DISCLAIMER: 'Rebound'' is a story based on characters and situations from Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed which is a property of Sotsu Agency, Bandai Studios and TV Asashi. This work is non profited and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Unless specified, all materials in the web is work done by HERMIT JUNCTION. Please do not use without permission any text or artwork.

WARNING: Text and all related materials are rated PG13/T and may mild strong language, violence and suggestive adult themes unless otherwise stated. Please do not read if you are underage or maybe offended by such material. Spoilers for Gundam Seed.

NOTE: This fanfiction disregards the plotline of the original series' sequel Gundam Seed Destiny. Please see author's page for the site hosting of this fanfiction.

Gseed Aftermath Trilogy I:
REBOUND
a hermit junction project

Chapter 1

Two Years Later, C.E. 73

'Dude, you have to help us out here.'

'Huh?' Dearka blinked and looked up in a daze.

'Not me.' The bartender said, raising his hands in the air.

'Are you with us?' Iwen Cavicog muttered, nudging Dearka in the ribs hard.

Dearka almost spit out the sip of beer he just had into the bartender's face. 'What?'

'He's hopeless.' Lyn Stera murmured, bringing his shot glass to his lips. 'Every time.'

'What did I miss?' Dearka asked weakly, rubbing the side of his waist.

'I was saying.' Iwen rolled his eyes, signaling for another beer. 'You've got to do something with our schedule. It's crazy! Look, you're friends with Commander Jules right, maybe – '

'Don't pull me down with you.' Dearka warned, pointing a finger at Iwen. 'You know I can't do anything when it comes to the schedules. You'll just have to suck it up and stick to it. You know how Yzak gets when people don't follow his orders.'

'But – '

'No buts.' Dearka said firmly, setting down his beer. 'There's no way I'm going to ask Commander Jules to change anything. I did it for you guys once and it resulted in a two hour rant. I'm not going to risk my audio health once again so forget it.'

Iwen snorted.

'Told you.' Lyn smirked, raising his eyebrows.

'I'll give you one million dollars to be our commander.' Iwen muttered.

'Too bad I'm not.' Dearka said absently. 'And good for me as well.'

'You know.' Lyn turned in his stool and looked at Dearka. 'Why are you still in regular status. I mean, before you were a topgun, why were you demoted again?'

'I wasn't demoted.' Dearka said flatly, shooting a glare at the two ZAFT soldiers.

'Then why?' a third voice cut in. It was Nia Sier, another soldier of ZAFT, but lower in ranking and a female who has a crush on Dearka.

'Well, I'll tell you honey when we have sex, deal?' Dearka winked.

Nia pouted and sat down beside him. 'The point is you have to actually do it with me and not just say it.'

'Sense the point lady, he doesn't want to hook up with you.' Iwen snarled. 'So bugger off.'

'Oh, and he wants to hook up with you?' Nia snapped back.

'Here we go again.' Lyn muttered, rolling his eyes.

'I'm not gay.' Came Dearka's flat response.

The usual argument between the two ZAFT soldiers commenced while Dearka sat back and listened, as usual. Everything in his life seemed to be in place. He had a decent job; the world was still in peace despite the shaky armistice established two years ago. He didn't have too much to do except regular routines and sometimes training. Life was good, at least he convinced himself so.

'You seemed bored, why don't we have a dance?' a soft voice whispered into his ears. Looking around, he realized that the three had somehow made there way to the dance floor of the nightclub and had abandoned him at the bar.

'Every time.' The bartender smirked while polishing a shot glass.

'You bet.' Dearka muttered, turning around in his stool just in time for a wet kiss.

'I thought you'd never come.' The brunette smirked, leaning into his chest.

'You got too much make up on, Ari.' Dearka commented, tracing one finger over her cheek.

Ari snorted. 'I'm a woman, woman do that to cover up their flaws. Now come on, don't make a lady wait.'

At least she knew she had flaws, that, Dearka was grateful for. Wincing as Ari pulled him off the stool, he caught sight of the bartender giving him a thumbs up and a smug look. Oh yeah, to the looks of it, he wasn't going to be alone tonight. He hadn't known Ari for that long a time, a week, to be exact, and they've only had sex twice.

