Dearka & Miriallia

Author's Note: This chapter is for Angel of Dreams. May you have a speedy recovery and feel better soon. We'll miss you, Hugs! And guess what, it's official in my time zone, today is my birthday (May 16th) Singing: Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meeeee, happy birthday to me. Lots of extra hugs for everyone! 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 27

Excuses

On the Voltaire…

Yzak was sitting in his office trying to make sense of the EAF's current tactics around Lagrange point 1. Annabella had been sitting on the floor watching him intently. Yzak looked down at her from his desk. She looked so much like Dearka it scared him a little.

"What are you looking at?" he asked irritated with the toddler.

She gave him a big smile before standing. She pushed herself up on her little hands and walked over to the desk, grabbing at his leg. Before he could release her grip on his leg, the door to his office swished open.

"It's about time!" he yelled.

Annabella looked at the person who had entered and then back at Yzak.

"Take your brat already!" he continued.

Dearka smiled at his friend and then bent down to get a better look at his little girl. She continued to look between the two men and decided to explore the area again, moving away from Yzak but being careful not to get too close to the new person in the room.

"Annabella," Dearka said calmly.

She looked up at him when he called her name and Yzak watched his friend. Slowly she walked closer to him, but tried to keep her distance as she stumbled around him.

"She falls a lot, so watch out," Yzak said knowingly.

Dearka raised his eyebrows at his friend with a smirk on his face.

"What? Shiho left her with me and I'm not that cruel," he defended.

"Nothing, it's just a different side of you that's all," Dearka commented.

Yzak rolled his eyes and stood from his chair.

"Annabella," Dearka said again to gain his little girls attention.

She looked over again and walked back to Yzak's desk reaching for the nameplate. When she was able to pull it down she began to bite on the end only pulling it out to give Dearka a smile.

"And she chews on everything like a dog," Yzak said irritated grabbing the plaque from her.

Annabella protested this action and began to cry reaching her hands up for it. Dearka stood up and walked over grabbing the plaque from Yzak's hand.

"She's just a baby Yzak, let her have the damn plaque," he said handing it back to Annabella.

She began to smile at Dearka and walked behind him, plaque in hand.

"Hey," Yzak cried.

"Grow up, you can get a new one," Dearka scolded.

Dearka felt Annabella pulling on the back of his leg now. He turned around and picked her up in his arms.

"Wow, she really looks more like you than I thought," Yzak said.

"Yeah, looks like. So what's the word? How did you get her back?" Dearka asked.

Yzak rolled his eyes again with the reminder of it all.

"That girl of yours is a pain in the ass! I had to use hoards of soldiers to finally block her. I think there were more soldiers in the shuttle port on December 4 than passengers by the time I was done," Yzak snipped.

"I can't imagine she was that stupid to walk into that set up," Dearka said.

Annabella held out her hand to give Yzak his plaque back. Yzak squinted his eyes at her when he grabbed it, shaking the saliva off.

"Just great," he said still shaking it.

"I'll get you a new one, now just tell me how you caught Cadey," Dearka forced.

Annabella put her arms around Dearka and made herself comfortable. She was happy to be held again after so many hours of trying to get Yzak's attention.

"She's not that stupid and I never said the soldiers were in uniform," he said eyeing Dearka up and down.

"I'm still on leave," he protested.

"You could still dress appropriately on the ship," Yzak snipped.

"Whatever, get on with it," Dearka replied.

"It was simple, I just had the place surrounded with soldiers and had one grab your kid when she set her down. Before she could object I had someone grab her too. She wasn't too happy about it and if Shiho had been there, I can only imagine she would have tried to beat the hell out of her for all the trouble we went through," Yzak stated.

"Why didn't you do that in the beginning?" Dearka asked angrily.

"If Yzak had done this earlier, Mir and I would have already been up here and the EAF wouldn't have her now," Dearka thought frustrated.

"Because you said not to touch her and to just let you know where she was. I wasn't letting that brat go again! I said I would stop her and I did!" he yelled.

Annabella screeched at how Yzak had raised his voice.

"Good job," Dearka reprimanded brushing the child's hair to calm her down.

"So, now what are you going to do? You really going to watch the kid all by yourself?" Yzak asked sincerely.

"I guess I have to. I'm all she has right now," Dearka admitted.

"Good luck with that, she has been a terror all morning," Yzak said walking by him to the exit.

