"Char's alive?"
"I do hope so, ma'am, because I spent five minutes speaking to him."
"He can wait for me to have my breakfast. I need something to settle my stomach."
"A toasted roll and a cup of chamomile coming right up, ma'am."
Kishiria dressed quickly, leaving her hair down for the moment. She ate unhurriedly, listening to the news on the radio as she did so. After brushing her teeth, she asked Maria to wait for her inside the door and stepped out to the anteroom to greet Char Aznable.
He stood there in his usual red uniform. He wore no mask, and there was a nasty cut between his eyebrows, surrounded by a dark bruise.
"How'd that happen?" Kishiria asked.
"The Gundam pilot and I finally met face to face," he answered. "We're both going to carry scars, inside and outside." He touched the skin beside the wound.
"I'm glad to see you survived, Char," Kishiria said. "I think we have things to discuss."
"When were you going to tell me you were pregnant?" Char asked.
"When were you going to tell me you wanted to kill me?" Kishiria snapped back. "I should shoot your right here, you know that?"
"Well why not?" Char retorted. "After all, the repercussions from you doing it to Giren have been SO beneficial."
Kishiria didn't have an answer to that. "Why, Char? Why? You know why I killed Giren; he murdered my father."
Char sat down. "And your father murdered mine."
"What?"
"You know I'm Casval Deykun. You know I was raised on Earth by Jinba Ral. He reminded me and my sister Artesia constantly about how Degin Zabi engineered my father's death. He raised us to take revenge on the Zabi family, but my sister turned her back on this and went to space to study medicine instead."
"Interesting. Char, your uncle was either lying or mad with paranoia. Jion Deykun died of complications due to strep throat. He was lucky; the bacteria didn't get into his skin and start necrotizing. Flesh-eating disease is an awful thing to survive, much less die from. No, he came down with rheumatic heart and he died of a heart attack. It happens. And before you even open your mouth to suggest that he was infected deliberately with the disease, you might want to check that month's newspapers. There was an outbreak on Side 3 and a lot of people got it, my brother Garma included. Now, even if you think that my father was so wicked as to start an epidemic, do you think he'd have been willing to sacrifice GARMA? The sun rose and set on that boy."
Char was staring at her, looking pale. "If that's true, then my whole life has been a lie."
"I can't help you there. Char, there is one thing I need to hear from you. Did you kill my brother Garma?"
She had never asked him that question. Even after rescuing him from being captured and executed by Dozel and Giren, Kishiria had never asked. Perhaps she hadn't wanted to know. For a moment, Char thought about telling her the truth and letting her put her sidearm to his head and pull the trigger. Why not? If his whole life had been a lie, the truth would really set him free.
No. The cycle of death ended here.
"Prince Garma was in love with a girl named Iserina Estenbach. Her father wouldn't let her marry him because he was the enemy. He preferred to die than face a life without her, but he was determined to take White Base with him at all costs. He failed. He died bravely, though. Stupidly, but bravely."
Kishiria crossed her arms and was silent for a moment before saying, "All right. I believe you. So really, the only one you were going to have a chance to kill was me."
"And when the time came, I couldn't do it. Just call me Hamlet I suppose."
"Well I'm not about to drown myself so you can call me Ophelia."
"My turn to ask questions now. When were you going to tell me you were pregnant?"
"About now. I didn't expect you to figure it out on your own. How did you do that, by the way?"
"When I flew up to the window of your ship. When you saw me there with the bazooka, your first thought was, 'Not my baby'."
"I thought you weren't telepathic."
"I WASN'T." Char's face registered terror suddenly. "Something happened during that battle. Not just to me, to all of us New Types. I don't know what it was; Lalla and the Gundam pilot had something to do with it. I am telepathic, now. It's going to take some getting used to." He sighed quietly and looked up at Kishiria, who actually seemed concerned. "At the same time, you also projected a picture of our little holiday together. I know I'm the father, which means Jion Deykun has a grandchild."
" I got pregnant just so my baby would be the grandchild of Jion Deykun. You see, Char, one of the awkward things about being a royal is that you're expected to make a good dynastic marriage. Giren's widow, who is probably the happiest woman on Jion right now, is a northern European princess. Dozel's Zena is a member of the Khan family, who were heavily involved in the independence movement. Dad was negotiating with the old Russian imperial family for a princess for Garma, and I don't know what he had in mind for me. So I decided to beat him to it and join the Zabi and Deykun lines."
