Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny

Authors note: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. This is going to be a Dearka Miriallia fic, but it is going to take some time to get there.

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Miriallia was up early the next day, making sure all her equipment was ready to go. Roger had offered to go with her to act as a body guard, but she declined his offer. She had an eerie feeling about today and the last thing she needed was someone to worry about.

Giving the room one last sweeping glance to make sure that she had everything, Miriallia picked up her camera bag and her back-pack and left the hotel room. It was only a couple of blocks from her hotel to the Zaft base, so she decided to walk instead of hailing a cab. Plus this way she would get a chance to see the city and possible sites for shots. It was warm out, and the town seemed so peaceful, reminding her of the days before the war, back when she and her friends were students on the colony of Heliopolis. Life had been so simple and carefree, but now it was once again being turned upside down by the foolishness and greed of men. Men, who cared not for the people they hurt, only for the power and rewards they could gain from the battles. Shaking her head to clear away her depressing thoughts, Miriallia fiddled with the chain around her neck, rubbing one of the tags in an unconscious fashion.

She sighed to herself and gave her attention to the sights around her. She had not seen much of the city last night when they landed, so now as she made her way through it, she decided to stop and look at the sites. It truly was a beautiful place. And parts of it reminded her of Orb before it was burned. Much like Cagalli had been trying to rebuild it to be again.

It did not take her long to reach the base. It was finding a good spot along the fence that divided the city from the base that took her some time. Inside the fence was hundreds of Zaft soldiers. She had not seen that many Zaft soldiers in one place since Alaska, but then they had been trying to kill the EA forces and not talking excitedly about the upcoming concert by Lacus Clyne. The dominant color uniform was green, but she could see a few red ones in the crowd also. Seeing the red elite uniforms that only the top guns wore made her think of Dearka.

She had not seen him since he left with the Duel's pilot to return to the Plants and Zaft. It hurt seeing him leave, but she knew that it was for the best. It was thanks to him that she even knew the difference in the uniform colors. He had explained it all to her one night when neither of them could sleep. She had found him in the hangar staring up at the Buster and the Strike, when she decided to approach him. It had been awkward at first but soon they had fallen into a semi-comfortable conversation. That had been the last time calm night until after the second battle of Jachin Due and the end of the war. It was also the last time she had talked to the blonde Coordinator. Soon after the battle, once Kira had been found and the Strike Rogue had come back, he had patted her on the shoulder and left to go back to Zaft.

It was funny how seeing these soldiers now made her think of him, when she had not done so in a while. As she continued to look around the base a familiar blue head caught her attention. It disappeared before she could truly look at the person, but she could have sworn that the person had been Athrun. But why would he be here with Zaft and not on the Archangel with Cagalli and Kira? The possibility of Athrun being in Diocvia, left Miriallia feeling very uneasy adding to her bad feelings from earlier that morning.

Things seemed to be moving very quickly and the world was becoming more chaotic by the moment. First the Archangel and Kira kidnap Cagalli, then someone tries to murder Lacus and to go along with that one there is a clone of her running around, and now Athrun has a possible look-a-like, who's wearing a Zaft elite uniform. The world was increasingly becoming more and more complex. She only hoped that these complexities would not lead to the results of the previous war's actions. There simply could not be the use of nuclear weapons or a weapon like Genesis again.

Miriallia's thoughts were cut-off by the increase of cheering coming from the soldiers just inside the fence. Looking up, her eyes grew twice in size at the sight of three Zakus descending to the ground. It appeared that the Orange one and a regular issued green one were having to guide a bright pink one to the ground. She felt speechless at the sight of the grotesque pink Zaku. Lacus's name was painted on it along with a huge image of a haro. Miriallia felt the need to cross herself at the hideous site before her. Just as she felt it could not get any more disturbing, it did. There in the palm of the pink Zaku was a barely dressed, fake Lacus Clyne. Then came before she could recover the music started. It was a very familiar song to Miriallia. She had heard Lacus sing it while she was on the Archangel. Hell, she had been humming it last night, but the song playing now was nothing like the one she knew and loved. Shaking her head in disgust, Miriallia raised her camera and went about taking rapid photos of the clone.

