Disclaimer: I do not own gundam seed……………………….there I said it

PHASE-3

"Oi wait up!" Dearka shouted as Miriallia stormed down the hall. The clumsy coordinator had been trying to cheer up the young girl and to his dismay, had upset her even more. A part of him was telling him he was going suicidal if he continued to follow her but another part of him told him to help her no matter the consequences. Choosing the latter, the blonde haired boy ran down the hall desperately looking for Miriallia. Finally, after searching for almost an hour, he gave a sigh of defeat and returned to his quarters to sulk.

Meanwhile, Miriallia burst into Cagalli's room in a flurry of tears, her shoulders arching every time she sobbed. The brunette slowly began to quiet down until she began heaving for breath. Seeing that she was sufficiently calmed down, Cagalli tried to comfort Miriallia.

"There, there… what happened Mir?"

"D-Dearka was talking about his family and for a split second, I thought he was Tolle. I blanked out and when I woke up Dearka was holding me just like Tolle used to. Then he started telling me Tolle was dead and that was when I hit him and ran out of the room."

"Wow" whistled Cagalli "Why did you hit Dearka?"

"Because he was…he was trying to…"

"Trying to help you Mir?" finished Cagalli. "And you simply pushed him away when all he was trying to do was cheer you up. And to top it off, you struck him across his face, hard if I'm not mistaken."

"Oh god, I've been such a bitch" Miriallia whimpered not wanting to accept the blatant truth. "All this time Dearka was trying to ease my pain while I just wallowed in my misery and I used him like a punching bag to ease my stress. Do you think he'll forgive me Cagalli?" Miriallia asked not wanting to think of Dearka's reaction.

"After the way you just treated him I wouldn't expect much" Cagalli stated "Nonetheless, you owe him an apology and it's up to him whether he accepts it or not."

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Miriallia sighed as she turned to leave the room.

"Good Luck!" Cagalli called out at the retreating form of her friend.

Miriallia slowly pulled up to Dearka's room and raised her hand to knock on the door when she noticed that the coordinator hadn't locked the door. Slowly she turned the handle and entered the darkened room. Looking around quickly, she turned to leave when she heard a slight moan come from the corner of the room. Turning around, she found Dearka sprawled across his bed like a bearskin rug tossing and turning until the bed covers were everywhere but on him. Slowly, Miriallia sat on the bed so as not to disturb him and moved his head so that he was resting on her lap. As the hours flew by, Miriallia could not turn away from Dearka's handsome face. Always wearing his signature smirk, Miriallia rarely got to see him genuinely smile but when he did, she felt like a queen. Slowly stroking his wavy blond hair, the brunette soon fell asleep as well, drifting off into land of dreams.

Meanwhile…

Cagalli looked up as Athrun entered her room smiling.

"I think we should go visit Kira don't you think Cagalli?" The blue haired boy started.

"I agree, he must be exhausted after what happened at Mendel"

The two quickly made their way to Kira's quarters where Lacus was already taking care of the young man.

Slowly, Kira opened his eyes and the first person he saw was Fllay, the girl he was supposed to protect. He turned away not wanting to remember and when he turned back he realized that it was actually Lacus who was with him. Looking past the pink haired girl, he saw Athrun and Cagalli looking at him worriedly. Slowly, Cagalli looked down and following her train of sight, Kira saw that she was holding two pictures in her hand. Suddenly, he remembered and the sorrow overwhelmed him. Painfully, he fought away the tears not wanting to look weak in front of his friends. Realizing Kira needed to be alone, Athrun pulled Cagalli away and the pair left the room.

Just outside the door, Rhekka quickly pulled away as Athrun and Cagalli exited Kira's room. It was obvious the two were worried and so Rhekka let them be, waiting until they left so that he could continue observing the man Lacus was so worried over. From the small glass window, Rhekka saw Kira double over in tears as Lacus put her arms around him and comforted him. Strangely enough, Rhekka felt no jealousy or anger. In fact, he was glad that Lacus had finally found someone who was as emotional as herself. Rhekka slowly walked away and returned to his quarters where he jus sat down and reminisced.

"Hi there! Wanna play?" the pink haired girl asked.

"Does it look like I do?" he responded sarcastically.

"Yup!" smiled the girl unfazed by his blatant sarcasm.

"Why don't you go and piss someone else off?"

"Because you're lonely"

"Look will you stop bothering me if I play with you?"

"Mayyybe" giggled the little girl.

"Fine"

And yet, she didn't leave him alone. Instead, every day, the little girl bothered him until he agreed to play with her. As time passed, the young boy began to look forward to her daily visits. Almost a year passed by and suddenly, the girl stopped coming. Sometimes he would wait at the gate to see if she would come but his efforts were fruitless. He tried to remember all the good times and he realized he didn't even know her name. After almost two weeks of sulking, the girl came back just as happy as ever and even more excited to see her friend. Looking up, the young boy realized she had brought someone along with her. A few minutes later, he was leaving the orphanage beside the little girl who was even more giddy than himself. He looked up to the sky and gave a short word of thanks for this little angel who rescued him.

Rhekka smirked as he remembered that day. He had been freed from the orphanage and it's so called sisters. Although the nurses there were catholic, they had branded him a devil child. It soon became a known fact among the orphans that you could get caught doing any mischief and simply blame it on Rhekka. You would be instantly pardoned and the devil child would get whipped for practicing acts of evil. On many occasions, Rhekka would be under the watch of a nurse and another would come in blaming him for some trouble caused by another infant. The other nurse would then immediately agree and make up a false story about him running off while she was knocked out from some evil concoction. Truth be told, the fat bitch had simply fallen asleep but no one believed him because he was different. He was stronger, more alert, and more capable of things that most adult athletes couldn't do. He was more than just a coordinator and yet only he knew it.

Dearka groggily turned over as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He had slept very well because his pillow had gotten warmer and much more comfortable. It also smelled of a certain someone that made his heart turn circles every time she talked. Suddenly realizing that all of these factors were more than just coincidence, the young man shot up and stared straight into the face of an embarrassed Miriallia.

"W-what are you doing here Miriallia? How long have you been here?" asked the bewildered young man.

"I came to apologize for my behaviour yesterday and I got here last night. You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you" she responded.

"Apologize for what Miriallia?" Dearka asked.

"For hitting you yesterday" Miriallia responded, her head hung down in shame.

Suddenly, she felt a hand lift her chin up till she was level with Dearka's face.

"Listen Miriallia, I don't care if you hit me, or laugh at me, or use me as a rebound because it won't change the way I feel about you. I know that I won't replace Tolle and I probably never will but just being around you is like a privilege that I cherish every day of my life"

"Oh Dearka" Miriallia said as she leaned into him, crying into his shoulder. Tears still streaming down her face, she kissed him forcefully on the lips unleashing all the passion raging inside her. Never in her life had she ever loved anyone with this much ferocity and this much feeling. She had loved Tolle as someone who cared for her more than a friend but she could have lived without him. Dearka was the exact opposite because she needed his lame jokes and she needed that cocky smirk to remind her that all was right with the world. He made her feel safe and protected from all harm. He made her feel…complete.