Welcome all to the second chapter. I own none of the characters, now onto the fic
Miriallia slowly stirred to life from her position on the floor. Awakening her eyes were met by Tolle's. "I guess with all the stress you've been feeling, it's only natural that you'd forget something like that" Tolle said sadly cradling Miriallia's head in his lap. Seeing this as her best opportunity to learn of Kira's fate, Miriallia took her chance. "What happened? How did it happen?" Milly asked.
Tolle closed his eyes in regret thinking back to that one fateful day in the war, where he lost his best friend. "It was at Onogoro island..." Tolle said as he began his recount of that day's events.
Flashback
Tolle flew out in the Skygrasper, hoping to aid Kira in his fight against ZAFT. spotting the Aehis gundam in his sights, he fired off a missle at his enemy, only to watch it hit the ground. The Aegis gundam countered by leaping back, and throwing it's shield right at the Skygrasper. Tolle's breath caught at the sight of the projectile heading right for him, with only one name in his head at the time. 'Miriallia' Tolle thought as he awaited his fate, it was not to be however.
Tolle watched as the shield was impaled on the Strike gundam's beam saber, keeping it from going any further.
Tolle regained his senses as he saw his life was no longer in jeopardy. "Tolle get out of here, it's too dangerous. I can handle it, now go!" Kira urged his friend so that he'd get out of there in time. Kira was so distracted with protecting Tolle and urging him to get away that he wasn't aware of the Aegis gundam heading right for him in it's mobile armor mode. "KIRA!" Athrun shouted heading straight for the strike, the beam saber on one of the Aegis' legs aimed straight for it. Kira wasn't even able to get a thought across or a final word as the beam saber of Aegis slammed straight into the cockpit of the Strike. Kira was killed almost instantly, and what followed was an explosion neither side would forget: the explosion of the Strike gundam.
Tolle could only watch on in horror as the resulting shockwave threw him away and caused his Skygrasper to perform a nosedive headed for the water. "Eject kid! Eject!" Mu screamed over Tolle's com link. Tolle complied as best he could and was sparred once again as he pulled the switch and his seat flew from the cockpit while the skygrasper itself plummeted down to the ocean below. Once out of the aircraft Tolle watched as the remnants of the Strike continued to burn and crumble away, with no sign of life anywhere. The husk of the MS fell to the ocean below with nothing to keep it suspended in the air. "Kira's, gone. He's really gone" Tolle said as gravity lead his parachuted form to the ocean below.
Tolle was picked up soon after and was met by everyone on the ship once back on the brig. The looks he received from some were less than proud. The look he got from Fllay was enough to melt the thickest ice. "YOU, you got him killed! YOU!" Fllay screamed as she lept at Tolle and wrapped her hands around his throat. "You just had to go and play Hero! you got him killed! it's all your fault! your fault! yours! You got him killed!" Flay continued to scream as she choked Tolle relentlessly. "That's enough, we're all upset but this isn't helping" Mu said as he tried to pry Fllay off of Tolle. "Shut up! you should have helped him! he's dead, he's dead now why didn't any of you help him? WHY?" Fllay screamed. "That's enough just stop it!" Mu screamed. Fllay continued to resist sending her hands in all directions in an attempt to slap, scratch or hit the man who was keeping her from having her revenge. She was carried away to another room in an attempt to protect Tolle from her wrath.
Tolle escaped to his room after seeing everyone look down on him. He was just trying to help, he didn't want Kira to be the only one out there fighting to protect everyone, so why were did this have to happen. Tolle's thoughts were interrupted when he saw the door open and Mu stepped in, his face had three bloody scratch marks trailing down it. "Mu, did Fllay?..." Tolle asked, even though he knew the answer he would get.
"Yes the results speak for themselves" Mu said wiping the blood off of his cheek. "But that isn't the point right now, the point is that Kira and the Strike are gone, and we are left without many means to defend the ship, and since you were so eager to go out there and help everyone else, you'll be flying alongside me in the spare SkyGrasper, do you understand?" Mu said gripping Tolle by the collar of his uniform. "Y-y-yes sir" Tolle gulped. Mu dropped Tolle on his rear as he punched open the key to the door and stormed out, he didn't apologize as he bumped into Milly along the way. "Stupid bunch of kids" he muttered.
Milly opened the door and looked on at her boyfriend as he sobbed into his arms which were tucked up to his chin. "Tolle..." Milly said as she walked up to him. Tolle looked up and stretched his arms out, reaching for Milly and drawing her into his arms. "Milly, Milly I'm sorry I'm so sorry Mir. I got him killed, I never should have left the damn ship, I never should have, I never should have, I...Never...should..have..." Tolle said as he cried into Milly's shoulder. she silently rubbed his back while she too mourned the loss of her dearest friend.
