A/N
Will wonders never cease? I never thought I'd write a Gundam fiction…well anyway, onto the important stuff. The story takes place about a year after Gundam SEED ends. So I guess it takes place around the same time as Destiny, but I decided not to follow the plot of that story.
The story itself is 3 chapters long. There's one for every time: past, present, and the future (hence the title). Italics indicate a flashback.
Pairing, as you can tell, is Dearka and Miriallia. Those two are really ignored in the series, yet I love them to death! Anyway, I'd appreciate if you'd review and constructive criticism is always welcome.
The Past: Forgotten
Blue eyes fluttered slowly open and took in the images around her. Nothing made too much sense. There she lay in a dull room, the only items being the bed, a small table and the window with its faded green colored drapes pulled out to either side. Everything was a blur. This was where exactly? What time? For how long? Why exactly was she so clueless?
Just then, the sliding door opened, and a tall, slender female in a nurse's outfit marched in with a clipboard. She gazed surprisingly at the bed where the other lay. "My, my. The Little Miss has awakened. Doctor!" and as fast as she'd come, she had gone.
What exactly was this place? A hospital or something like that? She sat up, and stretched the muscles in her arms that felt unusually stiff. Just then, another woman made her entrance, she looking a lot more dominant then the previous. "Morning, Little Miss."
She wished to respond, but her throat felt dry and unused. "Good morning?" her question finally came out, but it was very quiet and raspy. Not to mention that her head was killing her at the moment. "W-where am I?"
The lady wasted no time in getting to the point. "We're at the hospital at Orb. I'm afraid I have some terrible news. Firstly though, can I have your name?"
"Okay," she said a bit more clearly this time, "my name is…" That was strange. She blinked a couple of times. Come to think of it, what was her name? "My name is…"
"Your name is Naoko Sakamoto," a new voice piped up from the open doorway. It was a girl who looked no older then 'Naoko', dressed in a purple business suit, sporting blond hair. She walked casually in, brushing past the doctor, who saluted her. "Your name is Naoko, understand?" she asked again, though it was more of a statement. The other nodded slowly, taking everything in. "Now before you start asking questions…may I be alone with M…Naoko for a moment? Thanks for your work, Kayoko-sensei."
"Just my job, Representative." She left without a further word, leaving the blonde and Naoko alone.
The sliding door shut behind her, and she smiled. "It's good to see you awake again. I'm Cagalli Yula Athha, the Representative of Orb. Please just call me Cagalli. We've known each other for a little while." However, Naoko seemed to show no signs of any 'friendliness' for the head of Orb. It was all confusion. "Anyway, I want to explain this all to you right now. Starting with who you are. Naoko, you are a photographer for the Orb daily newspaper, taking shots of the world in its state. You have a home here in this country, but you don't really spend a whole lot of time here because of your job…" She continued to explain several things and always held this odd look in her eyes. Later, she'd distinguish it as sadness.
Her reflection was the same as always. The dulled blue eyes and a messed head of brown hair. Well at least when she'd just woken up. This was one of the times when she was home, rather then sleeping in a hotel in some remote location where war had broken out.
It seemed weird that she was sent to photograph such images, when she'd been told that most of her memories had been suppressed because of the haunting visions the war she'd been part of several years ago had given her. She wasn't told about any specific details, simply because then those unpleasant dreams and sights would plague her again.
Taking a brush, she sighed, slowly untangling the knots that were being extremely difficult this morning. This was definitely the sign of a bad day ahead. She gazed with long eyes throughout the tiny apartment that seemed rather bare. The curtains only were letting a crack of light through, and the rays of the sun landed atop the dresser with several pictures displayed.
She lay the brush down and walked over to them, picking up the closest one. These had been here ever since she'd come back from the hospital some months ago. The one in her hands was of she as well as four other people. A girl with hot-pink hair, smiling happily next to a boy with tan hair and glasses. The other two were boys, both with dark brown hair, yet one had blue eyes, while the other was tinted purple. She ran her fingers along the glass before setting it down and taking the next picture.
This one was taken while in the army, or so it seemed. It was the same people (add a couple) and they were all hyped up about being able to float around in space was what it looked like. Not to mention the guy with glasses was floating upside down with the oddest of expressions on his face.
She took one of the ones hidden in the corner, and observed it carefully. This one was of her and the boy with the blue eyes. They were both smiling and holding hands. It looked like she and him were having the time of their lives. That's when her chest began to hurt. It was always that picture.
It was then that her eyes traveled to the clock. Great, she was late for her next plane to God-knows-where. She grabbed her pre-packed camera bag and bounded out of the complex. She'd managed to catch a bus that'd take her to the airfield.
Once there, she gave a smile to the pilot. "Sorry I'm late. Ready to go though." She hopped onto the tiny plane and so began the normal routine from there on.
"Please rest awhile, Naoko-san. The area is over three hours away," the pilot instructed.
She nodded and began to drift into thought as the plane lifted into the air.
"Don't even try to remember the names," Cagalli said later that day, "suppressing memories isn't permanent. Even one little thing could bring all the visions upon you again. Before you wanted nothing of it."
However, now and then were different. She wanted to know. She felt like an empty person this way. A person who had no past; she had but the present, and no future. What she'd give to remember even half of the things. Her head fell as she fumbled with the lens on her camera.
