Sorry guys. I forgot I had this fic going. I wrote it all in a gallop after I finished watching the series and it distracted me for my other fic's, and now my other fic's are distracting me from this one. Oh, the irony. Anyways, I'm trying to get all my fic's up before I leave to go work at the snow so I just have to edit the other chapters and then I'll get them up for you to read ASAP.
Chapter Two
Miriallia leant backwards on the garden wall she was sitting on and breathed deep. The soft afternoon sun warmed her pale skin and the natural perfume of the garden behind her lulled her mind into a peaceful state. After spending the last few hours developing film and pictures in the dark room and smelling the chemicals that made such things possible, the openness of the bright world outside was a welcome change (1).
After discharging herself from the military, Miriallia had followed her dream of being a professional photographer and had enrolled in a course at a local collage in order to learn the skills she would need. She was currently topping her class and had sold a few of her photos covering events in Orb to a newspaper, something she hoped to continue in the future. Dearka was gone for the day on official ZAFT businesses and the Natural took the time to truly enjoy the silence. The blonde Coordinator could be quiet when he wanted to be but no one could deny that he didn't like the sound of his own voice.
So Miriallia remained still, calmly absorbing the warm of the sun basking down on her and enjoyed just getting lost in the moment.
"Miriallia?"
Opening her eyes, the auburn-haired girl's turquoise eyes widened when she saw a boy slightly older than her standing in front of her. The boy was dressed in casual clothes with his brown hair sporting a natural wave and his green eyes looking at her uncertainly, as if he wasn't exactly sure if she was the person he thought she was.
"Nate?" Miriallia gasped, her throat suddenly going tight. For a second there she had almost thought it had been Tolle standing in front of her. It was scary how much the two cousins looked alike.
"I thought it was you," Nate grinned, moving over to embrace the girl that had been dating his cousin at the time of his death. Miriallia returned the hug awkwardly. While she still maintained contact with Tolle's parents, she wasn't really comfortable being with the rest of his family. After all, she had only known them through Tolle and the reminded of their lost connection was painfully awkward. Also, Miriallia irrationally feared that they would ever forgive her for moving on. She had kept fighting, even after she had seen the losses that could occur, and it was while she was fighting she had met the boy she was currently seeing. She hadn't exactly leapt head first into a relationship with Dearka – she needed time to grieve, which Dearka patiently endured – but she wasn't grieving anymore. She would never forget Tolle but she couldn't let his death stop her from living now. That's not what Tolle would have wanted.
"What are you doing here?" Miriallia asked as Nate took as seat next to her on the garden wall.
"I'm actually an apprentice with one of the major construction companies that are rebuilding Orb," Nate explained with a smile. "I'm getting tons of experience here and if I ever decide to leave my job I'll be able to find employment with any other company if it says I helped fix up Orb on my resume. What about you?"
"I'm in the middle of a photograph course at the moment," Miriallia said, holding up her camera as proof.
"So, you're not in the military any more?"
"No. I've seen enough of war," Miriallia sighed. She was still kept up to date with what was going on in the world but she no longer had any desire to have a hand in it. She believed death war had lost all its dignity when one man hitting a button could kill thousands. The destruction of the Earth Forces headquarters JOSH-A in Alaska and men like Patrick Zala and Muruta Azrael made her never doubt her choice to resign from the military. She now cared more about the human side of war and the effects the actions of the world leaders had on the general public.
"I bet you have. But you're doing photography now. That's pretty cool. You any good?" Nate asked and Miriallia gave him a modest shrug before pulling out her art book and handing it to him. Inside the worn pages was every photo she had developed throughout her course from her extremely good to her embarrassingly bad. Nate, however, found them all to be works of art. "These are fantastic."
"Thank-you," Miriallia blushed slightly. She was constantly being told how great her work was but she still hadn't learnt how to accept such complements without feeling embarrassed. "But they're nothing, really."
"No, they're really good. You could go pro with these," Nate assured her, looking at a black and white photo of Cagalli and Kira. The twins had their backs to one another, their posture almost identical with their opposite hair colours juxtaposing one another. Both Cagalli and Kira had demanded copies of the photo when Miriallia had shown them the finished product of the shot that had taken over an hour to set up and it still stood as one of Miriallia's favourite photos. "That's Kira Yamato and Princess Cagalli, isn't it?"
