Goodbye tears, hello love (formerly titled 'loss')
Summary: Miriallia Haw had just lost her boyfirend. Dearka eltman had just lost connection with his ship. Now on board of the Archangel, both of them have to deal with their respective problems. for Mor, it's dealing with grief. For Dearka, it's dealing with loss of connection with his ship. Who knows, maybe they'll get another problem on their hands soon enough. Tolle/Mir/Dearka
Disclaimer: don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny.
A/N: second chapter of the story, this time from Dearka's POV. Mild swearing warning, courtesy of a very confused Dearka
two
Dearka's POV
So here I am. I'm stuck aboard the stupid legged ship we were chasing all across the ocean, only to find myself nearly shot at, attacked with a scalpel, of all things, and some mad Natural girl. A very beautiful Natural girl, might I add. Is their Captain out of his mind, I wonder.
Hell, I don't even know if the Captain is a he or a she. But it looks like my last problem is about to be solved.
I hear footsteps right outside my bed. The Captain - I distinguish her by the distinctive mark on the chest - is a surprise. A relatively young woman with long brown hair and stern brown eyes which warm almost immediately. Apparently, she is one of those few Captains who tend to think of their crew as the family instead of equipment and workaholics. I swear, Creuset is sometimes like that. Exception being us, that is. Can't really spare us from that treatment, seeing as we're the only ones who are capable of piloting those units...
Speaking of the units... I wonder who pilots that Strike unit, and what the heck did they do with my Buster?
That is me - open mouth insert foot. I just have to know...
"What the hell did you do with my Buster?" I ask, staring up at the female captain of this ship.
She frowns, obviously not expecting the question. Well, what the damn woman wants with me, I had a rough day. Being forced to hand myself over or be shot is not exactly the choices of my life, but it came extremely damned close.
Okay, I have to stop swearing. I swear, this got to me so much that I honestly can not hold my sarcastic tongue when it's needed to. I think it's all Yzak's fault. I've been hanging around the guy way too much than it was healthy. So maybe here is a chance for me to... re-evaluate my options.
I blink, realising that the woman was speaking. She frowns slightly and shakes her head ruefully, as it becomes painfully obvious that I did not hear a word of what she was saying.
"The Buster is being repaired at the moment," she repeats her sentence from earlier. "And to be honest with you, you did not give me reason enough for which I should be returning the unit to you. After all, you were attacking us with it. Would you do it again if you had the weapon as powerful as that Gundam?"
Hell yeah. I will blow the goddamned ship to bits and pieces without waiting for back-up. I'm so furious right about now that I don't even want to think about anything.
I force myself to calm down. The last thing I need is hysteria before the Captain herself. After all, sarcasm is not a good thing when one is nervous.
"I don't know," I finally find that I'm able to talk again without blowing up. "I don't know what I'm going to do if I get my Gundam again. I either run away or blow you to pieces."
Here. A somewhat honest answer. The woman looks at me with slight amusement, as does the kid who just entered the room. The kid has amethyst eyes and brown hair, and looks every inch Natural guy like everyone on this ship does, but there is something seriously off about him. Something that strikes me as soon as I realise what it was that gives me a lot of discomfort.
The kid is a Coordinator. Well, looks like I finally found the Strike pilot. I remember the picture of two kids I saw in Athrun's room briefly, and nod silently to myself. The kid, although much younger, was there, along with Athrun, both of them very carefree and happy.
"Apparently I cannot let you go until we reach the base," the Captain finally says. "I have to transfer you to the cells. Are you feeling good enough for the transfer?"
I start. What sane Captain is asking his or her prisoners of war if they are feeling well enough for the transfer? Certainly not many in the Zaft forces. This Captain of theirs is surprising me more and more. Hell, I never figure women out. Especially, heaven forbid me, trying to figure out female Captains of enemy forces. But here is the first 'but' I caught myself thinking about. Is this woman, the captain of the infamous legged ship, really my enemy?
"I'm fine," I reply automatically, still trying to think through about the policy of this ship in general. Obviously, there are some people here who are ready to shoot me right where I stand - that brunette with the scalpel proved that very well. I gave up on trying to figure out women a long time ago - the exercize just was not for me, a simple military pilot.
"All right then," I order myself to focus on the Captain, who is talking again. "Kira, if you don't mind, can you transfer him..."
"Yes, ma'am." The teen, Kira, gives a small glance at me with resigned sigh. I can see that he is uncomfortable, but it's better this kid, who at least is my age, then someone older who hated Coordinators.
We are heading down the ship's aisle when I catch a glimpse of the volunteers again. I only realise that nobody else wore blue or pink uniform here except those two girls and four boys, and I saw them all. It seems that two boys and a girl who attacked me with the scalpel were working on the bridge, since the crew was short-handed since the Heliopolis accident, and that other girl was just around. I have no idea what her function on the ship was. And hell if I was going to ask about it.
"Are you the Strike's pilot?"
It takes me a moment to understand that the phrase is out of my mouth. Damn. To my surprise, the kid shoots me a hooded look before nodding.
"Yeah. Not something I'm proud of, though."
I stop for a moment, shock running through me. Not proud? The only one who is capable of piloting an actual Mobile suit around here and he is not proud. Hell. What's wrong with that guy?
"I managed to fail. Those civilians... they never knew what hit them. Just when I thought they were safe, I let my guard down." The kid walks on, his eyes downcast, and a frown on his face. "I let my guard down and Duel shot their shuttle."
I stop completely, feeling my eyes go wide. Shuttle? What shuttle? Not the one which Yzak shot down when it tried to re-enter atmosphere? Civilian shuttle?
I'm so stunned that I can barely move. Oh. My. Frigging. God. Civilian shuttle. Shot down by my best friend. Damn.
It's almost as if the kid can sense my astonishment and surprise, because he lets out a small laugh and glances at me slowly.
"It's still hard, but I think I can manage it."
I forced myself to nod. Manage it? How? A shuttle with civilians shot just before you can manage to protect it? I think I'd have gone nuts long before that day. I mean...
I find that my respect for the basically unknown guy rises up a notch. Not everyone can live with what happened to him, but it seems he manages.
Just before he locks the cell behind me, I pause.
"Dearka Eltman." Here. I'd named myself, and it's up to him what he was going to do now.
The kid glances at me with surprise in his amethyst eyes, but then nods and gives a small smile before naming himself.
"Kira Yamato."
I nod at him. At normal circumstances, I'd say that I'm pleased to meet him and crack a joke. In this case, however, I can't really bring myself to joke around with - basically - my enemy, although the category of 'enemies and friends' gets to be a very shaken structure right about now.
As the kid - Kira, I force myself to think - walks off, I stretch out on the bunk, rubbing my sore wrists. Kira had recently cut the rope, and the skin on my wrists chafed terribly.
It certainly seems that I have plenty of time to think about everything - my choices, my actions, and my future.
I was not getting off this legged ship any time soon.