Even though the concert was short, she had probably taken two full roles of film and a half on another one. Dropping the full ones into her pockets, she took one more look at the clone and shook her head. She only needed a little bit more proof of her being a fake, and she would have that bitch. The pictures she took today would go a long way in exposing the clone as a fake, and the new Supreme Chairman as a manipulative man, using other's power to gain the results he desired. Since the concert was now over she had some time on her hands before she set off again to get more photos. While she had waited for the show to begin she had heard a rumor that the Supreme Chairman was here with the clone and Miriallia wanted to try and get some photos of him. But she needed the excitement from the concert to die down before she could continue to look around.

She took her camera off from around her neck and placed it back into its bag. Slowly making her way from the fence, she felt a longing to see those who she had not seen in months or in years. It was like a pull to talk to her friends, when she had spent the last two years trying to distance herself from those who could remind her off the loss she had suffered and the horrors she had witnessed. But now a strong feeling made her want to tell them that she loved them and she missed them. And included in her list of those she wanted to talk to, was a certain blonde Coordinator. She did not want to tell that she loved him, because how could she when they had not seen one another or had contact for two years, but she did want to tell him thank you for being there during the last months of the war. It was strange this overwhelming feeling that she had. It was unlike one she had ever felt before and that includes the time right before Tolle's death. It was like something was trying to tell her that she might not get another chance to tell them how much they meant to her after today.

Miriallia was so lost in her thoughts and feelings that she failed to see the trio of people in front of her until she bumped into them. It was two guys, one with green hair and the other with light blue, and a beautiful young blonde with hollow eyes. Apparently they had been spectators at the concert and were now leaving to go back home.

"Oh, I'm very sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Miriallia said trying to be polite.

"Yeah, whatever. Come on Stellar, we're going." The light blue-haired one said grabbing the blonde's arm and pulling her along beside him. The young girl never looked at him, she did however glance at Miriallia, but then turned her attention back to the ocean in the the background.

Miriallia felt bad for the girl who was being pulled along and while she kept trying to glance at the Black Sea. 'What an odd group that was. They did not seem like they enjoyed the concert. It looked more like they were scoping the area out, by the way the two guys kept looking around. Especially the green-haired man. And that blonde, her eyes were so empty like there was no one behind those magenta eyes.' She watched as they walked to a car, got in, and drove off. The look in the blonde's eyes reminded Miriallia of Flay's, right after her father died in the war. She spent a few more minutes staring in their direction before the grumbling in her stomach reminded her that she had skipped breakfast that morning.She walked back into the town to find food for lunch and maybe some more news.

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Wondering around the town after her modest lunch, Miriallia kept hearing snatches of people's conversations. The main topic of every conversation she heard was how the Supreme Chairman, Gilbert Dullindal of Zaft was here in town and he would be leaving tomorrow with Lacus Clyne. It was the same thing she had heard at the concert, except now she was going to have to work quicker since he and the clone would be leaving in the morning.

Maybe this could lead to her finding out more about the failed assassination of Lacus. It seemed the best way to learn anything would be to stay in the town and try to find out the whereabouts of the Chairman and the clone. She could not bring herself to refer to that thing as Lacus, so she simply thought of her as the clone.

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Several hours later, Miriallia decided that her decision to stay in town was a foolishness one. She had not heard one bit of new information and the day was almost over. Any help she could have been to Kira and Lacus was now over, since her prey would be gone by the early morning.

Feeling defeated, Miriallia began making her way back to her hotel. Right as she was getting even with the front steps of the building, a black car pulled up and a very hyper Lacus Clyne jumped out, ignoring the shouts for her to wait. She ran right past Miriallia, helping to prove that she could not be the true Lacus Clyne, as the real one would have recognized Miriallia and stopped to talk to her.

Feeling her luck changing for the better, she quickly and quietly followed the pink-haired clone. Being discreet, she watched as the clone spoke to the Supreme Chairman, a commander, and a handful of top gun Zaft soldiers. She almost gave herself away, by laughing out loud when the clone shoved a red head, Zaft elite out of her way to latch onto the blue-haired soldier, she had seen earlier. The setting sun made it impossible for her to clearly see his face, but once again she got the feeling that the soldier was Athrun. She stayed still and tried to hear what was being said by the group but she was so far away that it was nearly impossible to do so. The only clear thing she heard was the Supreme Chairman tell the clone to have dinner and then meet him and she guessed the blue-haired soldier in the courtyard. She figured that the soldier he mentioned was the blue-haired one since he was the only one to nod his head in response.

