Dearka & Miriallia

Author's Note: I have some brand new outlines ready to go and Angel of Dreams' idea will be starting to go into effect. Voting is now closed and Annabella will be having a sibling soon. But I won't tell you what the baby's sex is yet. Thanks again for the support everyone!

Disclaimer: It is obvious by now if I'm here that I do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny or any other Gundam Series. But any characters I create to place in this world are mine (But I don't mind if you guys want to use them too. I have no problem with that. You don't even need to ask me. I enjoy sharing to make other stories the best they can be.)

Chapter 15

False Hope

Ian walked down the corridors of the base on his way back to his room. His head hung low and the lighting was becoming dimmed for the evening.

"How am I going to get Miriallia to even give me a chance? I don't know if I could ever beat Dearka now that he knows Annabella is his," Ian thought.

He moved to his quarters and punched in the code to open the door. As he walked in, he removed his uniform jacket and tossed it on the chair. With a sigh, he fell on top of his bed face first into the pillow and within a moment, he had passed out. A smile grew on his face as dreams swept in his mind like a soft summer breeze.

Ian's Dream…

"You found her!" Miriallia cried with so much happiness in her voice.

She was ecstatic and couldn't believe she would be holding her little girl again. Ian walked over to her, Annabella safe in his arms.

"Here you go Miriallia, I brought her back to you," Ian replied.

He went to hand Annabella to Miriallia watching Dearka from the corner of his eye.

"There's no way she will choose you. Why would she want the man that didn't even try to bring her daughter home?" Ian thought.

Dearka stepped forward with a dangerous look on his face. Ian no longer cared. He wasn't going to be threatened by Dearka's presence anymore.

"Miriallia…" Dearka started.

Miriallia's face dropped from her happiness as she turned to look at Dearka.

"You didn't even try to find her and you don't even know what to do about Cadey. How can you think I would ever want to stay with someone who flip-flops over whom he wishes to be with every second of the day? She kidnapped our daughter and you didn't stop her!" Miriallia screamed at him.

Ian had a smile on his face as he continued to hold Annabella in his arms. The little girl giggled softly at him.

"I'll be here for your Miriallia," Ian replied.

"Miriallia, please just listen," Dearka started.

"No! I won't listen to you anymore. I'm going with Ian and you can stay with that boyfriend thieving tramp of yours!" Miriallia screamed before walking toward Ian.

"Miriallia," Dearka cried.

She turned to glare at him and Ian stepped forward.

"Stay away from her Dearka. She chose me, not you. It's your own fault for being so selfish," Ian stated.

"Ian, please take me away from here. Keep me safe, something Dearka could never do," she pleaded.

Ian handed Annabella to Miriallia and put his arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer to him. He began to walk away with her, but gave one last look over his shoulder to see Dearka in complete misery. A smile came across his face.

In Dearka's Room…

Miriallia closed her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. She was still furious with Dearka over his admissions about his relationship with this girl.

"Miriallia?" Dearka asked.

Her eyes shot open and he could see the anger flashing in her beautiful blue eyes.

"I'm okay," she said sounding a bit forced.

"Are you sure?" Dearka provoked her.

"Well, if you keep asking me, I won't be," she stated.

Dearka stopped pushing her and just stared into her eyes. A smile crept on his face.

"What now?" she asked.

"Nothing," he paused.

She eyed him wearily.

"No, that's not true, it's just that you are so beautiful," Dearka replied.

Miriallia blushed at his remark. He always knew how to wash away her anger. It had been two years since she had seen him and only one day she had spent with him. Although, to her it felt like they had never separated.

"So, is there anything else you want to tell me?" Miriallia asked.

"About Cadey? No," Dearka replied.

"And you told me everything that you know about our daughter's disappearance?" she asked.

Dearka couldn't bear to hurt Miriallia again and tell her that his second line of defense had been breached. They had just started to get closer and he didn't want it ruined by Cadey's escapades.

"I need to protect Miriallia. Who knows what she'll do if she finds out about what happened on the PLANTs? So much for not lying to her anymore," Dearka thought.

"I told you everything I know," Dearka lied.