"That's them."
"It's hard to believe the Kira turned out to be related to royalty," Nate thought aloud. He had met all of his cousin's friends before the destruction of Heliopolis and still found it hard to believe that pretty much all of them would end up in the final battle between ZAFT and the Earth Forces. "I'll always remember Kira as being a bit of a clown who'd rushed into things without thinking despite being so smart. Who would have thought he'd end up being a Coordinator?"
Miriallia frowned at her friend's words. There was something about the way he said the word 'Coordinator' that made it sound like an insult. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just that Kira was always so normal. So friendly. I would never have picked him to be something unnatural, even if he was super smart."
"Coordinators aren't anything 'unnatural'. They're still human and they can be just as normal as a Natural. They may be able to do a lot of things we can't but they aren't above human error or anything like that," Miriallia noted, recalling the time when Dearka had spent ten minutes trying to breaking into his car after locking the keys in there, only to discover that the passenger door had been unlocked the entire time. "And Coordinators are just basically Naturals with exceptional skills. Mu La Flaga was a Natural and yet he managed to give Rau Le Creuset and his ZAFT boys a good run for their money."
"Maybe, but you can't deny that there's something kinda wrong with messing around with a person genetic composition. It's like humans are trying to play God or something."
"Some of the greatest people I ever met are Coordinators," Miriallia responded coldly. "And you do know it's against the Orb's ideals to discriminate someone based on how they were born?"
"You're right. Sorry," Nate smiled apologetically. "I guess that's just old prejudice coming through. Let's change the topic; so what have you been doing with yourself besides school?"
"Not much. I still keep in touch with all my old friends but I've been spending a lot of time with Cagalli. We got to know each other during the war and since we both live near each other we're always hanging out. Plus it helps since we have the same group of friends. Whenever Kira and Lacus come down from the PLANTS they always go see Cagalli and Athrun, so usually Dearka and I are there too."
"Dearka?" Nate repeated, noticing the warm tone of her voice when she said his name. "That's right, I heard you were seeing someone new. What's he like?"
"A bit of a goofball but I really like him," Miriallia answered, touching her hair nervously. She really didn't feel comfortable talking about her new relationship with a family member of her late boyfriend. It just made her feel guilty for some reason.
"That him?" Nate asked, pointing to one of the photos in her art book that she had taken of Dearka.
"Yeah."
"Where's he now?"
"He's off on business today. He's always coming down to Earth to inform Orb on news from the PLANTS. Cagalli believes that communication between Earth and space is the best way to maintain peace," Miriallia explained. "He comes down with the Coordinators Representative to report on what's going on in his division of the ZAFT army."
"So . . . he's a Coordinator," Nate realised. He tried to keep his face straight but Miriallia could see a small amount of disgust and hate swelling in his green eyes.
"So what if he is?" Miriallia shrugged, trying her best not to sound too cold. "I don't think it really matters what he is as long as I'm happy with him."
"But how can you . . ." Nate stared, but trailed off as he tried to keep his prejudice from showing. He was in the wrong nation to do that. "I mean, don't you remember that it was a Coordinator that killed Tolle?"
"I know, but if we seek vengeance for every person that was killed, then peace will only be obtained when the human race has been completely eradicated," Miriallia pointed out sadly. Cagalli's and Lacus's speeches for peace kept repeating over and over again in her mind and she knew they were right. Killing all possible enemies in the name of peace and revenge was not the answer. Tolerance and forgiveness were the only keys to their unhappiness. "It was because Kira killed a ZAFT solider that made Athrun mad enough to avenge him, and Tolle was unfortunately killed because he got caught up in that battle so – "
"Wait! Athrun killed Tolle?" Nate interrupted, his eyes blazing in undisguised hate. "If you're spending time with Cagalli then that means you've been keeping company with the Coordinator that murdered my cousin!"
"It's not like that!"
"How could you do that to Tolle?" Nate accused. "How could you just forget about him like that?"
"I've never forgotten him! I – "
"You did forget him the second you befriended those Coordinators! From the very first time you kissed that Dearka! How could you do it? You've replaced Tolle with a murderer!"
"No! I – "
"How could you even consider being with a monster like that? Have you no self-respect? I thought I knew you, Miriallia! I thought that you were a respectable girl but after you've been with that . . . that . . . freak I don't think I want to know you anymore. How could you betray Tolle like this?"