'My place or yours?' Ari whispered into Dearka's ear as they swayed against the music of the dimmed nightclub.

Dearka shrugged. 'Mine?'

Barely making it inside his apartment, Dearka pushed Ari against the door, closing it all together while they tried to get each other's clothes off with their lips locked. When he heard Ari wince at the hard material of the wooden door, he swept her up and threw her onto the bed of his bachelor pad. Not letting himself think too much, he ripped the last of what was left on her and buried his face into her chest, feeling the heat rise inside his body.

It was just sex, nothing else, nothing serious. He never pursued a relationship in the last two years and never planned on doing so. He would bring a girl into his apartment and fuck them once in a while, but never were there strings attached.

Feeling himself come, Dearka gripped the material of his bed sheets and tried not to think, but without any luck, the familiar voice in his head rang again, like always, saying the name that was a curse to him.

'You okay baby?' Ari asked, wiping some of the sweat from Dearka's forehead.

Opening his eyes, Dearka's eyebrows furrowed, the face of a girl he hadn't seen for two years flashing before his eyes.

'Damn.' Dearka muttered, rolling onto his back.

He didn't have a clue to what happened later, but when he woke up, he found himself alone in his bed, just like two years ago, alone.

She left, but this time the 'she' was someone he could barely remember.

'You've got to stop doing this to yourself Elthman.' Dearka murmured, sitting up. Running his hand through his unruly locks of golden hair, he reached for a worn robe that was draped over the headboard and threw it on. He walked towards the window and drew the curtains open, letting the unnatural sunlight of PLANT shine into his apartment.

He had a decent place to stay, a privilege for senior officers of ZAFT. He wasn't exactly senior in ranking but he was senior in experience, and the fact that his friend was a Commander made things run better, for him at least. He still remembered the pained look Yzak gave him when he asked him to get him an apartment.

Turning away from the window, he walked into his bathroom, flipping the lights open on the way. He was about to turn on the tap when he caught sight of a message written in red lipstick on the mirror.

'See you later Dearka, great sex.'

'Yeah.' Dearka snorted, wiping the rouge with a tissue paper. Sometimes he doubted whether he liked this kind of life, sexually. He was better off in a brothel, that way he wouldn't worry about the reliability, he just had to pay. But thinking twice, he couldn't really bare the thought of being in one of them, women like Ari were already too much.

Cleaned thoroughly, Dearka threw on a pair of white slacks and sat down on the sofa, flipping on the television. He flipped through the channels absently, not really knowing what was going on. He never really liked watching TV, but the noise gave him a good distraction.

He'd been thinking too much in the past two years and it was starting to drive him insane. He wasn't the kind of person who would linger in the past, but this was exactly what he did in the last two years. He couldn't stop thinking about the war, the people, her.

'Don't open that door.' Dearka whispered, humoring himself dryly. Shaking his head, he turned the television off and walked towards his desk where a computer seated and turned it on, wondering if there were any messages for him. He was technically on a short break, but sometimes emergencies came and there was no way of getting out.

He found two messages, one from his Father who told him to 'get his ass back home'. He hadn't really been on good terms with him ever since his decision to join ZAFT, but they didn't do anything volatile for his mother's sake. He'd go back home once in a while, just to check things with his family and enjoy some of his mother's cooking, but the rest of the time he was either in his apartment or working at the headquarters.

He frowned when his father said that his cousin, Eneta Toullon was expecting him to visit. It's not that he didn't like her, but their parents to keep on asking when they're going to get engaged. He knew that she wanted to, but he always made excuses, hoping that they'd forget about the whole thing. He never really said anything about marrying her in the first place.

Another message was his subscription of Terrenus, a well known magazine that featured mainly the aftermath of war. He had come across it about a year ago when he was resting in the lounge at the headquarters after a training session. Flipping through it, a photo with a caption caught his attention, illustrating the aftermath of the nuclear bombing. Though short, the caption had rang a bell and made him subscribe the magazine the first thing he got home. He was particularly found of a photographer, Miliani Hermance. and had all the copies he subscribed on his shelf.

'What's this about?' Dearka said to himself as he opened the mail. It turned out to be a promotion of M.H.'s first photo collection titled 'Aftermath' due to publishing in four months time. The photographer was going to do a book tour at PLANT. All subscribers were entitled to order in advance.