"Clever girl."
"Aren't I just. Now, we seem to be in a bit of a pickle. We've lost almost all our forces to either the Feddie's solar ray or desertion thanks to General Delaz. We also don't have many mobile suits or pilots left thanks to the Gundam. You're the expert there; you've faced that pilot enough times. The Pyscomm is gone, along with its pilot. You know all about that."
"Yes, I do." Char's voice was a whisper.
"Oh dear. You loved that girl, didn't you?"
Char shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I didn't realize it until she was gone."
"I'm sorry. I mean that. Anyway, we're not going to be able to fight our way out of this situation. We're going to think of some other solution. Part of that may be your coming out of the closet about being Casval Deykun."
Char studied the tips of his boots. "I can say I'm Casval Deykun. I can prove I'm Casval Deykun. Just as long as you realize one thing: I'm Char Aznable."
"I don't understand."
"I stopped being Casval Deykun ten years ago. Instead, I became Edouard Mass. When I was 17 I came to Side 3 and became Char Aznable. I like being Char Aznable. If I must be one of those three people, I choose to be him."
"I admit I can't think of anything more maddening than three changes of identity. All right, you're Char Aznable officially. I can grant that, it's in my power. That doesn't erase the fact that you're Jion Deykun's son, and that's what's important to me. I need you by my side. The Jion Republic partisans are going to be coming out of the woodwork now, and I need you to endorse continuation of the monarchy."
"Why should I do that?"
"Because I'll share it with you and pass it on to our child."
He nodded. "Well, when you put it that way. Deal."
"Excellent."
They stood and shook hands. Kishiria cautiously raised her other hand to his shoulder, as if to caress an animal she wasn't sure would bite. A second later they were holding each other tightly and Char didn't know why.
"Because I'm all you have left," Kishiria said.
Char pulled his head off her shoulder. "What did you say?"
"You wondered why you were hugging me. I said, it was because I---" Kishiria suddenly gaped at what she had just said. "Oh my God! You didn't say a word, and I answered you!" She backed off from him. "This New Type event--it got me too."
She started to shake. Char gently sat her down in a chair and knelt in front of her.
"Now you are one of us," he said, and lifted her hand to his lips to kiss it.
"I do hope so, ma'am, because I spent five minutes speaking to him."
"He can wait for me to have my breakfast. I need something to settle my stomach."
"A toasted roll and a cup of chamomile coming right up, ma'am."
Kishiria dressed quickly, leaving her hair down for the moment. She ate unhurriedly, listening to the news on the radio as she did so. After brushing her teeth, she asked Maria to wait for her inside the door and stepped out to the anteroom to greet Char Aznable.
He stood there in his usual red uniform. He wore no mask, and there was a nasty cut between his eyebrows, surrounded by a dark bruise.
"How'd that happen?" Kishiria asked.
"The Gundam pilot and I finally met face to face," he answered. "We're both going to carry scars, inside and outside." He touched the skin beside the wound.
"I'm glad to see you survived, Char," Kishiria said. "I think we have things to discuss."
"When were you going to tell me you were pregnant?" Char asked.
"When were you going to tell me you wanted to kill me?" Kishiria snapped back. "I should shoot your right here, you know that?"
"Well why not?" Char retorted. "After all, the repercussions from you doing it to Giren have been SO beneficial."
Kishiria didn't have an answer to that. "Why, Char? Why? You know why I killed Giren; he murdered my father."
Char sat down. "And your father murdered mine."
"What?"
"You know I'm Casval Deykun. You know I was raised on Earth by Jinba Ral. He reminded me and my sister Artesia constantly about how Degin Zabi engineered my father's death. He raised us to take revenge on the Zabi family, but my sister turned her back on this and went to space to study medicine instead."
"Interesting. Char, your uncle was either lying or mad with paranoia. Jion Deykun died of complications due to strep throat. He was lucky; the bacteria didn't get into his skin and start necrotizing. Flesh-eating disease is an awful thing to survive, much less die from. No, he came down with rheumatic heart and he died of a heart attack. It happens. And before you even open your mouth to suggest that he was infected deliberately with the disease, you might want to check that month's newspapers. There was an outbreak on Side 3 and a lot of people got it, my brother Garma included. Now, even if you think that my father was so wicked as to start an epidemic, do you think he'd have been willing to sacrifice GARMA? The sun rose and set on that boy."
