Dearka & Miriallia

Author's Note: Tee hee, I totally forgot to tell everyone I was going to be away for the long weekend here. Sorry about that (insert innocent look here). And then when I got back work attacked. Grrr… I have also changed my writing style a little bit. I like it this way because it helps me to add more details and scenery along with dialogue and thoughts. Hope you all enjoy and the next update should be Sunday or Monday. 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 39

Escape

The group remained quiet as they all returned to the Voltaire and the news of the damage made Yzak fall into an even more terrible mood than he had been in previously.

"Those stupid morons!" he mumbled angrily under his breath.

Dearka looked over at his friend as Annabella slept in his arms. Yzak's arms were crossed in front of him and his face showed the same pouting look he used to get after being defeated by the Strike a few years prior.

"It could have been worse," Dearka said knowingly.

"There's no excuse!" Yzak snapped.

Annabella stirred making Dearka scowl coldly at Yzak.

"You need to calm down Yzak before you have a heart attack at such a young age," Dearka half joked.

Yzak turned his head away from him and looked out the window to see the crews working on both the Voltaire and Rousseau. Shiho stared at her boyfriend from the seat behind and sighed in exasperation at his childish attitude. Even she knew it wasn't something that could have been avoided. The enemy was in fact stronger and the ships did the best they could to stand up to them considering the damage everyone else in the vicinity took.

"He should be grateful they are both still in one piece, even if the Rousseau isn't able to move yet," she thought closing her eyes.

Cadey was sitting one seat over from Dearka. She wanted to remain close to him without completely crowding him. She wasn't going to let her plan be ruined this time. Not even Ian was going to interfere even if he did change his mind about helping her.

"I don't get it. He wanted that girl as much as I want Dearka. What is his problem? It's not like we're going to hurt them," she thought looking longingly at Dearka.

Dearka hadn't noticed her stares as he held Annabella close. His mind was wandering too and he wasn't sure what his next move was going to be. Athrun had promised him that he would contact the Archangel in an attempt to find some information on Miriallia's kidnapping, but now the way things were, he wasn't sure if Athrun was still on board with that.

"What if he decides it's best not to help. I mean if Mir has become an enemy, he may not help me save her," he thought.

He looked back over to see Yzak still pouting at the window and tried his best to see around the silver haired coordinator to get a glimpse of some of the massive damage the ships received, but his mind was still stuck on Miriallia. He shook his head trying to erase his thoughts of Athrun betraying him.

"No, Mir is his friend too and she is very close with Kira. There is no way Athrun would let anything happen to one of Kira's friends. She's being manipulated and I don't know what they did to her, but that isn't my Miriallia!" he thought angrily.

One of his fists was now clenched tightly to the armrest as the other had Annabella wrapped in a soft embrace. He looked down at his little girl and saw everything about him in her face.

"It's amazing how much you look like me, but how much like your mother you already are," he thought releasing his grip on the armrest.

He looked back at Yzak one last time in the hope that his friend had been able to calm down within the last five minutes. He really wanted a friend to talk to, but he could see his hopes were lost as Yzak grunted again while the shuttle passed another block of the Rousseau. He looked over to his left and finally caught Cadey staring at him in a daze.

"What now?" he asked softly.

She quickly snapped out of it when she realized he was talking to her.

"No-nothing," she stuttered pushing back into her seat.

"Then stop staring, it's rude," he said a little more forcefully.

Dearka looked away from her and back out the window once again. Even though he knew there was nothing else to see but more damaged ship parts floating around and mobile suits frantically trying to re-attach them, he couldn't bare to stare at Cadey when Miriallia was in such trouble.

"Sorry," she replied looking down at her lap.

Dearka looked back upon hearing her forlorn reply. His eyes softened and his forehead wrinkled with regret.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap," he said softly.

She looked back up at him. Every time he spoke to her with such a sweet tone, she felt there was still a chance.

"All I have to do is get you to forget about that girl. So that's what I'm going to do," she thought.

"It's okay, I deserve it for what I put you through. I hope you can forgive me someday," she answered him.

He looked at her curiously.

"Are you up to something again?" he thought.

"I kept my promise. I made sure your parents didn't find out about Belle yet and I helped you take care of her. I know that doesn't make up for it all, but I hope it's a step in the right direction for both of us," she continued.

"Maybe she is being sincere," he thought naïvely.

Ian rolled his eyes from his seat across the way as he watched Cadey begin to wrap Dearka around her finger again.

"Why do both Miriallia and Cadey even like him? He's such a moron sometimes," Ian thought agitated.

He continued to watch as Cadey batted her eyelashes at Dearka.