Miriallia felt happy and angry all at the same time and was having trouble sorting through her emotions. Though, she kept her promise not to get mad at him, with much difficulty on her part. The anger made her remember something.

"I was so cruel to Ian. I shouldn't have said those things to him. He was only trying to help me," Miriallia thought.

She shot up from the bed and Dearka sat up from her motion.

"What's wrong Mir?" he asked.

"Where is Ian's room?" she blurted out.

"What?" Dearka said shortly.

His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why does she want to know where Ian's room is?" he thought.

"Please Dearka, just tell me where it is. I have to go see him," Miriallia said.

"Why?" Dearka asked annoyed.

Miriallia glared at him. She was agitated herself and didn't want to explain every decision she made to him.

"Because, I just need to. Is that okay with you, your highness," Miriallia mocked with disgust in her voice.

"Yeah," Dearka said taken aback by her attitude shift.

"Then where is it?" she asked.

"Down the hall to your left, Room 383 on the right side," Dearka answered.

Miriallia stood up and was about to leave when Dearka noticed something.

"Do you always run around in your underwear and a t-shirt?" he asked with a laugh in his voice.

Miriallia blushed again. She had totally forgotten her clothes weren't back from the laundry and she blushed feverishly again.

"I'll go get your clothes. I should have done it earlier on my way back from the Control Room, but I forgot when Ian was following me," Dearka replied standing up from the bed.

"Thanks," she said with a little more gratitude now in her voice.

"Sure, just don't go anywhere until I get back," he joked.

"Very funny," she said.

Dearka straightened his jacket and buttoned it back up. He was still on a military base and needed to make sure he was presentable outside his quarters even if he was officially on leave. He walked out of the room and towards the laundry to pick up Miriallia's clothes.

"What is she thinking? Why does she want to see Ian?" Dearka thought on his way down to the laundry.

Miriallia sat on the bed again and kicked her feet back and forth like a little girl. She was so bored waiting for Dearka and really wanted to get out of the room.

"I have to apologize to Ian for my behavior. I was completely out of line. He just wanted to help," Miriallia thought again.

Miriallia saw Dearka's bag still sitting there and decided to dig through it again.

"It's not like I haven't already done this, so I don't think he will really mind. Besides, he was just joking with me when he saw me with the picture frame," Miriallia thought.

She began burrowing through the duffel bag and felt a book in between his clothes.

"Huh? What's this?" she asked as she pulled out the book.

What she found put a look of shock on her face.

"A photo album?" she asked.

She flipped through the pages and realized they were pictures after the war two years ago. They were pictures of him and his friends with ZAFT and then as she went through, she noticed the pictures of the Archangel Crew, the Gundams, the Eternal and the Kusanagi.

"He has pictures of that?" she thought.

As she flipped to the last page she saw a picture of herself. It was the one Cagalli had taken before she had a chance to get out of her seat when they landed on Earth. She still had her headset on and was about to stand up and take it off when she remembered the flash of the camera. It actually came out better than she thought. She looked kind of cute in it with the slight surprise on her face.

In the laundry room…

Dearka walked into the laundry room and over to his basket. Miriallia's clothes were there, cleaned and folded. He grabbed them from the basket and began to walk out. Before he made it to the door, he heard someone call to him.

"Hey, you're Dearka Elsman, right?" the attendant asked watching him at his room basket.

Dearka turned to look at him.

"Yeah, why?" Dearka asked confused.

"Oh, I have something for the girl that is staying in your room," the attendant replied.

"The girl?" Dearka said sounding even more puzzled.

"Yeah, she said she was your fiancée. She was in here yesterday afternoon and asked me if I could fix her dress," the attendant informed Dearka.

"Oh," Dearka said with his eyes dropping to the ground.

The attendant saw the look on Dearka's face and walked over to him with the dress in his hand.

"Would you like me to leave it here until she comes for it?" he asked.

Dearka looked up.

"No, I'll take it. It's not a problem," Dearka answered.

The attendant handed the dress over to him. Dearka threw it over his shoulder with one hand and held Miriallia's clothes close to him in the other hand.

