sorrow over war and conflict...

Those memory scenes flashed through his mind like slides, vivid and real, instantly giving his understanding of the girl before him a depth and clarity it had lacked before.

Hearing Xia Ya's certain answer, especially his mention of the exact number "sixteen years," Lacus could not help drawing another soft breath.

That tiny sound, in the quiet room, seemed like a gentle sigh rising from the depths of her soul.

—That's right. Everything was like two sides of a mirror.

Just as she had seen the unbelievable memories in Xia Ya's mind—wars and conspiracies from another world—Xia Ya had, through that strange and irresistible sensation, glimpsed the past hidden deep within Lacus Clyne's heart.

After a brief silence, Xia Ya frowned slightly, his eyes carrying a trace of unresolved confusion. "That phenomenon... was it caused by you?" Although he already had an answer in his heart, he still needed final confirmation.

Lacus immediately shook her head gently, her long pink hair sliding over her shoulders like smooth silk.

Her tone was utterly certain, without the slightest hesitation. "No. At least, it was absolutely not my intention. You... you were the same, weren't you?" she asked in return, her blue eyes clear and open as they met Xia Ya's gaze.

"Yes." Xia Ya confirmed Lacus's question.

With confirmation from each other, both of them relaxed slightly.

Sure enough, that sudden, deep mental connection had not been a deliberate act by either of them.

While that only made the phenomenon itself more mysterious, it at least ruled out the possibility that the other was an "enemy" deliberately prying into their secrets.

It seemed self-evident, but for the two of them, tense and trapped aboard an enemy warship, confirming it aloud was still necessary.

Xia Ya paused, realizing he could not keep leading the conversation himself.

He adjusted his posture and tried to make his expression seem less stern. "...It seems I've been the one asking questions all this time. You must have many things you want to ask me as well, don't you?"

The instant those words left his mouth, Lacus's body trembled slightly, as if struck by a faint invisible current.

A clear flicker of hesitation and struggle passed through her eyes, as though she were weighing something.

At last, as if gathering tremendous courage, she raised her eyes to look directly at Xia Ya. Her voice remained gentle, yet it carried a force that could not be ignored.

"...Back then, in your memories... those things I saw... were they... the future? Things that will happen... in this world?"

There it was. Xia Ya thought to himself. As expected, that was what concerned her most.

His expression turned solemn again. Without concealing anything, he slowly and clearly said, "Yes. That's right."

He knew the "future" Lacus had seen was certainly not anything light or pleasant.

Through his memories from his "previous life," memories of Gundam SEED and its sequels, she must have glimpsed how this cruel war born of genetic differences would continue to intensify, descending into an even bloodier, more frenzied abyss.

What a devastating picture that would be... He could even imagine that Lacus might have seen the bombardment of Jachin Due, Orb's fall, and familiar and unfamiliar people struggling and dying amid the flames of war... She had seen those earth-shaking events that should have unfolded step by step, and how countless living lives would vanish like dust within the spiral of hatred.

She might even have seen... after that, after a brief peace, the outbreak of a second, perhaps even a third war... and then, at the end of that endlessly repeated, despairing smoke of war, what kind of magnificent yet unwilling fate awaited Lacus Clyne herself.

A short silence descended over the room like a heavy curtain, making the atmosphere so oppressive it was almost suffocating.

Lacus bit her soft lower lip tightly, her fingertips curling slightly as if she were struggling to digest information that was far too heavy. After a long while, she finally forced out a sentence in a voice barely above a whisper.

"...But... in those memories... in those scenes of the future... you weren't there."

Her observation was meticulous and struck directly at the heart of the matter.

Xia Ya let out a soft, silent sigh. A complex emotion appeared in his eyes—perhaps helplessness, perhaps self-mockery.

"Yes," he admitted frankly. "In the memories of that 'future' I possess, there is no man named 'Char La Flaga.' According to that 'script'... a man like me was never supposed to exist."

The pure violet in Lacus's eyes was now shrouded in deeper confusion. She could not help pressing further. "Th-then... what exactly is going on? You..." She seemed to want to ask, "Who exactly are you?" but felt it would be too abrupt.

Hearing Lacus's confused question, one that struck directly at the core, a thought flashed through Xia Ya's mind. Had she not read the memories of the universe from his previous life?

That seemed rather unreasonable. Given the depth and breadth of the information exchange just now, he had assumed all his secrets—including his memories of the original Mobile Suit Gundam and his own origins—would have flowed into Lacus's mind without reservation.

Could it be... that connection had been selective? Or had information about his origins in another world been blocked by some rule or interference?

The discovery made Xia Ya feel slightly relieved, but it also added a new mystery.

Still, no matter what, it at least meant that his greatest secret might not have been completely exposed.

Though he was deeply conflicted, he still decided that he absolutely could not casually reveal the truth about his origins.

It was too shocking and involved too much. It would only bring unnecessary trouble and danger.

He met Lacus's searching gaze. His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable resolve. "I'm sorry, but I do not intend to explain in detail why I exist here. It concerns my deepest personal secret."

He paused, his tone softening slightly as he added with a hint of compensation, "But... aside from that, anything you wish to know about that 'future,' as long as I know it, I will answer. For example—the ultimate outcome of this war, and the key turning points leading to that outcome."

He had taken the initiative to offer her part of the future's information. For him, too, that was a difficult decision.

Speaking the future aloud could itself change the future. But he also understood that Lacus had already glimpsed part of it; complete concealment was no longer possible.

Rather than let her live with half-understood fear and speculation, he might as well selectively tell her some key information and perhaps guide her as well.