End Flashback.
Milly felt her eyes tear up as Tolle finished his retelling of Kira's fate. "The war fizzled out after that. ZAFT was routed by the EA forces and it ended with a peace treaty being signed between them. Everyone went their separate ways after that" Tolle said as he held Milly a little closer. "Fllay hasn't been seen in ages, Ssigh continued on with his education and is now a teacher, I don't know what happened to any of the military personnel" Tolle said solemnly.
Slowly rising up, Milly walked over to their room and lay her head against the wall. Kira was dead. He died instead of Tolle in the same place. Here she was happily married to Tolle with a baby on the way, and she didn't feel at all happy. She soon felt Tolle wrap his arms around her. Even as good as that felt she still silently wished it were Kira. "We both decided to name the baby Kira when it's born" Tolle said to his wife. "That sounds like a good decision, honey" Milly said as she leaned in and hugged him tighter.
Milly left her home shortly afterwards to go and explore her surroundings to see if anything had changed. She had learned that they had returned to ORB, in an attempt to forget about space. The sights of ORB hadn't changed much in the past few years. the streets were still the same, the buildings were still the same, and the people were still the same. Milly found herself taking another familiar path, the path to the cemetary. Tolle had informed her that Kira was buried in ORB cemetary now that Kira's home of Heliopolis was gone. Walking down the path, Milly came to Kira's grave. Sitting down in front of the marker, Milly ran her hand over it almost silently hoping that Kira wasn't laying beneath the ground.
Everyone here knew he was dead, everyone but her. Just the other night she had laid down to bed for the night with him and now he was gone. The nights they shared together, their wedding to each other, the children they had together, never happened. Milly felt the hot, stinging tears slide down her face and watched as they landed on the marker below. "I can't believe you're not here, that you're really gone, why? Why did you have to go?" Milly said gathering her face up in her hands. Milly felt a prescence behind her and a shadow stood over the grave. Looking up, Milly saw that it was none other than Fllay. "Fllay, is that you?" Milly asked. "What are you doing here? You're married to that bastard that got Kira killed in the first place" Fllay spat angrily. "Fllay that's not true, Tolle was only trying to help Kira you know that" Milly said defending Tolle from her old friend. "You really think I'm going to believe that? Kira's dead because Tolle wanted to go and play hero, to go out there and..." "HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP! WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE ACCEPT THAT?" Milly screamed at the woman who still blamed Tolle for Kira's death. "Because Kira's dead, and he was still alive before your boyfriend got him killed. Now go away I don't want the last thing I see to be you" Fllay said walking past Milly and continuing to look down at Kira's grave. "What do you mean by that Fllay?" Milly asked confused at what Fllay meant by that.
"That's none of your business, now leave" Fllay said coldly. Milly walked off but stopped as she saw Fllay pull out a knife.
"Soon Kira, we'll be together again, and then I can finally tell you that I really did love you, and I still do. Kira, I do this out of love" Fllay said as she raised the knife up and let it glint in the afternoon sun. "Fllay wait stop! don't do this!" Milly yelled as she ran to Fllay. The knife was almost at Fllay's throat when it stopped. Fllay saw that the knife was being held back by Milly. "Fllay stop and think about this, this isn't the way to go, Kira wouldn't want you to do this!" Milly shouted hoping to get Fllay to listen to reason.
"How would you know what he would have wanted? How? Kira had no one to show him love or to help him relieve the pain he felt, so how would you know what it was like for him?" Fllay said with tears brimming in her eyes. Milly had a good reason why, but she couldn't let Fllay know in her state of mind. Thinking fast, Milly spoke, hoping it would work on the woman in front of her. "I may not have known or loved Kira as you did Fllay, but I know that he loved you, and it would break his heart to see you like this. He loved you for being alive and your humanity, he'd never be happy if you took your life and stopped living. Stay alive for him Fllay, stay alive and keep his memory alive" Milly said hoping to convince Fllay to put the knife down, even if her heart was breaking just saying that speech.
Milly watched as the knife in Fllay's hands eased and fell out of it. Grabbing the knife Milly threw it to the ground and embraced the woman in front of her. "I'm so sorry Milly, I just miss him so much. I want him back" Fllay said as her tears stained Miriallia's dress. "It's okay Fllay, just go ahead and cry, just go ahead and cry" Milly silently urged hoping Fllay would let all her pain out in the form of tears.