"Tolle wanted to fight for the sake of protecting Kira – a Coordinator – because he was able see passed the prejudice surround Coordinators. He died fighting for that cause. I'm not the one betraying Tolle, Nate. You are!" Miriallia growled, her eyes filling with water but she wasn't sure if it was because she was hurt by Nate's callous words or from rage. How could be speak about Coordinators as if they weren't even human? They were just as human as Naturals were. Miriallia knew of no other person in existence that was as selfless and charming as the Coordinator Lacus Clyne. Coordinators weren't evil. It was human natural that was the real evil of the universe. Muruta Azrael had been a Natural and yet he had killed countless people with his nuclear weapons.
"You're being a fool," Nate hissed coldly, closing her art book. He purposely let it drop to the ground and got to his feet. "And you're not worth my time."
"Good! As if I'd want to spend my time with someone as ignorant as you!" Miriallia shouted after his retreating form. Visibly shaking with rage, Miriallia muttered some curses she had learnt after spending time with Yzak before trying to get her temper under control. Breathing deep, Miriallia crouched down to collect her art book. Several of her photos had fallen loose from the photo corners holding them to the pages and she wordlessly gathered them up. She noticed with dismay that her black and white photo of Cagalli and Kari and been bent slightly and she muttered another string of curses. When she had gathered all the lose photos, she stared down at the pile in her hands.
The very top photo was one she had taken of Dearka when her class was given the assignment to recreate some shots that resembled the work of photographer Bill Henson (2). She could still remember the night she had forced Dearka to stand waist deep in the water at one of Orb's beaches. His bare chest gleamed from the water that clung the his skin and his bronze body was darker in places where his girlfriend had rubbed waterproof muck onto him in order to achieve the dirty look the artist was aiming for. His long fingers were lightly touching the seemingly black surface of the water and behind him the lights of the city burned. The photo was without a doubt one of the finest – if not the finest – photo she had ever taken. The way Dearka's amethyst eyes stared directly into the camera with a sad, almost haunted look against the canvass of a completely blank face stirred within Miriallia the need to protect the boy that suddenly seemed so vulnerable. Dearka had laughed when she had told him that but that was just how she felt.
Dearka may be a solider with enhanced abilities but he was still human. He wasn't a murderer, no matter what Nate said.
It was then that Miriallia realised that there were tears streaming down her face and she broke down into deep sobs for a reason she couldn't name.
"Impossible!" Cagalli Yula Athha snapped, slamming her fist down on the dark wood table in front of her. "Orb is a peaceful and neutral nation! According to the ideals, no one within the boarders of our nation is to discriminate against anyone, be it Natural or Coordinator! Everyone within our nation is supposed to abide by that belief! There's no way we would let anything like this happen!"
"Miss Cagalli, I can understand why the possibility of such a faction within our boards angers you, but please don't let that anger make you ignorant to what could be going on," Ledonir Kisaka suggested gently. The blonde princess continued to clench her fist and glare murderously at the hard wood in front of her as the words of her old friend and bodyguard seeped in.
With a growl, Cagalli threw herself back into her chair and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine. Let's hear it."
"As you wish," Kisaka bowed slightly. "Reports from the city state that there are small pockets of hostile behaviour between Coordinators and Naturals cropping up all over the place. There have been no major incidences as of yet, but I believe it's best if we put an end to this now before it escalates any further."
"Which party is starting the conflict? Coordinators or Naturals?" Athrun Zala asked from his place sitting next to Cagalli. Since the end of the war Athrun had spent his time helping to rebuild Orb and repair relations between Naturals and Coordinators. The Naturals seemed to look towards Orb and its leaders as an example for peace, and both they and Coordinators seemed to agree that if peace were ever going to truly work it would be because of Orb. As a result, most information was brought to the neutral nation as a bit of a go-between the two forces.
"All reports seem to state that it's mostly Naturals discriminating against Coordinators," Kisaka answered. "There are one or two cases of Coordinators retaliating, but other than that they have not been the cause of any hostile actions."
"Why do the Naturals keep doing this to themselves?" Cagalli asked no one in particular, running her fingers through her hair and in doing so messing it up. "Why can't they just accept that Coordinators are a part of life and that we should all just get along? Why do we keep trying to eradicate ourselves?"
