Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Gundam Seed or Seed Destiny

Straying Thoughts

Desert Rose

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"But it doesn't look like a flower at all, Mama!"

"No?"

"No."

"Hmm...I think it looks a little like flower. Not as pretty, maybe. But it is a flower, you know."

"No, it isn't. It's just a rock. A very weird looking rock, too. Did Papa really give you this that day, Mama?"

"Yes, love. And do you know what he told me when he gave it to me?"

"It is beautiful without having to put on hues and shades like other flowers. Born from the sun and the sand as daughter of the desert, it has strength and will that no other flower has. And, though others may not find it sweet in either its scent or touch, its gentleness and sincerity are far more true than anything else. That's why this flower is all the more beautiful and more precious..."

Through the hazy fog of tears she could just barely make out the shape of the blossomed flower in her hand.

"Desert rose," he whispered, gently brushing the tears away from her eyes. "If only you know how beautiful and how precious you are..."

"Did Papa really say that?"

"But, of course, he did."

"...Then what did you say to him, Mama?"

"Desert rose couldn't have blossomed without the wish and will to become beautiful and precious for someone who has loved and cherished it so. That's why it blossoms only once, for that one reason alone, and for eternity."

She looked up and their eyes met. Midnight violet and sunflower's amber.

"You have always been that one reason for me to keep continuing despite everything. You have always been the only one reason that I wish to be just like this flower..."

"And Papa said?"

Lady Athha smiled to somewhere behind the little princess, who suddenly got scooped up into the arms of her father.

Lord Athha smiled at his wife that same gentle smile he had given her before on that day and thereafter. He then turned to his daughter so he might address her earlier question. "And Papa said to Mama that..."

"I hope I will always be that reason, so I may be allowed to love and cherish you forever."

A quiet sob escaped her as she was pulled into his arms.

"My desert rose."