Char was staring at her, looking pale. "If that's true, then my whole life has been a lie."
"I can't help you there. Char, there is one thing I need to hear from you. Did you kill my brother Garma?"
She had never asked him that question. Even after rescuing him from being captured and executed by Dozel and Giren, Kishiria had never asked. Perhaps she hadn't wanted to know. For a moment, Char thought about telling her the truth and letting her put her sidearm to his head and pull the trigger. Why not? If his whole life had been a lie, the truth would really set him free.
No. The cycle of death ended here.
"Prince Garma was in love with a girl named Iserina Estenbach. Her father wouldn't let her marry him because he was the enemy. He preferred to die than face a life without her, but he was determined to take White Base with him at all costs. He failed. He died bravely, though. Stupidly, but bravely."
Kishiria crossed her arms and was silent for a moment before saying, "All right. I believe you. So really, the only one you were going to have a chance to kill was me."
"And when the time came, I couldn't do it. Just call me Hamlet I suppose."
"Well I'm not about to drown myself so you can call me Ophelia."
"My turn to ask questions now. When were you going to tell me you were pregnant?"
"About now. I didn't expect you to figure it out on your own. How did you do that, by the way?"
"When I flew up to the window of your ship. When you saw me there with the bazooka, your first thought was, 'Not my baby'."
"I thought you weren't telepathic."
"I WASN'T." Char's face registered terror suddenly. "Something happened during that battle. Not just to me, to all of us New Types. I don't know what it was; Lalla and the Gundam pilot had something to do with it. I am telepathic, now. It's going to take some getting used to." He sighed quietly and looked up at Kishiria, who actually seemed concerned. "At the same time, you also projected a picture of our little holiday together. I know I'm the father, which means Jion Deykun has a grandchild."
" I got pregnant just so my baby would be the grandchild of Jion Deykun. You see, Char, one of the awkward things about being a royal is that you're expected to make a good dynastic marriage. Giren's widow, who is probably the happiest woman on Jion right now, is a northern European princess. Dozel's Zena is a member of the Khan family, who were heavily involved in the independence movement. Dad was negotiating with the old Russian imperial family for a princess for Garma, and I don't know what he had in mind for me. So I decided to beat him to it and join the Zabi and Deykun lines."
"Clever girl."
"Aren't I just. Now, we seem to be in a bit of a pickle. We've lost almost all our forces to either the Feddie's solar ray or desertion thanks to General Delaz. We also don't have many mobile suits or pilots left thanks to the Gundam. You're the expert there; you've faced that pilot enough times. The Pyscomm is gone, along with its pilot. You know all about that."
"Yes, I do." Char's voice was a whisper.
"Oh dear. You loved that girl, didn't you?"
Char shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I didn't realize it until she was gone."
"I'm sorry. I mean that. Anyway, we're not going to be able to fight our way out of this situation. We're going to think of some other solution. Part of that may be your coming out of the closet about being Casval Deykun."
Char studied the tips of his boots. "I can say I'm Casval Deykun. I can prove I'm Casval Deykun. Just as long as you realize one thing: I'm Char Aznable."
"I don't understand."
"I stopped being Casval Deykun ten years ago. Instead, I became Edouard Mass. When I was 17 I came to Side 3 and became Char Aznable. I like being Char Aznable. If I must be one of those three people, I choose to be him."
"I admit I can't think of anything more maddening than three changes of identity. All right, you're Char Aznable officially. I can grant that, it's in my power. That doesn't erase the fact that you're Jion Deykun's son, and that's what's important to me. I need you by my side. The Jion Republic partisans are going to be coming out of the woodwork now, and I need you to endorse continuation of the monarchy."
"Why should I do that?"
"Because I'll share it with you and pass it on to our child."
He nodded. "Well, when you put it that way. Deal."
"Excellent."
They stood and shook hands. Kishiria cautiously raised her other hand to his shoulder, as if to caress an animal she wasn't sure would bite. A second later they were holding each other tightly and Char didn't know why.
"Because I'm all you have left," Kishiria said.
Char pulled his head off her shoulder. "What did you say?"
"You wondered why you were hugging me. I said, it was because I---" Kishiria suddenly gaped at what she had just said. "Oh my God! You didn't say a word, and I answered you!" She backed off from him. "This New Type event--it got me too."
She started to shake. Char gently sat her down in a chair and knelt in front of her.
"Now you are one of us," he said, and lifted her hand to his lips to kiss it.