"What the hell is wrong with me? Am I jealous of Dearka? No way! He's not that special," he thought.

The shuttle came to a stop inside the flight deck of the Voltaire and he watched Yzak stand up abruptly and storm toward the door. Ian lifted his chin from his hand and began to stand up as well. Shiho began to follow slowly, keeping her distance from the raving lunatic that was about to explode at the crew. She looked down at Ian as he gave her a knowing smirk.

"I know when to keep my distance. I'm not that stupid," she replied to his look.

He laughed at her a little. They had such a rocky start in the beginning, but she wasn't as bad as he thought her to be.

"It's amazing how different people look to you when Cadey isn't mixed up in the middle," he thought sarcastically.

He looked back over to Cadey and Dearka as they started to get ready to disembark. Cadey was grabbing Annabella's bag and trying to help Dearka. Ian moved abruptly from the aisle and stormed out of the shuttle. He felt slightly the way he thought Yzak had felt but for a completely different reason. The only trouble was, he wasn't sure what the reason truly was.

He moved into the shuttle bay and proceeded to pass by the engineers working on the damage on the ship. There was no reason for Ian to return to the Rousseau right now, it's not like they needed the help of a pilot to fix the ship. No, he would leave that to the people who are paid to do it. As far as he was concerned, he didn't even want to be under Yzak's command. Once again it all started thanks to Cadey and her idiotic schemes. If he could have gone back to the day he first met her when they were kids and knew the trouble she would cause him, he would have walked away from her without introducing himself.

"What an idiot I am," he thought.

His feet pushed off the ground giving him a light and airy float toward the entrance to the ships main corridors. He wanted to get as far away from Cadey and Dearka as possible. Not only did he not want to be near them, but Annabella either. Every time he looked at her, he could only think of Miriallia. And now to think that what Justin said may have been true.

"Was it really Miriallia in there?" he thought in confusion.

Ian stopped moving and pushed the side of the wall to help float himself to the ground. One foot tapped down as the other one followed softly. Ian's brow wrinkled in thought as he looked down at his feet. He couldn't believe it. He heard it himself, but didn't dare comment on it with Yzak in such a foul mood. Then he even avoided the subject when he saw Dearka and Cadey again. After all, Cadey hadn't heard the part about Miriallia being the pilot that attacked the PLANT. What a field day she could have with that one.

"No wonder Dearka dragged Cadey away when he did. If she had overheard that conversation, she would have either flipped by the word 'children' or been ecstatic at the fact that Miriallia was the enemy," Ian thought.

He began to walk again making his way to the rec room. If he was stuck here, he might as well enjoy it. At least there he could find someone to talk to or hang out with that wasn't out to get him. He felt as every thing he did or said here was used against him especially when he was on the Rousseau. When he was left over on that ship Yzak could make it his personal mission to torment him from a distance. He had thought it would be easier not being directly under Yzak's thumb, but in the end it was harder.

"Could be because Cadey and I are friends. He certainly does make it seem like he's not the one being so cruel to me. Cadey thinks it's the Rousseau's captain that is so hard on me, but she doesn't know Yzak is feeding him the orders," he thought angrily about past situations.

"I hate it here!" he screamed in the middle of the corridor like a young child that wasn't getting his way.

He froze when he felt a few pairs of eyes dart in his direction. He gave a little nervous smile and laughed to himself slightly. If they thought he was crazy before, they would be sure of it now. He had chosen not to speak to anyone on either ship when he was first assigned and now he realized that had been a big mistake.

"I guess I should go fix that error in judgment of mine," he thought slinking away toward the rec room.

On The Eternal…

Lacus watched as the fleeing Girty Lue prepared for descent into Earth's atmosphere. She knew they would be unable to follow, but had a sneaking suspicion she should watch for the descent pattern.

"Make sure we have a lock on them," she ordered DaCosta.

"Yes Ma'am!" he replied punching a few commands into the computer.

He turned to look at the pink haired princess and his commander with a look of concern as the computer did the rest of the work. Most of the soldiers on the bridge had been quiet for over an hour now and he couldn't help but break the silence.

"Can I ask why we are logging their descent Commander?" DaCosta challenged with respect.

This was pretty out of character for DaCosta to question any orders given, but he couldn't help it. The curiosity overwhelmed him and being such good friends with both Lacus and Andrew made him feel a little more at ease when questioning their motives.

"It's simple, in order to find out their next move, we have to remain ever vigilante, don't we," Waltfeld replied.

"I guess so sir, but it seems odd," DaCosta answered.

"It isn't odd at all Martin," Lacus spoke.

