Dearka & Miriallia

Author's Note: Thanks to the server being down on I was able to get chapter 35 done as well, so you guys didn't have a large delay between them. I will work on the next chapter tonight because I will be heading back into my own element, drama and sarcastic comedy. (I'm so excited). Hugs to all of you! 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 35

The Pain of Love

She flashed out of the trance when she heard her alarms buzzing around her. The Savior had a target lock on her and missiles were firing toward her.

"ATHRUN!" she yelled as she dodged the attack and rushed him head on.

Athrun felt the impact of the Valor against the Savior. He was jarred from the hit and tried to regain his bearings. Dearka knew his ears weren't playing tricks on him this time when he heard the scream.

"Miriallia!" he cried from the control room.

Yzak began moving into the fight again and relieved the attacks from the Chaos on Lunamaria.

"You okay in there?" he asked Lunamaria.

"Doing better now, thanks," she replied.

She looked up above her and saw the Valor and Savior battling it out. The ferocity of the Valor had heightened when Athrun's name had been called. All others on the battlefield were confused at what was transpiring. Lucy and Justin looked at a flustered Dearka when he cried out his revelation.

"You can't mean the same Miriallia we met with you?" Lucy stated.

Dearka looked back over at them with a look of concern in his eyes.

"Oh my God, you've got to be kidding," Justin replied to his look.

"I wish I were," Dearka said frantically trying to get a hold of Athrun or Yzak.

Lucy jumped from her seat and smacked his hand away from the controls.

"You can't. If you say anything, the plan could be ruined," she scolded.

"And if I don't, Miriallia could be killed!" he yelled at Lucy standing up to meet her head on.

Justin saw the look in Dearka's eyes and stood up from his own seat. He walked over to Lucy and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Stop Lucy," was all he could say as he nodded his permission for Dearka to continue.

"What are you doing?" she yelled at Justin.

"You don't really want anything to happen to Miriallia, do you? She's his friend, remember?" Justin asked.

"But if she is in that machine, it means she's joined the Earth Forces. She's not his friend anymore," Lucy reasoned trying to escape Justin's hold.

"No, she's not my friend. She's the mother of my children," Dearka replied without looking at the two behind him.

Lucy and Justin both stopped as if they had slammed into a wall.

"What did he just say?" Justin asked.

Lucy blinked with words eluding her.

"Yzak, can you read me?" Dearka asked.

Yzak hit his communicator on again to reply to Dearka incessant bantering.

"What do you want?" he yelled as he had before.

"Don't destroy the Valor, just disarm it," Dearka ordered his commander.

"Are you crazy?" Yzak yelled.

"Yzak, it's Miriallia in there," Dearka replied.

Lunamaria was unsure of what was occurring but was finally able to get enough good shots in on the Chaos to disable it.

"It's about damn time!" she cried as the Chaos began a retreat.

"Come on Miriallia, we have to leave," Sting ordered.

"No way!" she screamed as she attacked the Savior again.

Athrun could barely fend off the attacks, each punch to the armor doing more damage than the last.

"Athrun," Lunamaria cried out coming to his aide.

"Yzak please," Dearka begged.

"What has come over you. You're insane!" Yzak yelled.

Athrun knew what was being said was true. He heard it as well. The other pilot called her by name, she screamed his name in rage and it wasn't hard for him to believe she would turn against them.

"Kira, Lacus and Cagalli all turned against me. Maybe Miriallia has turned against Dearka as well," Athrun thought as he tried to defend himself.

Lunamaria aimed her missiles at Miriallia and before they reached the designated target, Miriallia repositioned the suit above Athrun. The missiles fired hit Athrun hard as he stumbled backward from the impact in mid air.

"Damn it Lunamaria. You're doing more harm than good. Go back to the Minerva. You've taken too much damage to continue fighting," Athrun ordered.

"Uh-uh, I'm not leaving you out here by yourself," Lunamaria argued.

Yzak moved the Phantom behind the Valor.

"He isn't by himself little girl," Yzak patronized.

Lunamaria's eyes slit in anger and before she could contest his statement, Athrun yelled again.

"Lunamaria, head back to the Minerva, that's an order!" he reprimanded.

Lunamaria sighed in anger and moved out of the battle toward space to dock with the Minerva.

"Yzak, this is Miriallia in here. Dearka's not crazy," Athrun replied calmly as he took more beatings with uncertainty of how to proceed.

Back on the Girty Lue…

"Have you completed the mission?" Neo asked Sting as he disembarked from his ship.

"No," Sting replied emotionlessly.

"And where is Miriallia then?" Neo asked evenly.

"She's still fighting, but she losing steam," came the reply.

"Maybe it's time to give her a jump start then," Neo said nodding to the technicians.

The technicians nodded back and patched into the Valor's communicator. As Neo walked over to the console some technicians backed away from him. He sat down and turned on the communicator.

"Miriallia, what is your status," he asked, his voice echoing over the ZAFT communication channels as well.

"I'm fine," she answered.

Dearka sighed in relief at her statement to whomever it was speaking with her on the communicator.

"I have been informed that you are having a rough time dealing with some of our enemies," he replied.

