Chapter 11: Her and Yzak, Part one

Yzak frowned, and was on the verge of losing his infamous temper. The more he thought about it, the more it didn't seem to make sense.

He was shot, he woke up in the Archangel. He fell asleep, he woke up in the infirmary of Celsius. He was knocked out in the cockpit of Mystic, and woke up finding himself lying in the PLANTs military hospital, and nearly a week has passed without his knowledge or consent. The notion was getting on his nerves, to be so out of control all of a sudden.

In contrast, Dearka was in a good mood.

"What are you so happy about?" Yzak snapped.

"Hey, the doc told me you might never wake up. You're awake! And its all thanks to these babies…" He replied as he gestured at the sunflowers sitting in the bedside vase, giving a triumph smile.

"Throw.Them.Away." He sneered in a more threatening tone, eying the smelly, yellow but innocent flowers in disgust.

"Sunflowers aside." Dearka replied in effort to change the topic, he was successful.

"To bring our commander up to speed, I shall dutifully perform my duty as a message board. Kira told me to thank you when you're better, which you are now. You were transferred from the Archangel infirmary in a medical capsule, which you should have no memory of. Then Celsius met some space terrorist, no identities, out-of-date mobile suits, me and Lunamaria Hawke trashed them. She, allowed to go home to visit her parents. Me, stuck here with my mate. You, nearly killed yourself trying to save Sedna and was carried by her back on board. My, you were bleeding, I'd tell you…"

"Wait a minute, who……is Sedna?" he interrupted Dearka in mid-rant.

"Oh, the ex-captain of Celsius. Sedna Ileisus."

"Ex?"

"Considering the fact that Celsius is no more and she's been suspended of her commander badge. She's a red now. So I address her by name."

"A demotion? Why?"

"Let's see, her subordinate shot you. She, almost killed a senator because of her erred judgment. Enough to demote anyone by the council's standards. And you, I'm glad to announce you have been promoted."

Yzak raised an eyebrow in amusement, anticipating another one of Dearka's quick wit answers, but the answer surprised him.

"You're now an honorary member of the PLANTs supreme council!"

"WHAT!...you're joking, RIGHT!"

"No sweat Senator, you are now the Councilor in-charge over December City. You should be called back to duty real soon."

"The supreme council…"Yzak muttered absentmindedly, he hadn't expected that he'll be promoted at all, its bad enough that there was an eighteen-year-old in the council in the first place. Now the supreme council?

He had wanted to return to the frontline to avoid politics and such, but now there seem no room for maneuvering in the situation. He always felt uneasy as a council member, as he was the youngest and the most inexperience, people tend to undermine his authority, and many questioned his qualification. He suspected that he was placed in the precise position for manipulation, to be used as a pawn by some higher power to accomplish some dark intend, then silently disposed of. It was wearisome to be placed in such a position, so much so that if ever offered half a chance; he'll be gone in a heartbeat. The only person who seemed please was Ezaria, that her son made it into council.

While he fumed, Dearka continued his telecast, "Shiho came by the other day when you were sleeping……Voltaire docked at……The supreme council will call an audience to meet the chairman candidates on …… I'll change the sunflowers…The officer will be executed tomorrow…"

"Who gets executed tomorrow?" Yzak asked, snapping out of his trance.

"The captain of Valkryie, the one who fired at Senator Jule." Answered a deep female voice.

At the door which just opened, stood Sedna, dressed in a red Zaft uniform. Yzak could see her hair for the very first time, she had ebony dark hair and her fringe curtained the left side of her face, streaked with a long strand of silver which rested on her collar. The rest are bun up in a neat, tight roll. Her eyes were reddish-brown, keen like copper.

"Greetings, Senator Jule. I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation with your officer but there is something that I must seek your audience about…"

"Wait. First, it is off office hours. So skip the 'Greetings Senator' and call me by a less formal term, you pick. Second, if you're going to plead for your officer in front of me I suggest you get out of this room this very moment, because I don't want to hear."