A few minutes passed and Milly had deposited the knife in a nearby garbage can and got it away from Fllay. Fllay had been lead over to a bench and helped to calm her down. "I miss him so much, I coudln't think of anything else but to..." Fllay said before breaking down again. 'I've managed to save her, hopefully she won't try this again. This is my gift to you Kira, I'm helping her stay alive" Milly said as she rubbed her stomach.Noticing this, Fllay spoke up. "How far along are you?" she asked. Milly truly had no idea but an answer was needed so she decided to call upon her experience from when she was pregnant with Mira and Tolle.
"At least five months in, Tolle and I are expecting a boy" Milly said rubbing her belly carrying the child that she and Tolle had created.
"Have you decided on a name for him yet?" Fllay asked. "Kira" Milly replied, thankful for that bit of info that Tolle had given her earlier this morning. "That's a nice name, he'd be proud" Fllay said rising from her seat. "Where are you going?" Milly asked. "Home, to think things over, don't worry I'm not going to kill myself, you showed me that he'd never forgive me for that" Fllay said before walking away. Milly watched as she walked off and hopefully to a better lease on life.
Milly left the cemetary shortly afterwards and continued down the road, not knowing where it would lead, and found herself outside the gates of a huge mansion. Milly knew whom the mansion belonged to, it was none other than the mansion of her sister in law Cagalli, at least she was her sister in law in the real world and not this dream where everything she knew was a lie. Walking along, Milly came eye to eye with the owner of the mansion, Cagalli Yulla Atha. "Cagalli" Milly said to the woman in front of her. Cagalli walked to the woman on the other side of the gate, curious as to why she called to her.
"I'm sorry have we met?" Cagalli asked. "Wait I do remember, I remember seeing you on the Archangel all those years ago. I see you've changed quite a bit since then" Cagalli said referring to Milly's swollen belly. "Yeah, Tolle and I are going to name it Kira" Milly said rubbing her belly. "Oh him, the one everyone blames for Kira's death" Cagalli said somberly. "Do you blame him for it too?" Milly asked, afraid that Cagalli would attack Tolle's honor like almost everyone else.
To her relief Cagalli shook her head disagreeing with Milly. "I blame the war for all of it. It was the war that made him and Athrun fight in the first place, and lead to his death. I know things like this are supposed to happen in war, but that doesn't make the pill any easier to swallow" Cagalli said sadly. Milly let her head rest on the front gate. "Would you like to come in for awhile, I wouldn't mind some company" Cagalli asked. "Yes, I'd like that" Milly said.
Once inside, Cagalli ordered for some tea to be put on by one of the maids. Settling into the living room, Milly looked over the room in the mansion. It was practically no different than the one she and Kira had come to the other day with the twins, only bare of the pictures that had her with the children. The tea was definetley one of the better kinds she had tasted, she'd have to remember to ask Cagalli about this if she woke up to reality.
"Is it safe to drink stuff like that when you're expecting?" Cagalli asked. "Yes, as long as it isn't alcohol then the baby should be okay" Milly replied to Cagalli setting down her cup. The room appeared to be the same to her, she only wished that Kira was with her. "You're the first person in awhile to even bring up Kira, why did you mention him?" Cagalli asked somberly. "Because I miss him, it's been so long since I've heard his voice, and I wanted to talk with someone else who had gotten to know him" Milly said. Cagalli could hear the somberness in her voice, like the girl knew more than she was letting on.
"I can show you him. When the war fizzled out and the Archangel was decomissioned I had it's security tapes and the tapes of the Vesalius, I wanted to hold onto as many memories from the war as I could" Cagalli said.
Hours went by as Milly watched on as memories of Kira were played out in front of her. Milly even found herself smiling at the memory when she saw the infamous shower scene where her towel fell down in front of Kira. It was embarrasing and he was totally innocent. Damn she missed him. she paused the screen looking at a good picture of him, not surprisingly her eyes began to well up in tears. Here he was alive and right in front of her, and in this one image in front of her he was smiling a rare smile, compared to how somber he was during the war. Milly felt her head sink down into her arms as she shed her tears over him. "I just can't believe he's gone, he's really gone. I held him, he kissed me goodnight, oh why did I have to go and talk to that damn gypsy" Milly said as she continued to cry. She was slightly startled when she felt a pair of hands on her back.
Looking up she saw Cagalli looking back at her with sympathetic eyes. "You loved him didn't you, you wanted it to be more" Cagalli said. Milly said nothing, for she knew herself that Cagalli was right. "Don't worry, I won't let your husband know, I can tell this is something dear to you" Cagalli said. Milly heard her walk off into another room. Standing up, Milly headed for a bathroom that she saw along the way.