Without another thought, Dearka placed his order. He wasn't going to miss out on any of Hermance's work.

He was about to turn off his computer when the visual communicator beeped. It was Yzak.

'Oh man, don't tell me it's another one of your emergencies, I haven't had a break in three weeks!' Dearka complained before Yzak could even say hello. He wasn't counting on it anyway.

'Don't give me that face, you know I don't like calling people when they're off duty, but what can I do. Try giving me a break for a change.' Yzak Jules muttered. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, smirking. 'So I see you've had a fine night.'

'Yeah, whatever.' Dearka snapped. 'What is it?'

'I have to send a team to Carpentaria and I want you to go there first for some preparation. I'll send you the information on the way.' Yzak said in his commanding voice.

'So much for a vacation.' Dearka muttered. Experience told him his missions on Earth spanned for at least a month and he would definitely not look forward to them. 'What's the shit this time?'

'Disarmament.' Yzak said shortly.

'You're kidding me.' Dearka's eyes widened slightly. 'Carpentaria is the largest base ZAFT has on Earth!'

Yzak shook his head. 'No, we're deactivating the self-detonation system on the base. That's all the information I've got concerning the disarmament program. I doubt it will last though. I would have sent Hahnenfuss because she's more of an expert in this area, but she's on a reconnaissance mission on L4, so can't.'

'Damn her.' Dearka muttered. 'When am I scheduled to leave?'

'This afternoon.' Yzak replied, looking down at his file.

'What?' Dearka screeched. 'I barely had a day off and you're sending to Earth, again?'

'Suck it up, dude.' Yzak mimicked, then cut the connection.

'Easy for you to say.' Dearka muttered at the blank screen. Sighing, he stood up and threw on a fresh T-shirt. Wincing at his messy bed, he made a move to tidy it up. He wasn't a particularly neat person, not as neat as Nicol at least. The kid was as clean as a prick and he used to freak out when other's messed with his stuff. Not really soldier material if you asked him.

But that was all in the past. He was dead and there was no turning back on that. Life was fragile when in came to war and he still found it incredible that he survived it. He had been in quite a few dangerous spots, yet he still managed to live, like Athrun, like Yzak.

He understood how Yzak came to think he had died when he was captured by Archangel. To be exact, he almost died that very same day. Not a lot of people lived to see another day under the threat of a knife or a pistol.

She had tried to kill him and ended up saving him. How ironic.

How very ironic…

Shaking his head violently, he barracked himself mentally for letting his thoughts linger in the past. Sighing, he grabbed the duffle bag from under his bed. He better start packing, there wasn't much time left before he caught the next shuttle for Earth.

'There's a time when you're a prisoner of the enemy after all, Dearka Elthman.' He was in the mood to be sarcastic about himself. After all, there wasn't really anyone to entertainment on this ship.

Sighing, Dearka rolled onto his side, wincing at the coarse rope that was tied his wrists at the back. It was very uncomfortable having to lie on his back with his hands tied in this way, that's why human hands were made to move. He was getting bored staring at the dull ceiling of the infirmary.

'When in the hell will the Doctor come?' Dearka wondered out loud. If he had counted right, he had already been on this ship for over four hours and had been given nothing but the harsh treatment of negligence. If it were Yzak, he'd be throwing a fit and running around the ship, tied or not. At that thought, he laughed out loud. At least he was successful in humoring himself.

'Looks like the doctor's out. Stay here, I'll go and find him, maybe he can get you some pills so you can sleep better. You wait here, okay?'

Dearka leaned back down on the bed and the sound of footsteps. He didn't catch the man's voice clearly but thinking that he might be the doctor, he decided to call out.

'Hey, Doctor!' Dearka blinked as the figure sitting on the stool beside his bed jumped up. His eyes widened at the appalled face before him. It was the girl he taunted earlier in the corridor. She was terrified.

'What's with the face? I'm not that scary, am I?' Dearka jeered, smirking. 'I thought we've seen each other before. It's alright, I'm all tied up.' Still seeing her pant in fear, he sat up and showed her his tied wrists. 'I can't believe you're still crying, why do they let idiots like you be a crew member? If you're that scared, then don't be a soldier. Looks like all naturals are idiots after all.'