Sedna was startled, she had begun to find the Senator a pleasant person in contrast to the rumours she heard from her fellow officers. She may be wrong after all, saving her life doesn't make him a goody-two-shoes anymore than the favour he might do her.

"But… Senator, I wouldn't wish to displease you. If you are unwilling to listen, I will leave. But I …I just wish of you to…point me in the right direction." She continued tactfully.

Yzak continued glaring at her and raised his hand, pointing at the door.

She understood her odds of succeeding in her endeavor, and turned to leave.

Once she left, Dearka almost shouted, "What'd you do that for! There's no harm hearing her out and maybe try to help!" Yzak was unperturbed, "That will do her officer more harm than good." He replied patiently.

"Listen. If it gets out that she pleaded and cried for one hour in this hospital ward, the council will either take her military status away if I interfere to do something about her officer. Or, they wouldn't let me, trust me, its better this way. They'd think there's something between the pair of us that I'll do her a personal favour to pull strings. Dearka, I never met Sedna Ileisus and she never met me on this day. Understood?"

Dearka thoughts for a moment, mildly confused, then shrugged and said, "Anything you say, mate."

Yzak smiled, Dearka wouldn't think unnecessarily. He has the brains of a single cell organism but relies on gut instinct and trust. That's what make him a good field officer and a good friend. He lowered his voice to above whisper, "Now, do me a favour, look for… tell him to……"

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Sedna sat down on the bench just outside the ward, eying the closed door with a heavy heart.

Contrary to what the other officers gossiped about Yzak, of him to be cold and harsh, she believed him to be otherwise. He was young, rich and handsome to begin with, apart form his character that causes a few demerit points, he was almost top in the women's wanted list, second to only Athrun Zala. She had perceived him compassionate; she believed she could ask him for help only he can give; to interfere as a Senator of the supreme council.

She was wrong.

But as she sat there, resolution set in. She came all this way to beg him and she's not going to give up, she will wait it out and hope that he will be moved by her sincerity if not her stubbornness.

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Dearka left with his mission, Yzak stretched. He had been bedridden for the past three days and desperately wanted to get out of this place. But the doctors ordered absolute rest and isolation; he couldn't care less. He pulled out the catheter in his arm and tested his toes on the once-familiar ground; he mused, liking the sensation of hard-rock, solid ground beneath his feet. He slipped into a pair of bathroom slippers and stood up with the aid of the bed post. Determined to take a walk, he limped out of the ward.

Outside, slept Sedna on the bench, Yzak caught sight of her the very moment he stepped outside due to her silver streak for fringe.

"Why's she sleeping here?" he thought, as he retrieved a blanket and draped it about her shoulders, in response, she pulled the fabric closely about herself. She was breathing deeply and regularly, apparently asleep.

"She must have thought she could move me somehow by sitting it out…"thought Yzak, a little guilty about lying, but non repentant. "Really silly." He muttered absentmindedly. He had perceived her rationale at first sight, but he's been proven wrong. She was the weirdest person he ever met. She could give up her life for one officer, she came to beg Yzak for him. Her officer is lucky, Yzak chose to help her because he liked her spirit. Her actions are silly, but admirable.

She shifted under the warmth of the blanket; Yzak gingerly sat down beside her and asked, "You awake?"

The shift caused her shoulders to slip, and she fell sideways, landing on Yzak's legs. Yzak was paralyzed for the moment; he could feel hotness crawling at his cheeks and dared himself to look down. On his lap, slept red uniform officer Sedna Ileisus, totally unaware of her surroundings. Yzak sighed in exasperation, marveling at his own indecisiveness. Half of him wanted to shake her awake and berate her for her behavior, the other half just wanted to give the silly lady a break and remain this way for a bit, scold her later. He scowled at her, and muttered, "You better thank me for this…" And he shiftedcarefully into a more comfortable position, bracing for doses of stiffness yet to come.

