Spoiler warning: events covered from Phase 30-31 of GSDesitny
Summary: "Failure is not an option" But in the end, he failed her.
FAILURE
by MapleRose
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Neo Lorrnoke stared at the data sent by Lord Djibril, his eyes widening slightly under his mask. Two words stared back at him.
Stellar Loussier.
Why her? She was just returned to them, and she'd barely gotten her strength back.
"You wouldn't have to do this if you'd sunken the Minerva. This time, you will not fail."
Yes. It was his fault that she would have to kill again.
But, Neo reminded himself, that was her purpose—to kill. She was a weapon, a machine. But despite that, he found himself getting attached to the girl.
Neo remembered a dark-haired young boy walking towards him, carrying a semi-conscious Stellar. He didn't know the kid, or how Stellar had come into his care, but judging by the mobile suit that he'd arrived in, Neo concluded that this boy was with ZAFT, and that he had been fighting alongside the Minerva. This boy was his enemy.
So then, why did he return her?
"I, I don't want her to die!" The boy had wiped at his eyes furiously. "Just, just promise me one thing," the determination in his eyes burned into Neo's memory. "Promise that you will return her to a warm and kind world, a world without war and fighting."
Without hesitation, Neo had answered yes. He didn't know if he could keep that promise, but the boy had needed assurance, and Neo would give it to him, just like he'd given Stellar assurance after every battle.
"Neo!" there had been relief and delight in her soft voice as she uttered his name.
"Perhaps I should thank you," he told the young boy.
The boy shook his head. "Just remember what you've promised." With that, he boarded his mobile suit and left.
"Neo?" the soft voice of the girl broke him out of his reverie. He looked down, and found himself looking into a pair of magenta eyes.
"Stellar, this is your new machine, the X-01 Destroy."
"New machine?" There was such innocence and trust in those eyes.
"Yes. You have to fight with it, or else," he looked away from her and stared at the silent machine. "Or else scary things will come and kill us."
The magenta eyes widened in fear. "Kill? Stellar, Neo too?" He nodded.
"No! I don't want to die! I'm scared!" the young girl squeezed her eyes shut and leaned on him, shaking slightly.
Neo gently placed a hand on the girl's cheek and lifted her face so that she was looking at him.
"Then you have to do it, you have to make these scary things go away. You can do that, right Stellar?" The girl nodded, determination in her eyes, though he could see that the fear was still there.
"You can do it Stellar. I'm counting on you."
Those eyes lit up in delight, and full of trust.
"Promise that you'll return her to a warm and kind world!"
As he watch her climb aboard the giant machine, he remembered the trust in the boy's red eyes and in the girl's violet ones.
"Failure is not an option."
Yet in the end, he had failed her.
I'm sorry Stellar.
AN: my attempt at a drabble on Neo's views on Stellar. I've found it interesting that Stellar trusts him so much, yet he puts her through such difficulties (well, he's following commands, but still...), and right after Shinn returns her, he puts her in the Destroy. I think he'd feel guilty about that. What bothers me in Destiny is the fact that both Neo and Shinn seem to forget Stellar after Phase 33... oh well...
Review please!