"Enemies?" Dearka thought.

"I said I'm fine," she sounded even colder.

Dearka couldn't believe this was the same woman he loved and wished to protect. Her voice was so distant and troubled that it gave him the chills.

"Mir, what have they done to you?" he thought sadly.

"Who is that?" Athrun asked as Miriallia's attacks increased.

Yzak hovered by unsure of what to do. Athrun and Dearka had told him not to act, but what about the people below? All the innocent civilians that could be hurt were his responsibility now that he was up here.

"Sounds like whoever is in charge of her," Yzak answered.

Dearka's eyes slit in anger.

"No one is in charge of her. She doesn't belong to anyone! Someone is manipulating her," he thought without realizing how right he had been in that statement.

"Miriallia, if you don't complete this mission, that child will feel the same way you have felt. You want to protect your child, don't you?" Neo coaxed.

Miriallia's eyes widened a little when he mentioned her child. One of her hands fell from a throttle to her womb and she closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she looked at the communication screen to see Neo watching her.

"You want your child to be loved, don't you? The only way for it to feel love is for you to survive by destroying your enemies," he answered.

Dearka's eyes widened when he heard this statement and then the words that followed.

"The only way for my baby to feel love is for me to survive. I have to destroy my enemies," she repeated entering a berserk mode.

"Miriallia, don't…" Dearka screamed to her.

She dropped from the sky while Athrun and Yzak followed in confusion. She had blocked Dearka's words and voice when she entered the trance.

"What is she talking about? Does she mean Annabella?" Athrun cried to Yzak.

The communication had shut down as the final minutes had ticked away. Yzak noticed the signals were back on their normal wave patterns and he logged off from the control room into a private line with Athrun. Athrun noticed and followed suite as they pursued Miriallia.

"Dearka found out today that girl is pregnant again," Yzak informed Athrun.

Athrun's eyes widened at an explanation he hadn't expected. He didn't know how he should proceed now.

"Then, we have to be careful Yzak. If we jolt her around too much, something could happen," Athrun stated.

"We have to protect those people first," Yzak said feeling the pull between duty and friendship.

They landed on the PLANT as Miriallia went on a rampage. Luckily for them, most of the civilians had made it to the shelters with only a few stragglers. She moved in toward her designated target, the Aprilius 1 military base.

"I have to destroy it if I want to keep my baby safe," she said to herself.

Neo sat back on the Girty Lue and watched the destruction from the view screen.

"That's it Miriallia, teach them a lesson, they will never forget," he laughed.

Miriallia began destroying the weapons hold turning only to shoot at the Phantom and Savior that were following her. Athrun had taken on more damage than he had noticed as a circuit shorted out inside the cockpit.

"Damn it!" he thought.

Yzak moved in now realizing Athrun struggling to keep the Savior moving. Yzak pulled out the beam axe to the Slash Phantom and began an assault on the Valor.

"If you are Dearka's girl, then I have to be careful not to kill her. He'll never forgive me!" Yzak thought.

Miriallia defended herself with the Valor's shield. As Yzak continued on the offensive, Dearka watched helplessly from the tower.

"Please don't hurt her Yzak," he thought feeling powerless.

Athrun shot at a container above the Valor in an attempt to disable her. Miriallia could see through his intentions thrusting the Valor out of the way in just enough time to avoid the Savior's newest strategy. As the container smashed to the ground, sparks flew in every direction.

Yzak squinted from the sparks as he yelled at Athrun, "What was that? Are you some kind of idiot?"

"Sorry, I was trying to disarm her," Athrun replied trying to move around the debris.

"How? By squashing me?" he yelled again.

"Yzak, you are still way to over dramatic," Athrun said riling him up more.

Yzak slashed through the object between them and the Valor with viciousness from Athrun's comment. Miriallia had moved on to her intended target aiming at the base shelter than had still not been released. Dearka looked down on the map to see what the Valor was aiming for.

"Athrun, Yzak, do something!" Dearka screamed when he knew what her intended target was.

"Mom, dad. Miriallia, please don't do this," he thought nerve wracked.

"What do you think we're trying to do?" Yzak grunted trying to reach the Valor before it could get a shot off at the shelter.

"Eject the pod and have one of the surrounding ships move in to pick up the Council Members and their families," Lucy ordered to a nearby soldier.

"Yes Ma'am," he said saluting.

The pod ejected before Miriallia's shot went off and Yzak attacked after scrambling through the debris Athrun had created. Miriallia turned to meet Yzak head on. She avoided the swat of the beam axe and used the brute strength of the Valor to knock the Phantom to the side.

"Get out of my way!" she screamed while pummeling the Phantom.

Athrun moved quickly to aide Yzak and Miriallia moved the Valor away avoiding Athrun's newest attack. She moved toward the control tower ready to strike. The soldiers including Dearka closed their eyes flinching at what seemed like the inevitable.

"I love you," Dearka thought while waiting for the shot to fire.

His mind flashed with all the things he would never see. The birth of his new child, Belle's first day at school and so many events he wished he would be a part of. The weapon shot and the entire tower shook.

