Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED.

Hey every one! I did my best to try to make this chapter longer. I hope it meets your specifications. Any ways, please review and tell me if it's any better.

Dearka practically charged down the halls towards Yzak's office. "He has no right to keep her in that disgusting place he calls a cell". When Dearka reached the door to Yzak's office he started hammering his fist on the door.

Yzak knew it was him. Dearka always pounded on some inanimate object when he was upset about something. The question was, what has he got to be upset over now? "Come in", Yzak ushered Dearka into his office.

Dearka had no more entered the room than he started complaining, as Yzak viewed it when he did this sort of thing. "Yzak, have you actually seen where she is being kept? The place is…is…disgusting!"

Yzak raised an eyebrow at him and uttered innocently, "may I ask who the "she" is that you are referring to?"

"Yzak you know very well who I am talking about! So don't pretend like you don't!" Dearka was highly annoyed that he could so easily forget her.

"Refresh my memory, Dearka." Yzak said, waving his hand in the air.

"Miriallia. That's who!" Dearka had been pacing, but stopped in order to tell Yzak her name.

Yzak, who knew very well who he had been referring to from the start, pretended to search his brain for the answer. "Miriallia…Miriallia… Oh! You mean that war photographer. Do you mean to tell me that her living quarters as a prisoner are unacceptable?"

"Yes. Hey, wait a second here. Why is she a prisoner, anyways?"

Yzak had hoped he wouldn't have to explain the situation to Dearka. After all he had some sort of personal feelings for her: that he could tell. "Well…she witnessed the assassination attempt on Ambassador Markham…."

Dearka interrupted him. "You mean the guy who is putting so much friction between us actually making peace with and cohabitation with Naturals?"

"The one and only" Yzak answered and then continued with his explanation. "Jubin was supposed to perform the assassination. But, apparently she stumbled upon him and he was startled and slipped up. He missed his target by the way. He is definitely not going to get a promotion from me any time soon. Well, he saw her and went after her. Not knowing what to do with once he got his hands on her, he took her back here. He didn't know whether he should kill her then and there".

"Kill her! How could he even consider killing her! You know she has connections. Her death would be investigated." Dearka was shocked.

"I know. That's why we haven't done anything with her yet. I am going to contact the supreme council tomorrow to see what is to be done." Yzak was all composed on the out side and yet, on the inside, he really was nerved racked. This was the first time he had had to do anything like this, making a decision that could strongly influence the way the peace talks were going. If he let her live, then the Earth Alliance would get angry at ZAFT. And if he had her killed, then Orb, the place she worked for, would get angry at ZAFT. It was a no win situation.

"You just can't kill her. Orb will find out and then you would be in hot water." Dearka pushed forward his idea of just letting her live and letting her go.

"I know, Dearka". Yzak sighed. "There isn't much I can do. ZAFT will probably have her executed so that there aren't any witnesses. They will make it look like an accident, or something." Yzak was concerned, not for Miriallia, but for his friend. It was unusual for him to act this way: Yzak was usually a pretty hard hearted individual. But, He knew, these past two years, that Dearka had fallen for someone. Up until this point, though, he didn't know who. Now he knew. It was her, Miriallia Haww. The girl who had put him in the most politically dangerous position of his career. "Dearka, there isn't anything I can do for her."

"I know." Dearka pondered it for just a moment and then remembered the reason he had come there in the first place. "Actually, you can give her some quarters of her own. Make her more comfortable for the time being."

"I suppose I could." Yzak looked serious for a moment as he pondered the idea. "Yes, I suppose I could. Alright, Dearka, take her to the habitat deck and find her some quarters, other than that "disgusting place I call a cell", Yzak laughed at himself and Dearka. Their conversation, once realizing that it wasn't getting them any where, changed to one of a bit lighter in precedence.

"Ok, Yzak", Dearka started to walk out of the room, but stopped once he had realized he almost made a mistake.

Yzak shook his head at him and said, "You still have a hard time thinking of me as your superior, don't you?" Dearka's only answer was a cringe. "Oh, whatever, dismissed." Dearka still had a hard time being the junoir officer because he used to be part of the red elite before he helped to protect the Archangel.

With that Dearka left his office almost immediately. He had to at least let her be more comfortable, even if she was going to die. "DIE! She can't die, I won't let her. She is entirely innocent. She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve this war. She deserves peace. I can't let her die. If I lose her I'd…I'd…" Dearka didn't know what he'd do. It was still puzzling to him, why he cared what happened to her. He had never felt this way before.