"She seemed pretty happy when I walked in," Dearka followed.

"Seemed is the key word," Yzak repeated.

"So, where are Cadey and Ian?" Dearka asked.

"Cadey is locked in a room screaming like a banshee for the past twelve hours and Ian is on the Rousseau," Yzak answered.

Dearka stopped in his tracks.

"What is Ian doing on the Rousseau?" he asked.

"Working," Yzak said without missing a beat.

Dearka ran to catch up, now walking next to his Commander and friend.

"Why?" Dearka asked threateningly.

"Because Commander Letner transferred him to us," Yzak replied.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" Dearka asked.

"Maybe a little. I figured he would keep Cadey somewhat quiet when we let her out and you could deal with him running off to find your daughter yourself," Yzak smirked.

Dearka shook his head at his friends' bouts of immaturity but smiled knowing he wouldn't mind the chance to take Ian on again.

"I don't know if I should thank you or smack you," Dearka stated.

"I'm thinking thank," Yzak said stopping at a door and holding his arms out for Annabella.

"What?" Dearka said squeezing his little girl tightly.

"I don't know if you really want to take the kid in the room when you talk with Cadey, do you?" he asked.

Dearka looked at the door and finally noticed the screaming coming from the other side.

"That's definitely Cadey," he thought.

"What, I can't get my arm taken care of first?" he said scoffing.

"Shut her up and then go to the medical wing. I'll take the kid to your room and make Shiho wait with her. I still have to send for Ian again," Yzak said grabbing Annabella.

Dearka let go of his little girl in defeat and took a deep breath. He really didn't want to face Cadey right now.

"She's your fiancée," Yzak reminded.

"Yeah, hopefully not for much longer," Dearka said before hitting his code into the door.

Yzak walked away with Annabella grabbing for his hair again. Dearka could hear Yzak snipping at her on their way down the hall. Cautiously he entered the room. As soon as he entered he needed to dodge the object Cadey had thrown at him. It hit the door that was sliding closed and he glared at her.

"Dearka?" she asked in shock.

"Who did you think it was?" he inquired raising an eyebrow to her.

"I thought you were that bastard, Yzak," she stated coldly.

He hit his code in the door panel again securing the lock.

"So, how have you been?" he mocked as he turned back to her.

She glared at him with ice-cold eyes.

"If you're going to yell at me, just do it already and let me out of here," she replied.

"Now, why would I yell at you?" he said moving closer.

For a moment she felt uncomfortable stuck in the room with him.

"You know why!" she yelled.

"Oh, you mean because you kidnapped my daughter whom I hadn't had a chance to officially meet and then you caused all sorts of trouble for Ian, Shiho, Yzak and I? Or is it because you made Miriallia sick with worry about the well-being of Annabella? Oh, wait a minute, I mean Emma," he said in a raised voice.

Cadey pushed up against the wall the bed was next too, creating some distance from Dearka's rising fury. Dearka reached over the bed and grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Owww," she cried.

"Believe me, this is nothing compared to what I want to do to you right now," he warned.

She quieted down trying not to move.

"I'm sorry," she cried, tears now spilling down her face.

"You're sorry?" Dearka repeated.

"Yes, please say it's all right," she begged.

Dearka's eyes had filled with so much anger even she was afraid of what he may or may not do. He let go of her wrist and she fell back down to the bed.

"Wow, everything's all right now then. You said you were sorry so everything is forgiven," he mocked.

She rubbed her wrist and moved off the bed toward him. He gave her a look of warning that she ignored as she began coming closer to him. When she reached him, she grabbed his arm.

"Please, Dearka, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just didn't want you to leave me. You are all I have," she cried again.

He pulled away from her grip, closing his eyes.

"You never had me," he replied through gritted teeth.

When he opened his eyes again, he could see Cadey fall apart in front of him. Half of him felt bad, but the other half wished she could suffer the way she had made him suffer.

"But, I love you," she cried.

"You don't love anyone but yourself. It's always been about you," he answered.

"Dearka!" she shrieked.

"Cadey, don't you even see what you did? You took a little girl away from her mother, made her sick with worry and were the cause of all the man hours that would have been better used to defend the PLANTs from any EAF attacks," he said.

"But the EAF didn't attack," she shot back.

"But they could have," Dearka yelled.

Cadey stepped back from Dearka again in shock. Dearka rarely yelled at her in such a way.