Closing his eyes, the smirk was still plastered on his face. 'Or is it because your stupid boyfriend of a natural died?' Opening his eyes again, he gasped at the knife that was pointed at him from above and sat up in quick reflex, watching with wide eyes as the girl stabbed the pillow his head had just lied on a second ago. 'What in the hell's wrong with you? Are you insane?'

That proved to be of no help at all as he watched her lung forward. The both of them fell out of the bed, ripping the curtain that shielded half of the bed. He winced at the pull of the rope that was fastened to the wall and felt the corner of his forehead bleed. Looking up again, he found that another man wearing a similar uniform was holding her back.

'Stop it Milly!' he cried, trying to calm her down, but with no such luck.

The girl continued to struggle with the knife in one hand. 'I don't get it! Tolle's already dead! He's dead! Gone! Why is he still here? Why?'

Dearka couldn't really react to the girl's outburst and watched as she continued to murmur to herself, holding onto the man's shoulders. Awed at how things had turned out, he didn't really know how to react when he saw a pistol pointed at him with trembling fingers.

'Coordinators…'

Stupid naturals, you don't even know how to use a gun. Dearka thought.

'You should all be dead… dead!'

His heart skipping a beat, Dearka watched as the girl who wanted to stab him a minute ago lung forward with tears in her eyes, knocking the pistol out of her hand just in time. A gunshot rang out and Dearka squeezed his eyes shut as he felt shattered glass fall on his head.

Time seemed to have stopped as Dearka stared at the two girls lying on the floor, one awed, the other sobbing.

Dearka was later transferred to the cells downstairs after the doctor treated his head wound. He couldn't help but agree with the crew member who brought him there with a gun pointed at his back that putting him in the infirmary was a bad choice. Really, they should lock him up if they think a coordinator was that scary and he wouldn't have almost been killed.

His first thought was that she was crazy, but when he had the time to think, things started to look different.

'Damn, it hurts.' He muttered, pressing the wound in attempts to relieve the pain. He had always been the sarcastic one among his comrades, but never had his words drove someone to kill him, or at least try to. It seemed that he had said something he shouldn't have. But this was war; people are bound to die, right?

'Why? You want him dead, don't you? You should hate him, hate him for being a coordinator, hate him for Tolle's death! Like me, like me!'

'Fllay!'

'No… I'm not like that, I'm not like that!'

What did she mean? She didn't hate coordinators? The girl with pink hair was right, this war started because of the jealousy and discrimination between coordinators and naturals. The war had been fought for too long, so long he almost loss the real meaning of it. He was fighting for the protection of the coordinators, right? He didn't feel like he was doing the job right though. Instead, he felt like he was doing more than just protecting the coordinators. He was killing naturals.

His soldiers instincts kicked in and he tensed up, hearing footsteps echo through the cells. He didn't move until he found out that it was the girl who attacked him an hour ago. She was peeking into his cell from behind the wall and was terrified when he sat up. If it weren't for him calling her, she would have run away.

He had killed so many people in the past and he didn't give a damn, but somehow, he wanted to know whether or not the boyfriend of this girl was killed by him, so he asked.

'When we were attacked, he was flying in a Skygrasper and never came back.' She replied, her back to him.

'A Skygrasper?' Dearka raised his eyebrows.

'A blue and white fighter.'

'It wasn't me.' Was all he said as he leaned back onto his bed with his arms folded beneath his head. If it wasn't him, then it had to be Yzak or Athrun. He had been shot down by a Skygrasper, but he doubted it was the one this girl's boyfriend was flying.

There was silence between them until Dearka looked down and found her light blue eyes staring at him. 'What? If you want to kill me then do it now, it's your only chance.' He said softly.

It wasn't until later that he found out her name was Miriallia and that she was a bridge crew of Archangel. He had stayed in his cell for three weeks straight, seeing no one but the different soldiers who brought him his meals. It wasn't until Archangel took cover at Orb that Miriallia brought him his meals, much to his surprise. Since then, he looked forward to his meal time.

Nonetheless, he felt human whenever he saw her, even if she came with a sulking face, and this sulking face was the reason he carried on with this war on the other side of the battle, against ZAFT.

'Miriallia! Miriallia! Are you in there?'