"These anti Coordinator factions aren't trying to start another war with the idea of killing off every last Coordinator. They claim that they're happy enough to let them live, just not alongside them," Kisaka said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Cagalli asked, her hands still in her hair and her elbows on the table. The blonde Natural had become somewhat more lady-like since she had first run off and joined Desert Dawn but when faced with something that frustrated her, liked with these anti Coordinator factions, she quickly slip back into her old ways.
"They don't want another war, but they don't want to share this world with the Coordinators," Kisaka explained. "They believe that the Naturals and the Coordinators should be separated from each other and keep to their own kind. They believe that under no circumstance should they be required to share anything with someone who isn't like them."
"This sounds very much like the old racial discrimination they used to have between blacks and whites," Athrun noted. "What's next? They'll be asking for us to install two sets of public toilets(3)? One for the Naturals and one for the Coordinators? Haven't these people ever heard of Martin Luther King?"
"Apparently not. They've even gone as far as attacking a young Natural boy that is engaged to a Coordinator. They don't seem to approve of that kind of relationship."
"That's absurd!" Cagalli snapped, slamming her fist down again and leaping to her feet. "How do they expect to obtain peace if they're still trying to keep their distance from each other? And attacking their own kind because of who they happen to be in love with? That's ridiculous!"
"Miss Cagalli, I know this matter may upset you on a personal level – "
"Damn straight it does!"
" – but sitting here asking how they could do something like this won't help," Kisaka finished. "We need to stop this spot fire here now before it turns into an inferno."
With a deep sigh, Cagalli slowly lowered herself into her seat. She just couldn't believe the ignorance of people. Were they going to attack her next because she was seeing a Coordinator? However Kisaka was right. Sitting here asking each other why they would do this wasn't the answer. They had to stop it here before it spread any further. "You're right, Kisaka. Please forgive me for being so childish."
"I'd tend to think of it as passionate as oppose to childish," Kisaka told her warmly.
"Thank-you," Cagalli blushed slightly, but returned to her serious composer as she turned to address the representative for the PLANTS. Other political figures may have been ashamed to loose their composure so publically, but Cagalli didn't give a toss. She was who she was and no title was going to change that. Fortunately, the PLANTS representative found her displays of passion more enduring than off-putting. "Are there any cases of this kind of thing happening in the space colonies?"
"No, you Highness," the representative answered. "The PLANTS are composed of virtually all Coordinators so there is no reason for such tensions and I'm sure you'll find the same in nations that are purely Naturals. Orb, on the other hand, is a mixed population so it seems as though this would be to only place where such hostilities would take place just as much as it is the ideal place to set an example for the rest of humanity. I agree with Kisaka that this issue must be dealt with quickly before it becomes a major incident. The Coordinators of the PLANTS are just as dedicated to this peace as the rest of the world."
"I'm sure they are," Cagalli said, but she then went on to question the blonde ZAFT solider sitting alongside the Coordinator representative. "Elsman, what do you believe are the views of the ZAFT soldiers on this matter."
"Well, after ZAFT declared peace with the Earth Forces, there was a large amount of grumbling from a few of the soldiers," Dearka answered casually. No matter how hard he tried, he could never bring himself to be completely formal when addressing Cagalli. It must be because they were friends outside of politics.
"How many would you say?" Cagalli asked.
"My guess would be a third or so," Dearka shrugged. "You know how soldiers are; take away their favourite war toys and they whimper like a bunch of children. However I don't think they'd start anything like this. I mean, dividing the whole universe like that is ridiculous."
"I agree," Cagalli nodded before returning to address Kisaka. "If these attacks aren't just happening at random like you say, then they must have some kind of an organisation and therefore a leader. Do we have anyone that might fit that description?"
"Not currently, your Highness, but the name Julian Tien keeps coming up and we're looking into that s we speak," Kisaka assured her.
"Well until we have more information regarding this matter there really isn't anything else we can do besides increasing security and police force in the city to try and catch these incidences should they occur," Cagalli mused. "Kisaka, please give the orders to have that done, but for now I believe this meeting is dismissed."
Dearka didn't leave immediately after his dismissal and waited around patiently for Cagalli to finish speaking with Kisaka. It wasn't long before Athrun, who was also waiting for the blonde princess, joined him.
