In December of CE 71, the artificial sunlight over April City, PLANT's capital, still fell gently across the space colony's dome, passing through its specially designed transparent material to bathe every corner of the streets in warmth. Three months after the final battle at Jachin Due Fortress, most of the grim wartime atmosphere that had once hung over the city had faded, replaced by the gentle relief of survival and a cautiously maintained peace. The ink on the Earth Alliance's and PLANT's signatures on the Junius Treaty had dried. Though the document embodying their desire for a ceasefire had not eradicated the divide between Naturals and Coordinators, it had at least put the fighting on hold. The smoke and scent of blood that had once filled space were gradually filtered and diluted by the colonies' efficient recycling systems. Only the military decorations occasionally seen on veterans' chests and the bullet scars of varying depths still left on building walls silently told of the brutal war that had spanned two years and claimed countless lives.
Mei Hock and Lacus Clyne, two pivotal figures who had once shaken the battlefield and shaped the course of the war, had now set aside their glory to live quiet lives utterly unlike those their identities suggested. They deliberately avoided the luxurious residences symbolizing power and status in central April City, and they had not remained in the private apartments where generations of the Hawke Family had lived. Instead, they discreetly rented a two-story apartment with a small courtyard in the Starlight Residential District, not far from the PLANT Military Academy. Most of their neighbors were academy staff and their families, whose conversations revolved around their children's schooling and everyday household concerns. Far from military bustle, politicians' scrutiny, and pursuing reporters, it suited their original intention