Miriallia Haww sat up from her sleeping bag and yawned at the boy's voice. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she unzipped her sleeping bag and climbed out of the tent. Looking down at the little boy before him, she raised her eyebrows. 'I thought I told you to call me Milly.'

'Come on!' Another little girl with blonde hair gave her a big smile. 'The sun's about to rise!'

'Okay, wait a minute.' Miriallia muttered, yawning again. Crawling back into her tent, she grabbed one of her cameras that was lying on the floor and followed the children. It was a bit windy and the twilight was beautiful.

'Here! Here! Papa said this is the best spot to watch sunrise in the outskirts of Tassil.'

'You weren't kidding me Dal.' Miriallia smiled as the sun started to rise beyond the horizon. Kneeling down, she made a few adjustments to her camera, making sure that the lens was in focus before she raised it to her eye. Pausing, she waited until the sun was halfway up. The desert was a breathtaking canvas for such a beautiful view, the symbol of life and a fresh start.

'Told you!' Nille, the blonde little girl said, grinning at her.

'Look!' Dal pulled at her sleeve. 'It's Papa! They're back!'

'Be careful you two!' Miriallia called as the two siblings skipped away, wanting to see their father who was a part of Desert Dawn.

He must have had a night shift. Mirillia thought, standing up. Taking a deep breath, she stretched, feeling fully awake. The desert was beautiful and brought back memories that were both sweet and bitter.

This desert was the first place Archangel had landed on Earth, a long way from its scheduled destination, Alaska. The crew of Archangel had took pains to make their way to Alaska, and on the way, a lot happened, including vivid battles, a reunion with her parents at her homeland Orb, the missing of their Strike pilot, the death of her boyfriend and her fateful encounter with the pilot of Buster.

'Miss Haww! Down here! Breakfast is ready!' a female voice called from below the short cliff. Miriallia laughed at the loud voice of Dal and Nille's mother and figured she'd better get down there before the two monkeys rip down her tent.

'I'll be right there!' Miriallia called as she ducked into her tent to change quickly. She had been wearing this green one piece for three days straight and it started to stink. When she emerged from the tent again, she had a fresh orange T-shirt and white slacks on.

'Come on!' Nillie cried, pulling her by the arm.

'Gosh you're getting strong.' Miriallia commented as they sat around the fire, a stew brewing on it.

'When are you leaving Miss Haww?' Am Fudia, the twins mother asked as she handed her a bowl of soup.

'I'm scheduled to leave today.' Miriallia said. 'I'll leave through Banadiya.'

'So fast?' Dal cried, pulling her by the arm.

'Sorry, but I really have to go or I'll get fired.' Mirillia said, winking.

'Banadiya?' Laren Fudia, a captain of Desert Dawn and the sibling's Father said, sitting down while the other resistant group members ran around. 'A ZAFT base.'

Miriallia nodded. 'I've gotten a special permit from Terrenus. I'm going to do a special coverage of the disarmament program at Carpentaria, so they figured it would be better if I took a ZAFT shuttle, you know, and avoid all the confusion. It's a more direct way.'

'I guess.' Laren said, poking at the fire.

'Don't go!' Nellie cried. 'Stay here!'

'Now, now,' Am coaxed, setting Nellie onto her lap. 'You know Miriallia has to work, so let her be.'

'But – '

'They like you very much.' Laren said, smiling.

'What can I say? I'm a natural at kids.' Miriallia joked.

'Be careful, although I see you've had a lot of experience already.' Laren said.

Miriallia smiled. 'Who hasn't at this day and age? I'm considered a veteran, after all.'

Yes, she was a veteran, former Mobile Suits Controller of the bridge, in charge of the Central Information Center. Sometimes, she still found it unbelievable that she had stuck by Archangel despite all the chances she had of leaving, first when the civilians were unloaded from Archangel during it's rendevous with the Eight Army, then twice at Orb.

At first she had followed the will of Tolle, not wanting to be separated from him. Later when she returned to Orb, she found that she had the obligation to fight this war because she was a natural. When Tolle had died and Archangel was left to be a sacrifice at Josh-a, she felt the need to protect her homeland.

A lot had happened during that year of war and it was enough for her to remember a lifetime. War made one grow, whether you liked it or not.