Cleaning her eyes off, Milly saw a window in one of the rooms was open, moving towards the direction of the breeze blowing in from the window, Milly's jaw dropped at what she saw, Athrun was there and was in a sort of catatonic state. Unmoving and unresponsive with various machines hooked up to him.
"I see you've found him, it's probably for the best, I can't keep him locked away from humanity forever, even if he would prefer it deep down" Cagalli said somberly. "What happened to him?" Milly asked. "He killed Kira, and that was too much for him to take, he had a heart attack and he never fully recovered and now he's like this. I remembered our time together on the island and I took him in since his father was so dissapointed in him, I've been taking care of him ever since." Cagalli said rubbing her arms.
"He hasn't said anything?" Milly said astounded at what she heard. "No, he hasn't said a word since he recovered from his heart attack, he's just layed there probably thinking back to that day. He's fully healed and due to his Coordinator genes it's a miracle he hasn't suffered from Atrophy yet" Cagalli said. She was prepared to speak again when the phone began to ring. "Dammit the maids are on break, hang on a sec I'll get that" Cagalli said. Milly nodded her head as she was left alone with Athrun.
Alone, with the man who now twice was responsible for the deaths of the men she loved. Armed with this knowledge, Milly could use it to unplug all of his life support systems, and take his life. But no. She was able to forgive him before, and she'd do it again, even if he couldn't hear her.
gripping his empty hand, Milly gave it a squeeze.
"I know you may not be able to hear me, or what I have to say but I want you to know that I don't hate you for what has happened. This war, has made enemies of friends and soldiers out of people who would prefer peace. It's an awful thing to get involved in and to this day I wish that it had never occured. I want you to know Athrun, that if you ever do awaken, that you have a wonderful person waiting for you who never did abandon you in Cagalli, and one day, you can see the baby Tolle and I are expecting. We're going to name it Kira when it's born, I'll make sure to let him know of his uncle Athrun, and of the wonderful person he is" With this, Milly let go of his hand and left, hoping to find Cagalli to let her know she'd be leaving. Had Milly stayed, she would have seen the tears falling from Athrun's eyes and the hint of a smile on his face.
Milly returned to her home seeing Tolle sitting there at the table going over some bills. "Are they piling up without me?" Milly asked jokingly, finally feeling a little more comfortable in this dream world. Watching as the sun slowly set behind me from the window, I thought back to that one fateful battle where Tolle had been lost. I had asked Kira to look out for Tolle, it seems he did his job and for that I was grateful but still my heart longed for him. "Just finishing off the last one, should be payed off this monday" Tolle replied. His sense of humor was still intact, even if the scars within have yet to heal. He was still the man she loved. Walking over, she embraced Tolle and held him as tight as she could.
"Tolle, I just want you to know that I'll love you always, no matter what" Milly said as she embraced him. Although confused, Tolle returned the gesture, and embraced her as well. Leaning back, their lips met, in a kiss that both hoped would never end. Once Milly's lips left Tolle's, a bright light enveloped her body and before she knew it, her eyes had opened up.
Milly shot awake in her bed where she was, quickly looking down she saw that she wasn't pregnant with Tolle's child. Children! at that thought Milly quickly ran from her room and threw open the doors of her children's room and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them asleep, snug in their beds. Walking over to them, Milly slowly ran her hand over Tolle's head, and through his parted hair. "Mom, is that you?" the sleepy child asked as his eyes fluttered open. Milly replied by kissing Tolle on the forehead. "It's okay sweetie, just go back to bed" Milly said. Tolle smilled and complied with Milly's order.
Walking over, Milly gave a kiss to her daughter as well before closing the door, she jumped slightly when she bumped into someone. "Kira!" Milly yelped. "Is something wrong?" Kira asked his wife. Milly got a better look at his face and quickly threw her arms around him in relief. "Whoa I love you too" Kira said as he drew his arms around her.
"I'm sorry if this is weird but I've missed you" Milly confessed. She was afraid he'd find her crazy after that fiasco, but she was relieved when he let his hand rest on her cheek and carress it. "You did have me worried, but I'm glad you're okay" Kira said. "Really?" Milly asked. "Of course, no sane mother would go without checking on her kids first and foremost" Kira said. "Mmm, thank you honey, I'm just so happy to wake up to you and the kids" Milly said as she rested her head on Kira's shoulder. Looking over the two of them watched as the sun rose over the hill to greet them. "It looks like a new day is upon us" Kira said. "Yeah, and I can't wait to greet it" Milly said.
Well I hope you enjoy, now please all of you read and review.