"She's a very beautiful young woman. You are really lucky to have someone that gorgeous by your side," the attendant said with a smile.

"Yeah, lucky," Dearka said with a little sarcasm.

The attendant tilted his head at him with his own confusion.

"So, you two are leaving I guess? That mission didn't take too long," he said.

"Yeah, we're leaving. It was a quick mission. I was just here to make sure it was carried out appropriately," Dearka answered.

"Well, you take care of that girl. She's a keeper," the attendant said as he walked away.

"Thanks," Dearka said bleakly as he turned to leave again.

In Dearka's Room…

Miriallia continued to smile at the picture. It was adorable. Dearka had even drawn little hearts and colored them in all around the page.

"Dearka never struck me as the type to be so sentimental," she thought.

As she continued to smile at the pages her third time through, she heard the door swish open. She stood up quickly and dropped the book behind her on the bed.

"What is that?" she asked as he entered the door.

He looked up at her and tossed her clothes to her.

"Here," he said with his mind wandering.

"Dearka?" Miriallia asked again.

He walked by her and hung the dress on the door and it hit Miriallia.

"That belongs to Cadey, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Huh?" Dearka said coming out of his daze.

She sighed at him and walked over. Miriallia twisted him around to her and looked into his eyes.

"Are you in there somewhere?" she asked.

Dearka blinked at her as she pulled him closer to her. Before he knew it, her lips were on his and he began to melt from the sensation. Slowly his arms wrapped around her waist. When they parted he was back to his old self.

"I'm here," he said with a grin.

"I figured that would bring you back to me," she replied.

She released her grip on him and slid out of his embrace.

"It's very beautiful," Miriallia said admiring the dress.

Dearka looked at her with sadness in his eyes she hadn't seen before.

"Dearka?" she asked again.

He looked away from Miriallia.

"You miss her still don't you?" she asked.

"No," he lied.

"Well, I'm going to see Ian. I'll be back soon," she said trying not to push the subject with him.

Dearka watched her as she headed out the door. As the door shut behind her, he looked back at the dress on he hung on the door.

"Cadey, why did you do it? We could have figured this out together. I know it would have been hard. You hurt me so much this time. I can't bear to see Miriallia or you in so much pain," he thought.

Miriallia walked down the hall with her head hung low.

"I know he still has feelings for her. Why won't he just admit it? That's a stupid question. He won't admit it because he knows you will be hurt and upset about it. But even when he doesn't say it, I can see it in his eyes, so it hurts even more," Miriallia thought.

She continued her journey down the corridors and turned to the left when she reached the end of the hall. She started to watch the numbers of the rooms pass by on the right side looking for Ian's room number. When she reached his door she knocked shyly.

"I don't know what I'm even doing here," she thought.

She waited at the door for Ian to answer, hoping Dearka didn't send her to an empty room as a cruel joke.

Inside Ian's room…

Ian heard the soft knocks at the door and sat up slowly.

"Of course, right after I'm in the most perfect dream, someone has to come and ruin it for me," he thought.

Ian stood from the bed and threw on his clothes. Quickly he jumped into the bathroom and fixed his hair. The last thing he wanted was to look disheveled. As he walked to the door, he started to wonder who it could be.

"I'm not even scheduled on this base anymore, so it can't be anything to do with ZAFT. It's probably Elsman trying to warn me to stay away from Miriallia and Cadey again. Not that I can blame the guy," Ian thought.

He reached over and pressed the intercom button.

"Yes?" he asked.

Miriallia leaned over to the keypad to find the switch to speak back. When she located it, she pressed the button.

"Umm, Ian? It's Miriallia. May I talk with you for a moment?" she asked.

"What is Miriallia doing here?" Ian thought.

"Uh, yeah, hang on a minute," he said tossing some stuff that was all over the floor into his duffel bag.

He ran back to the door and hit the open button. There, in front of him, was an angel beyond compare. She was so beautiful it took his breath away.

"Umm, can I come in?" she asked feeling uncomfortable under his stare.

"Oh yeah," he said shaking the thoughts out of his head.

"Stupid Ian, what are you doing? Keep your composure or she'll think you are a complete idiot," Ian thought.