Miriallia looked up from the lens she was polishing when her cell phone rang. Rummaging through her bag, she answered it. It was a voice message, confirming that her flight was scheduled to leave at two this afternoon and a transport would pick her up in the city center at one.

Putting her cell phone back into her bag, she took out her scheduler and was about to flip it open when a photo fell from it. Picking it up, she smiled at the photo of her and Tolle, taken just before Heliopolis fell. Their gang had been fooling around with Ssigh's camera, taking pictures in turn. Unfortunately, they did not take any pictures alone on Archangel.

Fingering the picture, she felt the familiar sting in her eyes. Biting her lips, she stuffed the picture into her bag along with her scheduler.

'Miriallia!' Am called from outside. 'Your transport's ready!'

'Be right here!' Miriallia cried, grabbing her bag. She figured she'd have time to kill at the city and she'll clean her lens then.

Saying goodbye to the tearful siblings and the others of Desert Dawn, she hopped onto the back of the jeep.

'The sky's exceptionally clear today.' Miriallia commented, taking out her camera as the jeep roared through the desert land.

'You can't seem to separate from you're camera Miss Haww.' A Desert Dawn member joked, looking over his shoulder briefly.

'Can't help it.' Miriallia laughed, taking a few snaps. 'What's a photographer to do anyways?'

She had never considered a career as a war photographer. After leaving Archangel, she had returned to Orb and stayed at home for a month. Ssigh had mailed a few pictures she had taken during her free time on Archangel. There wasn't really much to do, especially after Tolle's death. A particular photo had caught her attention and drove her to apply for a job at Terrenus.

She was rejected at first, but when they found out that she was a war veteran, she was immediately employed. Her family had opposed to her decision, thinking that she should continue her studies. She had insisted, however, that she take the job, wanting to really see the world through neutral eyes.

She had been at the job for over one and a half years, traveling from country to country, capturing the bliss, agony and joy of the war's aftermath. Her photos and articles have been surprisingly popular and boost the sales of Terrenus, resulting in a huge pay raise and more traveling opportunities. She was even scheduled to publish a collection in four months and was still working on it.

Occasionally, she'd go home, but she was out most of the time and her friends and comrades from Archangel found it hard to contact her. However, she had planned on returning to Orb after her trip to Carpentaria because of an invitation to a big function, a ball or celebration, hosted by the government of Orb.

She had been contacted by Kira and Ssigh two months ago and received an invitation from Cagalli. She had pondered on whether or not to go, but figured she'd need the time to finish the draft of her collection before her editor decided to hunt her down. The coverage of the disarmament programme was also pretty huge and she needed time to organize all the materials before everything was sent back.

'Have a safe trip then Miriallia.' Laren said, shaking hands with her. 'We'll look forward to you visiting us again.'

'Especially those two little devils.' Laren's assistant joked.

Miriallia laughed. 'I'll make sure to visit, but it won't be anytime soon, that's for sure.'

'Safe trip!'

'See you later!'

Miriallia watched as the jeep drove off. Sighing, she looked around and decided to kill her time at a coffee shop. Settling herself down at an upstairs café, she ordered a cinnamon latte and took out her half polished lens. While polishing them, she reviewed her schedule.

She would land Carpentaria at five thirty and take a tour of the base before retiring to one of their guest quarters. The next day, she would take a helicopter ride so she could get an overview of the base itself. She was also scheduled to interview one of the officers in charge of the disarmament program, but she still didn't have a name yet.

Leaning back, she looked out the window and took a sip of her hot cinnamon latte. The city was packed with people and looked peaceful, but Cagalli had mentioned that it was just an illusion, at least during wartime. She had visited the ruins and made visual records of them, wondering how bad the impact of war had been on the people of this city.

Andrew Bartfield had used to be the commander of the ZAFT troops in this area before he betrayed ZAFT and joined the Clyne Faction. Not long ago, she was told by Ssigh that Barfield and Murrue Ramius had joined Orb. She hadn't seen her former commander of Archangel in two years and she was looking forward to meeting her at Orb again. Archangel had been returned to Morgenroete, a thing she didn't really understand but was relieved.

Cagalli had taken her Father's position and last she heard, Athrun Zala was her bodyguard of some sort.