"What would you have done if they had? What if another colony was destroyed because the Voltaire or the Rousseau were unable to engage them?" Dearka asked coldly.

"I don't know," she said.

"That's what I'm talking about. In some silly attempt to keep me by your side, you risked the lives of countless people. The same people that depend on us and trust us could have been killed. You are selfish and I wish I had never agreed to this engagement," he yelled.

Cadey shook her head in rage, tears filling her eyes again.

"You don't mean that Dearka. You said you loved me," she cried.

"When Cadey? When did I ever say that?" he asked harshly.

Cadey stood quietly for a moment running back the past two years. When she had finished she looked into Dearka's eyes. They had changed from the way they used to look when he looked at her.

"Then why did you stay?" she asked.

"Because I was weak," he replied.

Cadey walked up to him again, smacking him across the face.

"You son of a bitch!" she yelled.

Dearka glared at her, it was all he could do to avoid hitting her back.

"You should be counting yourself lucky right now that I'm the only one in this room with you," he said.

"Why is that?" she asked venomously.

"Because if Miriallia were here right now, I wouldn't stop her from kicking your ass," he said furiously.

Dearka turned to leave the room when he felt Cadey grab his arm.

"I know you love me. Even if you didn't then, you do now. You can't deny it," she said to him.

He turned back to her and noticed something he hadn't before, she had a bruise on the side of her face.

"What's this?" he asked brushing it lightly.

She pulled away from the sensation of pain she felt.

"Now you're concerned about me?" she asked.

He continued to glare at her until she answered. Cadey realized she still had a chance to get Dearka back, she just had to work a little harder and play off his sympathy.

"Yzak hit me," she replied.

"Yzak?" Dearka thought.

Dearka wouldn't put it past Yzak to retaliate for being inconvenienced, especially this time.

"He was pretty angry when he finally caught up to me," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Dearka raised his eyebrow to her still unable to believe everything she was saying.

"I love that little girl Dearka. I didn't hurt her and she was very happy with me. I know I was wrong, but I was desperate," she continued.

"That's not an excuse," he replied.

"I know, but it is no excuse for Yzak to have done what he did either," she shot back.

Dearka shook his head.

"I'll talk to Yzak," Dearka stated while trying to get out of Cadey's grasp.

"Why? He'll just deny it. He's left me in here since late last night with no food either. How can he treat a Council Members daughter this way?" she asked with an innocent look.

"Maybe because he is a Council Members son and don't think I'm buying your innocent routine either," Dearka replied.

She released her grip on him gritting her teeth.

"So, are you going to tell your parents why we aren't getting married, or should I?" she threatened.

"Wow, you certainly can change your tune quickly. You are pretty vindictive," Dearka said surprised.

"If I am, it's your fault," she replied.

"Maybe so," he said walking toward the door again.

"When will I be let out of here?" she asked.

"First I need to talk with Ian and then he can take you over to the Rousseau with him. Then you two can plot my demise together," Dearka mocked.

"Everything is a joke to you, isn't it?" she yelled.

"Not everything," he said punching in his code and exiting the room.

"You'll pay for this Dearka Elsman! You will rue the day you crossed me. I won't let you use me like that," she thought.

Dearka walked down the hall and spotted Ian walking toward him.

"Well, speak of the devil," Dearka said.

"Where's…" Ian started.

"None of your business," Dearka replied.

"I see we are back where we started then," Ian said annoyed.

Dearka bit his tongue and swallowed his pride for a moment when he spoke again.

"Look, thank you for finding Annabella. I really don't want to fight with you anymore on this, but I will if you force my hand," Dearka continued.

Ian held his hand up to him.

"I'm just here to take Cadey to the Rousseau if that is what you really want. You have a chance to fix what has gone wrong though," Ian stated.

"I already have," Dearka replied.

"So, you chose Miriallia then?" he asked.

"I chose her a long time ago," Dearka answered.

"Fine, then I'll get Cadey. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not trying to steal Miriallia away from you. I like her a lot from the few moments we spent together, but if you are the one she wants, then I give. This bickering isn't worth it and Cadey is being hurt the most by all this. In case you hadn't noticed," Ian said.

"Just get her off this ship," Dearka said frustrated.

He continued to walk down the hall to return to his old quarters where he knew his little girl was waiting for him.

"Miriallia must be ecstatic to have Annabella back," Ian yelled to Dearka.