"Huh?" Dearka thought as the buildings ceiling crumbled a bit around them.

He looked out of the window at the Valor, who was now disarmed with the Phantom close by with the beam axe in both hands. The sheer force of the axes attack had knocked the Valor's hand up as the shot was fired before slicing through it. Dearka and the others let out a sigh of relief.

"Is everyone okay in there?" Athrun asked as the Valor backed away from the Phantom.

"We're still alive if that's what you're asking," Dearka replied sounding tense.

"She's okay Dearka, I didn't kill her," Yzak said holding the axe steady.

"Miriallia, come home. We need to regroup. You are both safe now," Neo said calmly.

Miriallia woke up from her daze and took off from the Phantom and Savior.

"We're safe," she repeated as she left the battle site.

Athrun was about to follow when Yzak spoke.

"Don't go Athrun. If we go, she may attack and then all promises are off as to her safety," Yzak warned.

Athrun stayed put looking into the screen of his communicator. Dearka's eyes were leaden and his mind was wandering.

"How am I going to save you, if it doesn't look like you want to be saved?" Dearka thought pulling the note out of his pocket.

He stared at it intently for a moment, his blonde hair now covered in white plaster dust from the ceiling that had begun to collapse on the soldiers in the room. He looked over to see Lucy and Justin both staring at him.

"Don't ask," he said as he walked out of the tower and away from the communicator.

Athrun watched his departure before linking his communications with the Minerva.

"We are ordered to head back to Earth, please return Athrun," Talia ordered.

"Yes Ma'am," Athrun replied as he set himself up to leave the vicinity.

"You're not going to talk to him?" Yzak asked overhearing the communication between Athrun and Talia.

"No, I'll leave that to you. But I will do what I promised and find the Archangel for him. I may believe she has turned on him, but I don't think he will be so willing to believe that. If I don't do this for him, he'll blame us if something goes wrong or happens to her," Athrun replied.

Yzak inhaled deeply and looked down to see Dearka exiting the base.

"I guess you're right," Yzak said sincerely.

"For once we agree on something and we have to act as if it isn't a possibility for his sake," Athrun stated and set his thrusters on high.

"I'm not really good at these types of things," Yzak admitted to the departing Savior.

"Now's as good a time as any to master the technique," Athrun joked as he reached the atmosphere.

"Athrun…" Yzak started.

"Yeah?" Athrun asked.

"Be careful out there. I mean when you encounter the Archangel. If they have all betrayed us as you say, I wouldn't want you to be stupid and get yourself killed," Yzak said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I will be," he replied and shut off his communicator.

"I hope for all our sakes, that she hasn't joined with the Earth Alliance and done this willingly," Athrun thought.

Yzak hit the switch and the hatch to the Slash Phantom opened. As he grabbed the elevator rope and lowered himself down to the ground, he could see the dejected look on his friends' face.

"She almost killed them," he said as Yzak touched down.

"She almost killed you," Yzak stated.

He was now mentally beating himself up for that comment.

"I said I was no good at this. I already screwed up and those were my first words to him," Yzak thought annoyed.

Dearka looked up with watery eyes but no falling tears.

"Where do I go from here?" Dearka asked sounding lost and confused.

"You go back to what you know," Yzak replied.

Dearka still had a confused look on his face and shook his head, closing his eyes. Yzak moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Athrun is going to find the Archangel and Shiho and I will help you from the Voltaire. But, you have to agree to officially return from leave and become a full-time soldier again," Yzak gave his ultimatum.

Dearka's eyes opened to see how serious Yzak was being.

"Agreed," Dearka said with no hesitation.

"Wow, that was easy," Yzak thought.

"What about Cadey and Ian though?" Dearka asked curiously.

"Ian will return to the Rousseau and I think it's about time Miss White returns home. She can only be more trouble than it's worth right now," Yzak stated.

"Yzak, if we just send Cadey…" Dearka started.

"You have to tell them sooner or later Dearka. How about telling them now and getting this girl out of your hair," Yzak replied coolly.

"I'm sure you're right, but I always thought I would tell them with Miriallia by my side," he said sadly.

"I think you telling them on your own would have been safer even if she was with you. I don't think your parents are going to be so forgiving of all this. They may even take it out on your girl," Yzak reminded Dearka of his parents' vindictiveness.

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Dearka said.

"First things first, let's get Shiho, Ian and Cadey and get back to the Voltaire to completely reinstate you," Yzak replied walking off toward the base.

Dearka ran behind him as he had done for years falling in a few steps back. The face Yzak had seen on his friend was one he never wanted to see again.

"I know the sorrowful look on his face is nothing compared to the anguish Dearka is really feeling. I just wish I knew what to do to fix this for him," Yzak thought.

"At least you still have Belle," Yzak reminded kindly.

"It's not enough. I still feel as though my heart is being ripped out of my chest," Dearka thought desperately fighting back every emotion threatening to take him over at once.

"I know," Dearka said in monotone.

The two walked in silence as they headed toward the shelters as the dust started to settle from the previous battle.

End

Author's Preview: I'm not sure yet (really sorry but I'm still thinking it through). 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! 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.