Athrun Zala, the soldier who killed Tolle. Every time the name crossed her mind, she'd feel uncomfortable. It was not hate, she never really hated Athrun, never really known him to be exact, but she understood war and knew that death was inevitable, it was really a matter of skill and luck which unfortunately, Tolle had neither.

One person, however, did have the skill and luck of a surviving soldier. He was unbelievably sarcastic and sometimes drove her on the verge of slapping him in the face. She never did, and she still didn't understand why he chose to fight for Archangel. She had freed him at Orb, and he chose to appear before her again in Buster and protect Archangel. He had betrayed ZAFT and his most trusted friend. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if he regretted this decision.

She was pulled from her deep thoughts when her wrist watch beeped; reminding her that it was time to leave. Sighing, she stuffed her things into her bag again and paid her bill.

'Excuse me Miss! Miss!' the waiter of the café called her from behind when she stepped out of the door. Turning around, she looked down at the photo he was holding out. 'You dropped this on your seat.'

She stared at the photo and took it, thanking the waiter. Her eyebrows furrowing, she frowned. She had tried to get rid of the photo but couldn't make herself throw it into the trash bin, so she found excuses like leaving it on the counter of public places or at the desk of other people at her office back at Orb. Somehow, it always managed to get back to her and she often wondered why.

Taking a deep breath, she took out her file and stuffed the photo inside. It was the first photo she had ever taken concerning the warfare, featuring Dearka Elthman in the hanger, discussing matters with the technicians.

She hoped the reason she couldn't get rid of it was because it was her very first war photo, and not because of the man inside it.

'Private Haww.'

'Yes, Captain.' Miriallia saluted Murrue Ramius.

Murrue smiled down at her. 'Private Buskirk is leaving the army and I want you to fill in his position as communicator and launcher. Is that okay with you?'

'Yes.' Miriallia replied. 'I'll make sure everything's done right.'

'It's going to be a bloody war, you have to be fully prepared.' Murrue said, sighing as she leaned against the lockers of the changing room.

'I know.' Miriallia whispered, looking down. 'Everything I've witnessed gives me a good idea of what will happen when everything starts.'

Murrue looked at her, then gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. 'Don't think too much, people die in war and I know what it's like to lose someone you truly love.'

'Captain?' Miriallia looked up, then shook her head. 'I know what you mean, I'll make sure I get my head straight. I don't want anyone dying in front of me if I can help it.'

'One more thing.' Murrue opened one of the lockers and took out a space suit. 'Since we're no longer a member of the Earth Alliance, I thought it was time to release the prisoner. There's no use keeping him in this ship, especially if there's a chance we'd fall. Would you mind bringing him this and his bag of personal belongings we found in Buster? I heard from the cook that you brought him meals during this short period of time so I guess there won't be a problem.'

Miriallia nodded her head slowly as the Captain handed her the space suit. She sighed as the door closed behind her commander. Looking down at the space suit, she sighed even harder. She wasn't looking forward to seeing that jerk again, he was so sarcastic and entertained himself by making fun of her. She had learnt to ignore his mean comments, convincing herself that he was just bored, being locked in a prison cell and all.

Thinking back, he didn't really do anything wrong, just followed commands and decided to save his dear life when Archangel pointed it's canons at Buster by surrendering.

The most important point was he didn't kill Tolle, not directly at least, which made their 'meetings' slightly tolerable. She really didn't want to see him starve to death down there, no one would want to see a captive die on Archangel, there was already too much death.

Walking down the corridors of the battleship, she met Ssigh on the way and found out that the captive's belongings were down at the hanger. She decided against going down to the hanger then to the cells because it was a pretty long walk and she didn't feel like it.

Approaching the cell door, she stared at it for a while before opening it. When she reached his cell, she wasn't surprised to see him sitting on his bed, staring up at her with that signature smirk of his. Annoying if you asked her.

Saying nothing, she entered the code to the digital lock and opened the bars.

'It's a questioning isn't it? You're taking me to another place or what?' He asked, watching as she stepped into the cell.

'No.' Miriallia replied flatly, glaring down at him. 'OMNI is going to attack Orb so Archangel's going into battle again.' She tossed the space suit onto his lap. 'You're released.'