Dearka walked on for several minutes with these thoughts in his head before he arrived at the prison cells. He started walking between the rows of cells, when he caught a glimpse of her. She was sitting on her bed, crying. He was taken aback"Oh, god. She's crying. I can't let her cry. I hate it when she cries, especially when it's because of me" Dearka remembered when he was on the archangel, he had asked her why she was crying again? If it was because her good for nothing Natural boyfriend got himself killed. Oh, little did he know how close he was. He would have given anything to go back in time and prevent himself from saying what he did. He should have comforted her, not provoked her into trying to kill him.

Dearka walked over to her cell. Upon hearing him turning a key in the lock, she raised her head up just enough to see his lavender eyes and then put her head back into the pillow, to prevent him from seeing her tear stained face.

He walked into the room and walked over to her side. "Oh, Miriallia, don't cry." Dearka bent to put a hand on her back to comfort her.

But, before he could do so, she quickly sat up and demanded, "Whyare youhere? What's going on?" she managed to keep all but a few tears from running down her cheeks.

Dearka gulped down his nervousness at talking at talking to her and answered, "Well, I got the Commander to let you stay in some real quarters" he tried to sound cheerful but she still knew that he was slightly disconcerted over something.

"Dearka, are they… are they going to…kill me?" another rush of tears decided to flow freely from her blue eyes. She was scared. She knew she had been a witness to something, that if they were smart, they wouldn't let her be a witness to much longer.

Dearka's words failed him just then. He didn't know what to tell her. That yes, in all probability, she would not live out the week. No, he couldn't tell her that. "I…I don't know. Look, Miriallia, don't cry." Dearka managed to compose himself in order to put his hand on her shoulder.

With that comforting touch, she immediately flung herself at him, hugging him around the neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

Dearka was so surprised. He didn't know what to do now. Her body against his felt so good and yet so awkward that he just sat there, stunned.

She cried into his shoulder, releasing all her frustrations and emotions into his, now sopping wet, jacket.

He couldn't bring himself to push her away. He didn't know what to do with her, but he certainly knew that he couldn't push her away when she was in need.

And then, she stopped crying. He looked down into her face. Her eyes were closed and the tears were no longer flowing. She had fallen asleep in his arms. He suddenly got very nervous. His dark face turned crimson as he felt her snuggle closer to him, tough how she managed to snuggle any closer, because she was already very close, remained a mystery to him.

Dearka, not sure what to do, cradled her in his arms for a few moments. He wanted to hold her like this forever. She felt so small and helpless. She needed someone to protect her. He had to protect her. He didn't know why, but he decided, then and there, that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He would protect her from anything that threatened her well being. Even if it meant to protect her from ZAFT.

He stood up, with her in his arms. "Man, she is light. I wasn't expecting her to be such a feather weight." He couldn't just let her stay here on that rock of a bed. She had to be somewhere comfortable. He carried her out of the cell and down the hall. He crossed out into the connecting hall, receiving strange glances from the two guards that were posted at the prison doors. He carried her al the way to the habitat deck. He checked the first available room to see if he could put her there. The door was locked. He soon discovered that all the available rooms were locked. He must have to get some sort of key and he couldn't very well do that when she was in his arms. He walked on a bit more and then came across his quarters.

He pondered it a bit. "Well, I could just leave her there long enough for me to get the key to one of the rooms. Yeah, that's what I'll do." He opened the door to his quarters. He walked in and laid her down on his bed. He pulled back the covers and put her underneath them. She looked kind of cold, so this seemed like a good idea.

He stood there, staring at her, her sweet face, her eyes, just staring, when he finally snapped out of his trance. "Miriallia, you are so beautiful." He said into the silence of his quarters because she was asleep and couldn't hear him. If she had been able to hear him, he wouldn't have said it. He turned and walked out of his room in search for a key.

He decided that the first place to look would be the janitorial closet. He rushed his way there. When he got there he discovered several keys, which might or might not be keys to the available quarters. He grabbed all that he could and ran back to his quarters.

When he got there, he found Miriallia still sleeping. She had gotten quite cozy up to his pillows and seemed very comfortable in his nice cushiony bed. She looked so pleasant. She must have been having a nice dream. He couldn't bring himself to disrupt her peaceful slumber, so, he left her there, and he went in search of one of the rooms that the keys went to. So, she lay there till morning.

Hey! Sooooo, is it long enough for ya'll? I will try my very best to write longer chapters, but it will be hard. So, I will probably update less often. I hope you realize that. Anyways, I hope you liked it!

The next chapter will be entitled "Awake". Miriallia wakes up in Dearka's room and assumes the worst. hehe, poor Dearka. hehe

I though I would just give you that preview to wet your appetite for the next chapter! Bye! see you next chappie!