Dearka stopped cold in his tracks again. He felt the pain in his heart and closed his eyes to regain composure.

"Annabella is safe and that is all that matters right now," he said starting to walk again.

Ian turned to look at Dearka's retreating form.

"What did he mean by that?" he thought.

Dearka's room…

Shiho was lying on Dearka's bed while watching Yzak with Annabella on the floor.

"You could help you know," Yzak said agitated.

"This is more fun. I'm not the mom type," she replied.

"Obviously," he said angrily.

"What do you think Dearka is going to do now? He can't possibly take care of Annabella on his own," Shiho said hinting.

"No way," Yzak said.

Shiho twisted to her back and stared at the ceiling now.

"So you are going to just let your best friend suffer alone?" she mocked.

"I didn't say that. I figured you could help him," he said with a grin.

"You couldn't even get away from Annabella when it was you and me, what makes you think she will let you leave now that Dearka's back?" Shiho said laughing.

"Because Dearka is her father," he replied.

"Yes, that's true, but she doesn't know Dearka either. And, she has grown quite fond of you," Shiho said still laughing.

Yzak glared at Shiho as the door to Dearka's room swished open.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Yzak asked.

"Could have been better. You don't happen to know how she got that bruise on the side of her face, do you?" Dearka replied.

"Bruise?" Yzak asked.

"Oh yeah, the one from when she attacked Shannon," Shiho replied.

Dearka looked over to Shiho.

"Get off my bed," he said annoyed.

Shiho sat up and slid to the floor.

"Aren't we testy," she said.

"Why didn't you have her looked at Shiho?" he asked angrily.

"You are lucky she is here in one piece," Yzak snipped at his attitude toward Shiho.

"Look, I didn't think a little bruise on the cheek was such a big deal. If you saw what she tried to do to some of the soldiers, you might have hit her yourself," she stated.

"I don't hit women," he said gritting his teeth.

"With that one, you should," Shiho replied.

Dearka shook his head and turned for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Yzak asked.

"I did get shot in the shoulder, I would like to get it taken care of," he scoffed.

"You were shot?" Shiho asked standing up and moving toward him.

"I'm fine," Dearka replied looking at Yzak.

"I forgot to tell her," Yzak said.

"So I take it you haven't done anything to find Mir then?" he asked.

Shiho looked back and glared at Yzak.

"What happened to the girl?" she asked.

"The EAF kidnapped her and I don't really know why. This moron said he would contact Athrun in order to find the others to see if they have any EAF contacts still," he replied glaring at Yzak.

"I've been kind of busy with your kid," he defended.

"I'm sure she is okay. Come on, I'll go with you to the medical wing and you can tell me what happened. I'll help you find her too," Shiho said shooting another evil look at Yzak.

Yzak shuddered when she looked at him like that and watched them leave. He looked back at Annabella who was happily grabbing books off Dearka's shelf and bringing them to Yzak.

"Guess it's just you and me again kid," he said with a huff.

She laughed at him and continued to clear out the bookcase.

On the Girty Lue…

"How is the process coming?" Neo asked a technician.

"Her blood tests came back a half an hour ago and there is some news about her status," the technician replied.

"And what is that?" Neo asked.

"Well, it seems this young woman is pregnant. I don't know if we should change her into an Extended," he replied.

"Don't pregnant women have heightened senses?" Neo asked.

"Uh, yes sir," the technician replied.

"Then it will be an experiment to see if we can create an even better extended," he stated.

"But sir, she could lose the child," he said with concern.

"That is not my problem. Just do what you are ordered to do. Wipe her memories out and add her block word in. I think in this case, it should be LOVE," he said with an evil smirk.

"Yes sir," the technician saluted.

Another technician watched with eyes full of shock for what they were being ordered to do.

"That girl is no longer a person, she is now a weapon for the EAF. I have to go and make preparations for the newest mobile suit she will be responsible for. I will have the Valor ready in a few weeks. Make sure she is trained by then," Neo said waving his hand at them.

They technicians began work on Miriallia immediately, a few of them praying that they weren't going to regret obeying orders.

End

Author's Preview: We'll be jumping ahead again, Angels' Princess squeaked at me for going to slow (J/K – I planned it this way) So we will be heading into the future by three happy weeks. Please read and review for me so I can continue on my happy way.

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! We'll miss you Angel of Dreams, I hope you get better soon. 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.