Will You Remember Me?
Chapter II: Deceived
Dearka slowly changed out of his hospital gown and into some much missed clothes. He never thought he would miss a t-shirt and jeans so much, but after being awake for a few days he quickly grew tired of the horrible piece of clothing they had him in. He went through test after test but now he was finally permitted to leave. He didn't know whether to be happy or not. He still hadn't remembered anything, only the faceless girl. Even that had been days ago. Feeling a cool breeze on the back of his neck he turned and saw the window was open. He walked over and shut it.
"You've grown" He heard a man say behind him. He turned to see his father standing in the doorway looking as stern as ever. Dearka chose not to respond instead he just leaned against the wall. "You're covered in scars" He remarked. "We should see about getting those removed." Dearka still didn't respond, this caused his father to frown. "Are you going to speak to me or are you just going to stare at me?"
"I don't know… should I speak to you or should I walk out that door and ignore you." He said disgusted. "You act like you are concerned for me like a father should be, but somehow it feels false."
"I'm your father, of course I'm concerned for you." His father snapped irritated.
"Really? Because from what I hear it's been years since I've even spoken to you. According to mother it was because of something I did, but after speaking with Yzak about it I'm not sure"
"What exactly did Joule say?" He questioned.
Dearka smirked as he folded his arms in front of himself. "What's wrong father?" He asked. "Afraid I might find out what you are hiding, what lies you are keeping?"
"So I take it he hasn't told you anything."
"He told me that you have no desire for me to regain my memories, that perhaps you would be content with what has happened to me." His father frowned at him. "So what is the truth? Knowing I've lost years of my life are you happy or does it concern you?"
"What do you want me to answer Dearka?"
"I want you to answer with the truth!" He yelled. "Does this please you! I almost died in that accident! I've lost everything I was in the past few years. And you stand there acting like you don't care. Mother has been a wreck. Yzak is tripping over his words, but you… you act like everything's normal. Like this is what you wanted!"
"You really think I wanted to see you like this?" He argued. "Your mother cried herself to sleep night after night. After every surgery, every meeting with the doctors I wondered if I could have done something to prevent it. But it wasn't me who caused this it was tha-" He stopped mid-sentence not wanting to reveal the truth.
"That what?" Dearka asked curious but his father didn't bite. "What the hell are you hiding from me? What happened that pulled us apart! Why haven't we talked in over two years! Dammit! Tell me!"
"You were being deceived!" His father yelled.
"You're being deceived!" He heard Yzak's voice echo in his head. For a flash of a second Dearka saw Yzak standing in front of him holding him at gunpoint. He felt his heart pounding hard as pressure built up in his head. He reached his hand up and covered his face as he focused on his breathing.
Flashback
He looked Yzak directly in the eyes as he spoke ignoring the gun pointing straight at him. Yzak was once one of his greatest allies and more than that he was his best friend. Now he wasn't sure what they were. Enemies?
"The FREEDOM's pilot is the same guy who use to pilot the STRIKE" Dearka explained. He could see the shock in Yzak's face as he continued to speak "And he's a coordinator too. He and Athrun, they have been friends since they were just kids."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm not as devoted to the cause as those two are, but I've seen some things…" His thoughts wandered to the the young natural girl as he remembered the day she tried to take his life out of pure grief and terror. "I watched them. And after I saw Alaska, Panama, and Orb, there's no way I can return to ZAFT if it means fighting like the military tells me to."
"Dearka STOP" he yelled
They continued to stare at one another in silence. Yzak's eyes filled with anger and betrayal, while Dearka showed resolve and also sorrow. Suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake causing both to lose their balance a bit.
"Yzak can you hear me? We're leaving" Rau Le Creuset informed Yzak over the communicator. Hearing this Dearka turned and headed for the BUSTER. Yazk regained his composure from the shaking grounded and aimed the gun back at his former ally.
"If you think leaving ZAFT makes me your enemy, then shoot me."
"You're being deceived!" Yzak replied in a pleading tone.
"I wonder which one of us is really being deceived." He said sadly looking over his shoulder. "There's nothing left to say. I'm going"
End of Flashback
"Dearka are you okay?" His father asked worried.
Taking his hand off his head he blurted "Like you care!" He looked away from his father. "I don't know what happened between the two of us but if it was something big enough to end our relationship then maybe that is how we should remain. I have no intentions of remaining like this. I will do anything to get back to who I was. If becoming that person again means losing you in my life then so be it. I was willing to do that once maybe I should do so again." He started towards the door and passed by his father. His father quickly took hold of his arm, squeezing hard.
"Where exactly do you think you are going?"
"Yzak is waiting for me downstairs. I'm going back to the base with him."
"So you are going back to the military again? You must be the only soldier to join ZAFT that many times"
Dearka looked at him baffled. "What are you talking about"
His father just smiled. "Why not ask Commander Joule, I'm sure he would love to explain things to you" he released his son's arm and walked out of the room, leaving Dearka to contemplate his father's words.
Dearka waited a while in his room hoping that he wouldn't run into his father again. Once he believed enough time had passed he got up and left. He made his way down to the elevator. It was strange walking. Since waking up he hadn't been given the opportunity to walk very much. It seemed difficult, more difficult than he cared to admit. Each step felt like it was reawakening muscles he didn't realize he had. He got in the elevator, pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned against the wall for support.
During his few minutes of the elevator ride his mind wandered to the fragment he remembered. Yzak was holding a gun towards him. His face was lite up with anger. Something had happened between them during the first war, something serious that he had forgotten. Then there was his father's comment about him rejoining ZAFT again. "What the hell did he mean?" He thought as the doors opened. He pushed himself off the wall and headed out towards the exit. There waiting in his white commander's uniform was Yzak.
"How did meeting with your father go?" He asked curious.
"A disaster" He replied. "I don't know why but I snapped at him. Giving him a chance… it just didn't seem right."
"Maybe subconsciously you still remember what happened between you two. Did you at least remember anything?"
Although he did remember something he knew Yzak wouldn't be in the mood to explain whatever it was, not yet anyways. "No" He lied "But my father did say something interesting."
"And what's that?"
"When I told him I was joining you at the base he seemed to think I was rejoining ZAFT." Yzak broke eye contact.
"It's been taken care of" He stated as he started to leave.
"What does that mean? Why did I leave ZAFT?" He demanded as he followed close behind as he always had.
"You left for personal reasons." He explained. "But those reasons no longer exist, not in your current state. But it is a temporary position."
"Temporary"
"The council believes it's best if we leave your status open. You can leave at any point you want without notice or consequence."
"Since when is the council so caring and understanding."
"Lets just say the new leadership wants nothing more than for you to get better. They are just looking out for your best interest."
"How did I get to be so special?"
"You slept with the right girl" He joked smirking before getting in his car. Dearka just smiled back and sat down in the passenger's seat. "Listen, I can't imagine how hard this is for you. So much has happened since that day. But I'm not about to spend days answering a million questions, I have better things to do. Just get your ass back to work, the rest will sort itself out"
"Right" He agreed as they took off out of the parking lot. They drove a little ways in silence until Dearka turned his head and looked at Yzak "So what was the girl's name?" Yzak eyes darted to him for a second.
"What girl?"
"This so called 'right girl'"
"I was just joking."
"In my experience all jokes start from somewhere"
"Maybe so, but like I said, I'm in no mood to answer a million questions."