Feeling her mission accomplished, Miriallia turned on her heel and marched out of the cold cell, feeling relieved. Never will she have to see his arrogant face again.

'Hey, wait a minute!' Miriallia frowned as he followed her out of the cells. 'What's going on?'

'I told you.' Miriallia said impatiently, repeating what she had just said. 'There's no use having you locked up here so you better get off the ship.'

'Not that, what I meant was why is Archangel being attacked by OMNI?' he continued to ask.

'Orb is refusing to ally with OMNI.' Miriallia replied, feeling him stop in his tracks.

'What does that mean? You naturals are really idiots.'

'That's really enough.' Miriallia snapped, looking over her shoulder briefly. 'It's going to be a total chaos when the battle starts so sorry but you'll have to deal with the rest yourself.'

'Even so…' He rolled his eyes. 'Where's Buster?'

Miriallia pursed her lips. 'That Mobile Suits was ours, Morgenroete already took it away.'

'What?'

Sighing, she looked over her shoulder again. 'I'm sorry for everything.' She felt the need to apologize, at least for what happened at the infirmary. She had truly lost her mind and she understood that he didn't really do anything wrong, except for maybe his attitude.

Miriallia was about to take another step when he suddenly rushed forward and grabbed her arm. 'You're in this too?'

'Of course!' Miriallia said in irritation, pulling her arm away from his strong grip. 'I'm a part of Archangel's bridgecrew, in charge of the CIC!' Turning, she stomped away. 'Besides, Orb is my homeland.' She suddenly stopped and looked down at her feet. 'I have the responsibility to protect it, protect my family and friends.'

'But – '

'You're personal belongs are in the hanger.' Miriallia interrupted shortly. 'You can get off the ship from there.' She was about to turn the corner when she suddenly stopped and looked back, seeing that he was about to turn the other way. 'Hey!'

'Huh?' he looked back, startled.

Miriallia hesitated a bit before she opened her mouth. 'What's your name?' He blinked and stared at her for a few moments. Seeing this, she looked away. 'Fine with me if you think it's such a big secret.'

'Dearka Elthman.' He said quickly before she turned. 'The name's Dearka.'

Miriallia blinked at him, then nodded and turned the corner. She barracked herself for asking his name. She wasn't supposed to have any emotional attachment to the enemy, but she was secretly grateful that he had given her the excuse to distract herself from thinking too much about Tolle. He did form a good distraction after all with all his taunts and sarcasm.

The war between Orb and OMNI proved to be a bloody one and even with Kira and Freedom on their side, they failed to gain an upper hand, neither could OMNI and Archangel had already been damaged by over 20. It would, in her opinion, take a miracle to retreat, let alone win this battle.

'Fire!' Murrue shouted.

Miriallia couldn't help but stare at her screen, watching as the radar detected another hoard of Mobile Suits heading their way. Reporting this, she closed her eyes as another wave of bombing came, shaking the battleship. She opened her eyes again, just in time to witness a beam of green light cut through the air before them, shooting down a missile heading their way.

'It's Buster!' Ssigh reported from behind her.

Dearka? Miriallia craned her neck and widened her eyes. Buster was standing in the shallow water of the coast, his buster rifle set to fire, which he did a minute later, shooting down a hoard of Mobile Suits before him.

'Archangel! Get out of here while you still can!' Dearka's voice came through the communicators.

Staring at the screen with disbelief, Miriallia couldn't help but wonder out loud. 'Why is he doing this?'

He later on proved to be the same annoying idiot she first met in the infirmary, telling her than Athrun was the one who killed Tolle. She knew that even with Athrun dead, nothing could be done, Tolle would not come back from the dead and this was exactly how she told him off. She was annoyed that he had run after her and she closed the door right in his face. Knowing that nothing could be done, he had left her alone to sob.

They weren't exactly friends throughout the expedition of Archangel, but they somehow established a connection, even an understanding. It was he who provided her with a distraction, he who managed to reignite that dead soul inside her ever since Tolle's death, though it was usually reignited with anger and irritation.

With Dearka Elthman around, life on Archangel was more bearable, creating an illusion she hated herself making him a rebound for the loss of her first love. She knew that in the end, her decision to leave hurt, for the both of them.

End of Chapter 1