Dearka & Miriallia

Author's Note: Hi there everyone. The next update will be on Wednesday or Thursday now, due to my trip this weekend. 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 42

Returning Home

Dearka walked down the hall with Yzak to find Cadey. Shiho had agreed to stay behind and watch the little girl while they told her the news. She would soon be on the Eternal and there she would have no contact with anyone from the PLANTs for some time. Normally Shiho would feel bad, putting someone in possible danger, but when it came to Cadey, even she didn't mind looking the other way.

As the boys hit the rec room, Yzak hit the switch. The door swished open revealing quite a few off-duty soldiers sitting around and watching the TV or reading books. Among them, Dearka spotted Ian. Ian sat there reading a magazine from the community rack trying to ignore the presence of just the person they were in search of. Dearka and Yzak approached the two slowly.

"We don't want to make a scene in here Dearka, so do what you can to lure her out," Yzak ordered.

Dearka looked at him and furrowed his brow at his friends' odd behavior.

"Okay, but when we catch it, you're skinning it," Dearka mocked.

If looks could kill, Dearka would have been a dead man for joking at a time like this and in front of other soldiers that were likely to overhear the conversation. He laughed to himself at his lame joke and walked over to the two unsuspecting people.

"Hey Ian, how's it going?" Dearka greeted enthusiastically.

Ian looked up from his magazine and stared at Dearka for a moment. His face was indifferent and he shrugged at him before looking back down.

"Well this is going well," Dearka thought.

Ian could still feel eyes staring at him and spoke without looking up from his magazine. Cadey was looking back and forth between the two as a few other soldiers began to quite down and move a little closer in curiosity.

"Is there something you needed from me?" Ian asked.

"Nope, not really. I was just seeing how you were doing," Dearka replied before looking over to Cadey.

Cadey noticed his gaze switch from Ian to herself. An ominous air could be felt in the room and the way he looked at her made her shiver. More soldiers in the rec room were no looking on to the exchange and moved in like curious cats slowly moving forward. Yzak was starting to get annoyed.

"I was really interested in speaking to Cadey," Dearka said noticing everyone moving in on him and Yzak.

When Dearka looked behind him, most of the soldiers turned away and tried to talk to one another softly in an attempt to look as though they weren't eavesdropping on the situation happening in front of them.

"Alone," Dearka finished raising his voice.

That had been the cue for them to leave the room. Dearka felt it wasn't worth dragging Cadey away, but easier to send the other soldiers out for now. Most of them fell back and filed out the door leaving a few stunned ones behind. When Yzak noticed their inability to pick up on Dearka's blunt suggestion he turned to yell at them.

"You know the rest of you aren't showing me any indication that I should keep you on my ship. I'd hate to think I had to get rid of you because you were too stupid to figure out such a obvious order," he scolded coldly.

The rest of the soldiers grabbed their stuff and flew out the door. Yzak had been generous to them by not raising his voice or actually chasing after them. Luckily for them, he was too preoccupied with the situation. Ian looked up and closed his magazine.

"I assume you meant me as well," he replied.

"Well, unless you're Cadey then he meant everybody," Yzak snipped.

"You're still here aren't you? Therefore, he wouldn't technically be alone with her. Besides, the way Dearka greeted me made me wonder if he meant for me to stick around too," Ian answered emotionlessly.

Yzak's eyes glazed over in anger. He was extremely annoyed and angry now. Although, Ian had a point and that made him even more upset. Yzak huffed in annoyance as Ian stood up and tossed the magazine on the coffee table in front of him.

"Fine, I'm leaving, but I don't really have anywhere to go on this ship. My room is on the Rousseau if you recall," Ian stated brushing past Yzak.

"You can go to my room. See Belle and wait for me there. I'll fill you in when I get back," Dearka said with determination.

"Yes Sir!" Ian saluted as he left the room.

Part of Dearka wondered if Ian was mocking him or seriously saluting. Ian seemed like a different person than he was when they met up again on Earth. They had been friends since the Academy, but now the rift was growing more distant between the two of them.

"This doesn't bode well for me if you sent my only ally away," Cadey said looking up at both boys.

"Call it personal between Council Member children," Yzak said with a grin.

"And if you're grinning, it means it's definitely bad for me," she said again.

Dearka shook his head and sat down next to her. She inched away from him slightly in an attempt to distance herself from him. She knew whatever they were going to say to her was going to upset her. The further from Dearka she was the safer he'd be from her wrath and if she had any chance of winning him back letting her temper explode would destroy it all. As her hands folded in front of her and she leaned forward in unease, she noticed Dearka pushing back into the couch cushions and relaxing a bit. Now she had to wait for him to speak up and the suspense was killing her. After a few more moments of silence and one or two noticeable taps from Yzaks' boots on the ground to warn Dearka to hurry up, he finally spoke.