"Sorry, please, come in," he said kindly dragging his arm behind him in a sweeping motion to signal her to enter.

She walked by slowly and looked around the room. When she reached the center of the room, she turned to look at Ian.

"So, what brings you here?" he asked.

Miriallia had a slight tinge of redness in her cheeks.

"Look, I wanted to apologize to you. I may have been a little out of line earlier," she said.

Ian watched her as she made her sincere apology. His eyes filled with joy at the sound of her sweet voice.

"No, you don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have said all those things. You were right, Annabella is yours and Dearka's problem, not mine. I should have stayed out of it. I had no right to interfere in your relationship," he said in earnest.

"Well, that's not true. If it hadn't been for you, Annabella and I wouldn't have survived our encounter with the Earth Forces. I am just grateful that you were there and I can't believe the horrible things I said to you. To tell you the truth, I wasn't like this a few years ago. I don't know what has come over me. Sometimes I get so angry now that I say or do things I shouldn't. Please forgive me," she said pleading.

Ian couldn't believe it. She was asking him for forgiveness.

"But, Miriallia…" he started.

"No, don't take the blame. It was my fault. Please, just let me know if you will forgive me," she said.

"Uh, yeah, I forgive you. Okay?" Ian answered.

He saw the tears streaming down her face and felt bad for her.

"First she is attacked, then she is hurt, then she loses her daughter and now Elsman is lying to her. He knows he can't choose between the two of them. Why does she have to be the one to apologize?" Ian thought.

"Thank you," she said smiling through the tears.

"Will you be okay?" he asked.

Miriallia looked up at him as she moved back toward the door.

"Yes. I should get back to Dearka. I think he needs me right now," she said.

Ian was now feeling dejected. He really wasn't a match for Dearka when it came to Miriallia.

"So, I guess he told you about Cadey getting by Yzak too, huh?" he asked sympathetically.

Miriallia's eyes widened at the announcement and she twisted around so quickly it startled Ian.

"What did you just say?" she asked frantically.

"Oh no," he replied realizing what he had done.

"That bitch is on the PLANTs with my little girl!" Miriallia cried her eyes on fire.

"I guess he didn't mention that part to you yet," Ian said.

"Obviously!" she yelled.

"You know, I didn't mean to cause you any more trouble. You should probably go speak to him about it all. As you said earlier, I should stay out of it. This really is something the two of you should work through. But, if you need me, I'll be around. Okay?" he told her.

"I'm going to kill him!" she screamed as she stormed out of his room and back toward an unsuspecting Dearka.

Ian poked his head out his door and watched Miriallia stomp down the hallway to find Dearka.

"She looks angry enough to kill him. I really didn't mean to start trouble again," Ian thought.

"But, if there is trouble anyway, then maybe I still have a chance," Ian said to himself.

He pulled himself back into his room and started packing his things.

"Look out Cadey, I'm going to find you and when I do, I will be the one to bring Annabella home to Miriallia. Now, I just have to get leave from the Gibraltar base for a little while," Ian said as he ran into the bathroom to gather the rest of his belongings.

"I promise, Annabella will be safe in your arms soon," Ian thought.

End

Author's Preview: So many fun things are coming up. Mir is angry with Dearka again, Dearka is flip-flopping when he saw Cadey's dress that he just bought her the day before, Ian's determined to find Annabella and Mir still hasn't had a chance to contact her family about the situation. As mentioned in the Author's Note, Voting is closed. Annabella will see a sibling if she is ever reunited with Mir & Dearka. (Yes, I'm cruel, hee hee hee). Please read and review for me so I can continue on my happy way. Final tally is 14 yes's for a sibling and 2 no's for no sibling. Hugs to everyone! You'll see the signs of a baby soon. Watch out Annabella, you're no longer an only child.

Reviewer Response: Hello to all my wonderful reviewers. Thank you so much for all your support and reviews on all my chapters thus far. I love you all so much! Unfortunately due to possible changes in TOS (which is still unconfirmed) all responses are now located on my personal website. Please click on my profile page to link to the website. Thank you.