Sedna blinked, the first image that came into focus was someone's pale face. She blinked a few more times and the image began to focus, it was the Senator. She also noticed the shape of the terrain she was sleeping on and from the perspective of his face she was getting; her head must beresting on his legs.

She jerked up in response to the revelation, muttering quick apologies for sleeping in his lap. She stopped suddenly and watched him, his eyes were closed and he did not respond.

He's dozing.

She heaved a small sigh of relief at the realization, wanting to leave before he finds out. It was when she noticed a second item, a warm blanket that wrapped comfortably about her form. It looked very similar to the military hospital's blanket, meaning…

Sedna gazed at Yzak again, examining his face, thinking she was right about him after all. He had fair complexion and his skin was dry and smooth, his features are well-defined, yet masculine at the same time. He reminded her of an angel.

He stirred and she bolted up right, planning on taking flight if he was in a particularly foul mood. His eyes fluttered open and he rubbed them, uttering a small, "Oh, you're awake then…I actually fell asleep…"

"Thank you." She replied, equally quietly. "Here…let me help you up." She gripped his arm and attempted pulled him up. Yzak snapped, trying to tell her "Don't! 'Cause I…" his legs are asleep from being in the same position for too long, and she doesn't know.

Resultantly his legs gave way beneath him as he stood up and he fell forward instead, landing on top of Sedna, and their lips met.

The moment seemed etched in time as Yzak stared crossed-eyed at her and she had no choice but to stare back. Their lips locked in a contact so erroneously intimate. He pulled away and quickly got off, attempting to recover from the shock of the instant.

What had he done?

He just kissed an officer he hardly knew. And as he peeked to his left, the officer was staring at him, wide-eyed with shock. He looked away, totally at loss; he didn't know how to clear up the situation now.

Sedna watched with interest as the tip of Yzak's ears turned red, marveling at the reaction of the poor guy. He seemed indecisive, just like…

At this moment, the most unlikely thing happened. Sedna's phone rang, saving both of them from a situation most likely to turn ugly. Sedna picked up and said, "Hello."

"Sedna there?" Issued Dearka's voice, sounding extremely pleased with himself.

"Dearka, what's the matter? Why so…happy?" Yzak drew breathe sharply, startling Sedna, it led her to conclude that there must be something going on between the two that she didn't know about. So she pressed on to find out what it was, mostly she was interested in watching how would Yzak respond.

"Happy means good news! Good news for you, your officer, Simon right?"

"Yes, that's my officer." Yzak tensed up a notch further.

"They are stamping his release papers now!"

Sedna sat up, weighing the sentence. Then gaze at Yzak suspiciously, he glared back at her defiantly, and looked like he was on the verge of whipping the receiver out of her hand.

"How? You helped me?" she asked.

"Yzak's beside you?"

"Mmm"

"Ask me not and I shall tell you no lies, but if you need someone to thank, I'm always available."

Sedna could tell he was joking and she played along, "How could I ever thank you…"

"Oh, you can meet me tonight." He laughed, causing a rush of static to be heard over the receiver.

"Tonight. Okay, see you then."

Yzak misunderstood, hearing only Sedna's side of the conversation, he snatched over the phone and shouted, "DEARKA, go hit on some other female officer! DON'T LIE TO SEDNA!" Dearka started laughing, causing a series of incomprehensible rushes of static to be heard from the receiver. "Hey, I AM SERIOUS!" he yelled again. But as he looked to his left, he saw that Sedna was laughing hard as well, her hands on her stomach, her complexion approaching crimson.

It slowly dawned upon Yzak that the pair of them had teamed up on him, his face reddened as well, realizing how foolish he must have sounded.

Yzak threw the phone back at Sedna, giving her the coldest glare he could muster. Then got up and stomped away.

----- ah, the end…review please. ;) Sorry about the late update, there was some problems with the uploading of the document. Maybe the internet doesn't like Yzak...