"We go through the whole mess of the Bloody Valentine War and even in peace time it's not over," Athrun sighed sadly. The dark hair Coordinator had been so much more committed to the cause of peace that Dearka was, so he felt the pain of seeing it failing more keenly that the blonde. "Sometimes I think if we're just fighting for an impossible dream that's never going to become a reality."
"Well, the second you stop fighting is the second it will never become a reality," Dearka pointed out. "These things take time, Zala. You can't expect to have everyone agree to your way of thinking overnight. It's going to take a few years before the memories to the war start to fade and people can finally live without the desire to blow each other up. We may live to see that day or we may not, but it's still worth fighting for."
"You know, for an idiot, you really are quiet smart," Athrun noted, knowing that the blonde wouldn't be insulted by the backhanded complement.
"I hide it well."
"I've noticed," Athrun grinned, but that smile faded slightly when he returned his gaze to Cagalli who was still discussing security matters with Kisaka. Dearka followed his ex-commanders eye line and instantly knew what he was thinking.
"She'll be fine," Dearka assured. "We'll get these trouble makers before it get out of hand."
"But what if she gets hurt because of her relationship with me? I don't think I could live with myself if that happened," Athrun admitted. He knew firsthand what a tenacious fighter Cagalli was, but she was still a Natural so in some respects Athrun knew just how delicate she really was under all that bravado.
"She's got you and Kisaka watching her every step and who knows how many secret service guys in suits and dark sunglasses dogging her every where that she goes. I'd like to see any mob get through all that, be it anti Coordinator or anti Natural. Besides, Cagalli's a big girl. She can defend herself," Dearka reminded his friend. "If I was an anti anything member, I'd be more sacred of facing her than all the men in dark sunglasses."
"Are you really scared of me?" Cagalli asked, joining the two boys and catching the last part of what Dearka said.
"Sure, why not?" Dearka shrugged. "You've got to pilots of the Freedom and the Justice running scared from you and whatever scares those guys must be really terrifying."
"Can't you be serious for one second?" Cagalli asked, punching the other blonde in the shoulder. Miriallia and Cagalli had spent a lot of time together since the end of the war, so it was only natural that she'd get to know Dearka too. He might carry on like a stereotypical jock, but he always made Cagalli laugh so she couldn't help but like him.
"I try not too," Dearka grinned impishly at her.
"When do you go back to the PLANTS?"
"Are you that sick of me already?"
"Yes."
"Harsh," Dearka pouted for a second before answering her question. "I've got like four more days here and then I go back to grace Commander Joule with my sparkling presence."
"Don't you mean annoy?" Athrun corrected, remembering all the times when the Buster pilot would irritate the Duel pilot to breaking point. If they weren't such good friends, Athrun believed that Yzak would have accidentally on purpose shot down Dearka's suit years ago.
"He misses me when I'm gone, I know it," Dearka grinned before looking at Cagalli. "Milly told me to tell you that she accepts you're invitation for dinner tomorrow night. She didn't ask me if I wanted to go, but she insists that we are both thrilled about the idea of spending a night in your dazzling company."
"I'm not sure whether that was an insult or not, but I'm glad you're both coming," Cagalli smiled. "After spending all my days trying to sort out all the problems the universe is facing, it'll be nice to sit back and doing something normal for once. Don't ask me why, but whenever something goes wrong they always seem to look to me, Athrun, Kira and Lacus to make it right."
"Comes with being a hero of a war I guess," Dearka shrugged. "Well, I better get going. Can't keep Milly waiting, now can I?"
"No you can't because she might start thinking that it's my fault you're being held back so late," Cagalli said as the ZAFT solider headed off. "And keep an eye on Mir! We don't want anything to happen to her with all these anti Coordinator attacks going on!"
"Don't worry! I'm on it! See ya!" Dearka waved, heading for the front door. Outside, storm clouds were beginning to gather.
(1) I used to do photography in high school so I know that after a double period of it the fumes used to get to your head
(2) In 2004-05 Bill Henson did a lot of photos of dirty, anorexic looking teenagers at night. Apparently he was trying to catch the vulnerability of youth. Some of them are really good, however a few years later he did another series of pictures with preteen children that kind of came off a little paedophilic
(3) Random Fact: If you go to the Pentagon in America, you'll discover that there a twice as many bathrooms because it was built at a time when black people and white people had their own separate toilets
TBC.