Yet deep down, he still felt a trace of pain and guilt over concealing things from her.

He even thought that if Lacus looked at him now with those gentle yet resolute eyes and sincerely, persistently asked him to reveal every future memory he knew, he feared he truly would find it difficult to resist... and would tell her everything.

After all, deceiving such a pure and intelligent girl was itself a torment.

Yet Lacus's next reaction completely exceeded his expectations.

She simply shook her head gently and firmly. There was not the slightest hesitation or resentment in those blue eyes; instead, they shone with a clear light of understanding.

"...No, there's no need," she said clearly in a voice like a flowing spring.

"Huh...?" Xia Ya nearly thought he had misheard and blurted it out, his voice filled with disbelief and confusion.

His expression, much like his voice, instantly became somewhat blank.

He truly could not understand. Knowing the future, foreseeing fate—was that not what everyone caught in the whirlpool of turbulent times dreamed of? How could she... refuse?

He hurriedly pressed her, his tone even growing somewhat urgent. "What...? What? You... you don't want to know? No, you just saw my memories. You should know what that means... You truly don't want to know? For example, the detailed course of events leading to the ending you saw? And during that process, what actions you yourself... would take, what role you would play..."

But Lacus smiled.

Since being alone with Xia Ya, it was the first smile she had shown from the bottom of her heart—brilliant and warm like cherry blossoms in spring.

That smile scattered the last remnants of tension and heaviness in the room, instantly melting the faint worry between her brows.

Her eyes held a wisdom that did not match her age, along with a detached, unwavering determination.

"No, I don't need to know." She smiled, her tone light yet certain. "Because the future you know is one where you do not exist, isn't it?"

Those words struck the very center of Xia Ya's thoughts like a perfectly aimed arrow.

Faced with this sudden statement from a smiling girl, Xia Ya was momentarily at a loss for words.

He realized he seemed to have continually underestimated the wisdom and decisiveness of the girl before him.

Lacus's smile deepened. Looking at Xia Ya's slightly stunned expression, she continued in an almost declarative, confident tone, "But now, you are here. Mr. Char La Flaga, you exist in this world. Then the future awaiting us must already be completely different from the future I saw... It will be a... brand-new future that even you do not know."

Hearing this, Xia Ya felt as though a massive stone had been cast into his heart, stirring tremendous waves. He sank into deep thought.

Yes... she was right.

All along, he had subconsciously regarded himself as an observer who "knew the script," trying to use the advantage of "foreknowledge" to influence, even correct, this world's course.

But he had overlooked the most crucial point—his very existence was this world's greatest "variable."

His appearance had already caused this world's "script" to deviate from its course at the source.

He had piloted the Blaze Gundam in battle. He had interacted with Jiliang, Mu, Murrue, and the others. He was having this conversation with Lacus right now...

All of it was like stones cast into the river of fate, bound to stir layer after layer of ripples and steer the future toward unknown directions.

Lacus's words were like lightning, splitting apart the fixed pattern of thought he had held all this time.

The "future" he knew may have ceased to be the "only" future from the very moment he was born into this world.

Watching Xia Ya's thoughtful expression, Lacus spoke again. Her tone became lighter, carrying the distinctive, skipping change of subject unique to a young girl. "So, I am no longer interested in that future where you do not exist. Compared with something so vague and intangible, right now... I want to know more about you yourself."

She blinked those violet eyes that seemed able to speak, a playful smile appearing on her face. "Oh, right! To show that we've put aside those heavy futures, how about... we introduce ourselves again? We can consider it... our true first meeting?"

Xia Ya was caught off guard by her sudden proposal and instinctively objected, "Huh? No, um... didn't we already introduce ourselves just now—"

However, Lacus seemed not to hear him at all—or rather, she deliberately ignored his reaction.

She rose gracefully and gave him another impeccable lady's curtsy. With a sincere, radiant smile, she said in a crisp voice:

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Lacus Clyne. From this moment onward, please take care of me, Lord Xia Ya."

"Ah, um... hello. I'm Char La Flaga... Please take care of me as well." Xia Ya answered almost by reflex, though his heart was full of helpless amusement.

What... what was with this girl?

He wondered to himself.

Granted, in his vague memories of the original work, Lacus Clyne had indeed been portrayed as rather airheaded when she first appeared, even somewhat detached from worldly affairs.

But only through a real, face-to-face, in-depth conversation like this could he feel so clearly that... she was not "airheaded." Rather, she possessed a unique kind of transparent, perceptive, and even slightly sly innocence.

Her way of thinking, her mannerisms—everything about her carried an unconventional freedom and charm.

This was nothing like the political leader and spiritual icon from the latter half of SEED, or from Gundam SEED Destiny and Gundam SEED Freedom, who could maneuver through every situation and even inspire a measure of awe.

The girl before him now was Lacus Clyne at her truest, most vivid, most genuine.

That purity and uniqueness intrigued him, and the wariness he had felt after having his secrets glimpsed unconsciously eased a little further.

Lacus sat down again and tilted her head slightly upward. In her blue eyes, seemingly holding stars and seas within them, curiosity and inquiry shone without concealment.

She gazed at Xia Ya and, in a voice as soft and winding as a spring breeze brushing across flower petals, asked what she most wanted to know at that moment—a question about his "present."

"Then, Lord Xia Ya... why are you aboard this warship?"

Her voice was gentle, and the question seemed simple, yet it carried an insistence that could not be avoided, as though she intended to begin with this question and slowly peel away the layers of mist surrounding the mysterious young man before her.