Her then gazed out the window, looking at a war-bound area that she'd been there it was only a week. It must really have been horrible, to be in this war. Not to mention it was a stupid war, in her opinion. Who really cared if people had they're genes modified anyway? It may have been a controversial matter, but nothing to go to war about.
Imagine all the people dying…and for what? They left behind children, wives (or husbands), loved ones, you name it. People, both Naturals and Coordinators needed to have a better insight on these things. Lacus Clyne, for instance, had one of the sanest ideals of this time. If everyone thought like her, there wouldn't even be a war.
"Naoko-san. We're landing." She nodded and tied her hair back with a green cloth. But enough about the forgotten past, and more about the present photography. "Please don't wander too far, Naoko-san. There were reports of ZAFT soldiers around. Even if we're from Orb, they might not treat us too well once in their command."
"Understood," she replied, and placed the camera strap around her neck. It was always the drill. There were always either the Atlantic Federation or ZAFT still about in zones like these, but they'd left her alone. Still, one could never be too careful. That was exactly the reason why she'd loaded her handgun and placed it in a side pouch before leaving the plane.
It'd been only a few hours that she'd been wandering around, taking snapshots of everything from blown-up buildings to gruesome blood-filled pits where some of the not yet collected bodies lay. The sent had left her nauseous, so she'd sat down on the ruins of a military base.
She'd heard a loud noise overhead. Gazing into the sky, she could see something land in the distance, not too far away. It looked like a battleship. It was probably best to leave then, since she didn't want to interfere with any ZAFT matters.
She walked over the rubble, scraping her legs along the way. Those no longer hurt anymore, but they did stay there for weeks at a time. Climbing over the remnants of a pile of mobile suits and fallen cannons, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.
'Strange,' she thought walking over in that direction, 'how come I didn't see this earlier?' She reloaded her camera with a new load of film and took about the whole role on the broken fenced area. There were more bodies in the area then the most part. It must have been a nasty battle here. She was so busy clicking away at the shutter button to notice some small debris fall from the pile of junk above her.
Sighing, she took out the role of film and placed it in her bag, along with the camera itself. It made things difficult, climbing over such hills of scrap with something dangling from her neck. She made it to the top over another broken mobile suit, when she finally clued in to the footsteps behind her. She looked back to the ground and the first thing she saw was the green uniform.
The first reaction she had was, "Oh no! A ZAFT soldier!" She quickly slid down the pile of rubble so that there was at least a broken tool between the two of them. She ran through the rest of the war zone without looking back. What were the chances that he'd follow her all that way? She let go the breath she was unaware of holding when the airfield was in range.
Only, she was stopped in her tracks by a voice. "Mir!" Not knowing exactly who this 'Mir' person was, or whether or not it was some kind of code, she reflexively turned her head back. Big mistake. The soldier in green was catching up. However her feet seemed to be glued in place.
"Mir!" he called again. This time she could get a closer look at him. He looked about her age, maybe a few years older. His blond hair really stood out against the tanned skin. Strange, he looked extremely familiar. Or maybe she'd passed a similar looking guy on the street once. That was more likely.
He was less then two meters when he stopped to catch his breath. "You've sure learned how to run fast," he said smoothly, and running his fingers through his hair like a comb. She gave him a strange look. He was talking as if he knew her? "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" he smiled.
She didn't respond until he came closer. She edged backwards, but not fast enough for him to catch her by the hand and pull her close. Now what was that about ZAFT leaving her alone? His arms were wrapped lightly around her waist. The soldier was a good half a head taller then she was. "Why won't you say anything? Don't tell me you're still miffed about what happened?"
She still wasn't sure what in the world he was talking about, who he was, what were his motives, and some other stuff like that. "W-who are you?" she finally asked.
He blinked in shock for a moment before chuckling. "That wasn't very funny, Mir. Now try saying 'hello'. It would be nice."
This was way too strange for her liking. Summoning up some courage, she fumbled to her pouch and drew the gun. With one swift motion she'd planted it against his chest, a stone-cold glare across her features. "Let go of me now." He was surprised once again by her actions, and slowly backed away. "Now, who are you? And God help me, I'll kill you if I need to."
"M-Mir, hey, hold on a sec here," he held up his hands in defense. They'd stayed like that for a minute or so. "Put that thing away," he said it this time more sternly.
"Leave me be! Go away and I won't shoot."
"Listen here, you…"
"Where the hell are you getting this from? 'Mir' and 'you' and whatnot? If you must know, I'm Naoko, so go bother someone else please."
He didn't respond for a second, taking in what she'd just said. "I get it," he finally said, dropping his hands. "Now, put the gun down." He took a step towards her. She shook her head and held her weapon up with a hard façade. He took another step, and this time, she clicked the trigger into place. "Do you know how dangerous that is to use? Miriallia Haww, you put that gun away right now!"
She froze. Miriallia? Hold on a second, that name was familiar. Too familiar…perhaps because it was her name…her real name. Her hands began to tremble, as things became clearer. Things popped into her head: Archangel, the bridge, Kira, Fllay, Sai. Then she saw a prisoner, a dark cell, yet he was smiling, in a way. He'd been happy to see her. She lowered her weapon and sank to her knees.
'Why now?' she thought dropping the gun from her hands. 'Dearka…go to hell,' she cursed him mentally before shutting her eyes. The headache was back.
AN
Sheesh, I really hope it wasn't too confusing! (If it was I'll explain it next chapter). I did write it at one in the morning after all. So part one out of three done. Let's see how you liked it…