She pushed herself out of her seat and floated down to stand next to DaCosta's position in the front of the bridge.

"We have to know where they are heading in order to conclude what they are about to do. I don't believe they intended to truly hurt the Supreme Council. I think it was just a ruse. I'm not sure if that was their main target at all. It seems from what we saw on Earth that this may be the reason they were up here in the first place. If all ZAFT is occupied with this near tragedy they won't be paying attention to the EAF's aggressions on Earth. ZAFT will be too busy regrouping from this attack giving the EAF time to organize for their next blow without being detected. So you see, someone has to keep track of them," Lacus continued.

DaCosta looked up at the young woman. In all the time he had known her he not only learned how honest and kind she was, but also how determined and brilliant she was as well. The crew watched as the computer logged the data on the Girty Lue and awaited their next order.

"Let's head back," Waltfeld ordered once the Girty Lue was out of range.

The crew began maneuvers to bring the craft around and to head back to the direction of the ZAFT forces. Space seemed cold and unfriendly at that moment, but the group trudged on through the path of debris from previous battles. It amazed Lacus how much pain and sorrow could still be seen in the solitude of space after so much time had passed. There were reminisces of ships from the first war almost two years prior. She remembered many of them and could see the etching of the ship names in some damaged parts floating serenely in the darkened surroundings. She sighed to herself and moved back to her place in the seat above Commander Waltfeld. As she placed herself gently down, she began to think how she was going to initiate contact with the Voltaire. She had to do this gently or else someone that may not trust them would alert Chairman Dullindal.

"Andrew, do you have a plan for contacting the Voltaire, because I sure don't," Lacus stated after a moment of quiet reflection on their predicament.

Andrew looked up at her from his seat below and smiled with a large smirk. "Of course I have," he answered her.

"Oh?" she inquired.

He looked back forward and saw all the soldiers on the bridge staring at him now. They hadn't expected Miss Clyne to admit she had no idea how to go about contacting the Voltaire. All eyes were now locked on as he continued to smile.

"We simply have to leave the bridge when Martin contacts them," he replied.

DaCosta's jaw almost dropped to the floor. He should have expected this from Andrew. After all, he was his right hand man in the first war. He had always been in command of the troops when Waltfeld was away and was always the one entrusted with contact between ZAFT teams. But this was asking too much, even from him. He knew that most of ZAFT knew him to be an upstanding soldier and most probably believed he was still with his division. Although, now he was being forced to contact another ZAFT vessel and pretend that he hadn't defected again. A low and barely audible moan came from the Lieutenant followed by a few slight giggles from other crewmembers.

"That is all right with you isn't DaCosta?" Andrew asked sarcastically.

"It's not like I have a choice," he moped turning back to set up communications when they were within range with the Voltaire.

All he had to do was get Lacus and Waltfeld through the first communication channel and then he could drop the charade. As soon as Commander Joule's face hits the screen, he will be able to turn it over to them to take care of. It wasn't as though he was trying to be childish about the things they were asking of him, it was just that he wished they would just take action already. He was starting to go stir crazy.

"If the Archangel were up here in space right now, I bet we'd be doing more than following the enemy and then trying to sneak communications around to trusted soldiers," he thought.

The ship hit its' mark behind another meteor rock and came to a full stop. Upon the sound of the communicator clicking to contact the Voltaire, both Lacus and Waltfeld stood up and walked toward the door. The bridge door swished open and the two proceeded out with the intention of not going much further. Waltfeld was determined to enter the moment her heard the 'little hot head's' voice as he liked to call him.

The communication channel opened and revealed a very young beautiful woman on the other end. DaCosta's cheeks flushed with slight crimson at the sight of the young coordinator.

"The Voltaire is receiving your contact attempt. What can we help you with?" came the soft voice.

DaCosta began to stutter as he tried to say what he had said a thousand times before when contacting other ZAFT ships. It was only that this time it felt like someone was choking him and making it hard to breath let alone, to speak. One of the soldiers on the Eternal stood from their seat and floated over to him in order to smack him in the head. On contact, DaCosta was shaken out of his speech deficiency and he blurted out the basis of the call while the other soldier floated by and around the bridge to return to their post. When the young woman shook her head, he felt a big sense of relief. For a moment he thought there was no way she would let him speak with Commander Joule, especially after that display of foolishness on his behalf. He waited for what felt like forever.

End

Author's Preview: Didn't get as far as I thought on this one. It was getting quite lengthy with the new writing style I decided on so Yzak talks to Waltfeld, Lacus offers to take Cadey and contact Archangel in Athrun's place and we'll go from there. Sorry about that. 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.