Miriallia stayed for a few more minutes before creeping back to her room. It was pure luck that her prey had turned up at the very same hotel she was staying in. She could have kissed someone for this change in fortune. She dropped both her bags on the bed and grabbed her jacket off the back of a chair. Because they were in a coastal city it tended to get cold out when the sun set and she might be outside for some time and there was no reason to freeze while getting the evidence she needed. She dumped the film out of her pockets and retrieved her camera from the bag. She grabbed one extra roll of film, placing it in the pocket of her jacket. She decided to not lock her door, as she walked out. Just in case she was noticed and needed to make a quick run for it, she did not want a thing like a locked door to get in her way.

As she made her way outside to the courtyard, the same ominous feeling from this morning and this afternoon returned in full force making her feel as if someone had just walked over her grave. Her hand immediately found its way to the tags around her neck and clutched them. It had become second nature to play with or hold onto those tags when she was worried or was thinking to deeply about matters. One of the tags had been rubbed so much that it was smooth and a little hard to read. But that was fine with her since no one other than her ever saw it and she liked that she was the only one who knew what was on it. The smooth tag served as a calming effect on her and made her feel as if an angel was watching over her. She rubbed her fingers over it, trying to dispel the lingering unease hanging over her.

She shook her head at how worked up she was letting herself become. There was nothing out there and all she had to do was stay out of site like she always did. This is nothing more than getting pictures of her target, like the pictures she took of landscapes. She was just tired and all that information she had been given was screwing with her head. Letting the tags drop from her hands she wiped her hands on her jeans and walked slowly out to the back courtyard. She did not want to just walk out there in case her targets were already there and decided to leave because of her sudden appearance. If that happened then she would never get the photos she wanted.

She crept behind a row of hedges and found a good position to take pictures. It was rapidly getting darker and she was going to have to work quickly. She winced at the first click of her camera. Thankfully the clone's red haro was making enough noise to drown out the sound of the camera snapping photos. She pulled her camera down to switch rolls of film when she overheard the Supreme Chairman mention Lacus and the Archangel.

'Oh God, he was the one behind the attempt on Lacus. Why else would he be asking about the Archangel? The only thing they had done was kidnap Cagalli and that shouldn't matter to him. So it has be related to Lacus.' Miriallia was shocked that he would bring up the matter of Lacus to a soldier. Even though the soldier was an elite, he was nothing more than a soldier. So why would the Supreme Chairman tell him that the pink-haired girl behind them was nothing more than a fake. It was baffling to her and it made her itch to hear more.

Miriallia weighed her options of actually getting closer to hear more or staying where she was and just getting more pictures. She decided to throw caution to the wind and move closer when a hand closed over her mouth. Another one clamped onto her arm and forcefully dragged her up. Before she could do anything her captor slipped an arm around her waist, pinning her arms down by her side. Once the shock wore off, she tried to scream but the hand covering her mouth muffled the sound and the arm around her waist squeezed her tighter. She tried to struggle against him but it was of no use and it just made him tighten his hold on her.

She felt terrified as her captor started moving them out of the bushes and towards the two men she had been spying on. She could have kicked herself for not listening to those feelings earlier.

"Chairman Dullindal, Commander. I found this lurking in the bushes, taking pictures of you. I believe her to be a spy for the EAF." her captor told the men.

She was still trying to struggle against the man holding her. She paid no attention to the men in front of her. She kept telling herself that if she could just escape from this guy's grip then she could get away and her and Roger would leave at first light. With all her attention focused on getting away, she was startled when one of the men spoke. She felt faint when she looked up and found out who was in front of her.

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Okay so that is another chapter down. I hope everyone liked it and will review to it. A note on Mia or Meer Campbell. I only referred to her as a Bitch because she is impersonating Lacus, who is a friend to Miriallia. So Mir would not like this girl, plus if you have seen a pic of Mir while she is taking photos at the concert she has this 'gotcha bitch' look on her face.
C-town Chica