"We're sending you to another ship for a while," Dearka said.

Cadey looked over at him and then back up at Yzak. He still had that stupid grin on his face and it was beginning to bug her.

"Yzak set this up no doubt," she thought angrily.

"Why is this such a big thing? Did Yzak get another ship to hide me from the public on or something?" she said defensively.

"Not quite. It's not one of ours really," Dearka said cryptically.

"Huh?" she asked in confusion.

The air was becoming heavy and she was having a difficult time breathing. Was he sending her away to an enemy? Or were they sending her to another Commander all together that would keep her occupied? Her head began spinning and she couldn't think straight.

"How am I going to implement my plan if I'm not near him? He can't send me away," she thought agitated.

"What the heck do you mean it's not ours?" she asked with a slight rise to her voice.

Yzak continued to smirk and spoke up for Dearka.

"Don't worry Cadey, you'll be fine. In fact, you'll be in very good company. Someone even you would like to see again," Yzak said.

"I don't care. Dearka, please don't send me away. I don't want to go. I've been good haven't I? I know you need help with Belle still. I can do that so that you can focus on the ZAFT missions. I'll stay out of your way, I promise," she begged.

He shook his head 'no' to her closing his eyes. When they reopened he saw the tears forming in hers. It broke his heart to see her falling apart in front of him like this. She was usually so strong. It sometimes amazed him how much he still meant to her even if it did all start with an arrangement.

"You're going to be fine, but you can't stay here. It might get too dangerous. It will be safer for you if you go to the new ship," Dearka replied.

"If it's so dangerous, why are you keeping Belle here then?" she asked trying to find a weakness in his plan.

"I'm not," he replied shortly.

She blinked in confusion. Her hands were now feeling clammy and the tears were uncontrollably falling from her eyes.

"What did he mean he wasn't keeping her here?" she thought.

"Then what…" she started.

"Don't worry about that. I will handle Belle on my own and you don't need to be concerned with it," he said cutting her off.

She felt utterly defeated. If Belle wasn't staying, she had no leg to stand on. But still she couldn't understand why he decided to do this now. They just had a nice day out together and she proved to him that she wouldn't case any trouble. And yet he was still sending her away.

Dearka stood up from the couch and she felt herself fall deeper into her side from the unbalance. Dearka walked by Yzak and headed toward the door.

"Just don't cause trouble there and listen to Yzak on your way. He won't be as gracious with you as I am," Dearka warned leaving her sitting there speechless and Yzak grinning still.

The door swished open and he headed toward his room as it closed behind him.

"One down, one to go," he thought a little irritated with having to speak with Ian at all.

Upon reaching his room he could hear voices coming from the door.

"I thought it was a little more soundproof than this," he thought shaking his head and thinking of past endeavors.

He hit his code into the door and walked through. There he saw Ian and Shiho playing with Belle on the floor. She looked so happy with all the attention she was getting, but Dearka noticed something that told him she might be just a little over exhausted now. She was rubbing her eyes every few seconds and her giggling were becoming a little harder to hear as her voice lowered.

Ian looked up when the door swished closed and pushed himself off the ground. Looking over at Shiho, she realized it was her cue to head out.

"You need anything else from me?" she asked Dearka as she made her way to the door.

"No. Thank you Shiho for watching Belle," he replied.

She smiled as she moved toward the control pad.

"Sure, no problem," she said as she headed out.

Ian looked at Dearka with a scowl on his face. All he wanted to do was punch the guy and he didn't know why. Well, that wasn't true. He knew exactly why. He had everything that he wanted and he could be such a jerk about it. Always making the wrong choices and still getting away with it because he had friends that wouldn't turn on him no matter what he did.

"You had something to tell me," Ian said coldly.

"Yeah. It's not easy for me to ask this, but I need your help," Dearka replied.

Now Ian was confused. Dearka needed his help? That doesn't seem right. He has plenty of people he can go to for help, so why bother asking him?

"And if I refuse?" Ian stated.

"I don't think you will," Dearka answered knowingly.

"It's about Miriallia isn't it?" Ian said when he heard Dearka's last statement.

The room was getting quieter and Belle sat on the floor hugging her favorite teddy bear. She now had her thumb in her mouth and her eyes were drooping. Dearka bent down to pick her up and walked her over to her crib. He secured her in her snuggle unit in case the ship rolled for any reason and then put the canopy cover over the top so she wouldn't float out. She was still too young to figure out all the intricacies of the ship's gravity controls.

"I know you heard bits and pieces thanks to Justin. Yzak mentioned it on our way to speak to Cadey," Dearka replied.

"About Cadey?" Ian asked.

"Forget about Cadey for a minute. I want to know if you will help me save Miriallia," Dearka scolded.

"Of course I will!" he yelled back annoyed.

"How can he ask me such a question? I would do anything for her," Ian thought.

Dearka looked back over to Belle who was almost asleep now and then back at Ian with his eyes slit. He found he was doing that a lot more now. He had become extremely overprotective of his little girl and any disturbances that might affect her.

"Could you not yell please?" Dearka asked irritated.

Ian looked over himself now and felt a little guilty. He hadn't meant to do anything to bother Belle. He was quite fond of the girl despite her downfall of being part Elsman.

"What happened to her?" Ian asked more softly now.

"Mir or Cadey?" Dearka asked.

"Both, but Miriallia first," he replied.

Dearka rolled his head on his neck and walked toward his bed. He threw himself down on it realizing this wouldn't be the only time he had to relive the experience. He was going to have to tell his parents even more than this. He looked up from the pillow he had just shoved his face in and answered Ian.

"She was one of the pilots of the mobile suits that attacked the PLANT today. I don't know how she got in there or why, but it was her. There was no mistaking it. The only thing is it didn't seem as though she was being forced. There was no hesitation in her fighting. And to top it all off, she couldn't fight before they abducted her," Dearka caught Ian up on the current events.

It still didn't answer one of Ian's questions that had been floating around in his head since Justin's slip up in front of all of them. But for now, he was going to let it go. After all, maybe he misinterpreted some things due to the confusion.

"And Cadey?" Ian asked again.

"She'll be fine. We're just sending her to another ship for the time being," Dearka answered.

"I see. To get her out of your hair," Ian stated walking toward the door.

"I actually have another way to do that," Dearka replied.

He received a look from Ian that he had expected, but refused to delve any deeper into his plan for ridding himself of Cadey for good. Ian shook his head in annoyance and headed out. Before the door swished closed on him he looked back again.

"Just let me know what you want me to do to save Miriallia when you are ready," Ian stated disappearing behind the door.

Dearka hit the switch on his bedside table turning out the lights in his room and closed his eyes as he shoved his face back into his pillow. He was going to have a long day in the morning and needed all the rest he could get.

The Next Morning…

Dearka headed toward Yzak's office with Belle in tow. He had her diaper bag around his shoulder and she held her teddy bear tightly. He had woken up pretty early and decided that they should just head out. Now all he had to do was get reinstated and then he could face his parents with the truth. He reached the office and knocked on the door. As Yzak granted him entrance, he saw Ian wandering around the ship.

"What are you doing over here?" Dearka asked.

"They won't let me go back to the Rousseau until the repairs are complete, so Yzak stuffed me in one of the rooms here," Ian answered and headed toward the rec room.

"So what are you doing now?" Dearka asked.

"Heading to the rec room to take it easy while I can. It's not like we get much time off, might as well take advantage of it. Oh wait, that's right, you get all the time off you want, so you don't really understand what I'm talking about, do you?" Ian mocked coldly.

He continued on his way and Dearka glared at him. He couldn't understand why Ian had to be such a jerk now that Miriallia had chosen him. It should have been water under the bridge, but it wasn't. Dearka entered the room and Yzak sent the orders to reinstate him. Now all that was left to do, was to head home. He grabbed his papers and headed toward the shuttle bay again.

"You ready Belle? We're going on another trip together. But this time I hope you will have more fun," he said trying to reassure him more than her.

They rode the shuttle to Februarius and he caught a cab to his parents' home. He was a complete wreck during the ride and Belle was not too thrilled her father at the moment. She was missing her naptime again. Dearka paid the driver and walked up to the door.

"Well, here it goes sweetie," he said taking a deep breath and ringing the doorbell.

Being announced at the gate made it that much harder, he knew it would be his mother or father or both answering the door. The door opened to reveal a very beautiful blonde woman with the same violet eyes and tanned skin. It was obvious to anyone who Dearka took after. When she looked at him and saw a small version of herself with blue eyes, she turned from the door.

"Honey, I think you need to come greet your son too, " she called to her husband.

"This isn't going to be good," Dearka thought now feeling sick to his stomach.

End

Author's Preview: Dearka faces off with the parents. And he thought dealing with Mr. Haw was rough. 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! Really short answers today, sorry, but I will be lengthy next week. Have to get this up like I promised and get to bed so I can be up to leave for my trip tomorrow morning. LOTS OF HUGS IN ADVANCE! 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.