I'm not dead, but I've had a lot going on, between having 3 projects due recently (one of which my partner dropped all of the work on me, and did nothing. He wasn't even there for the presentation) and now I have exams coming up, but they end on the 26th, so I hope to get back to my regular updating sometime after that.
I'm happy with this one mainly because it doesn't really contain any really obvious romantic pairings, except for a bit of hinted Tolle/Mir.
Disclaimer: When pigs fly I will own Gundam SEED. :Tries to shove a pigeon's wing into a pig's back:
"Would killing him bring Tolle back to me?" The copper-haired girl yelled at Dearka before running out of the hangar. Athrun was frozen. He hadn't realized how deeply some people had been affected by his actions. He'd hardly even been aware of the fact that there were other actual humans onboard the ship other than Kira. A wave of guilt ate at him like acid. Suddenly the only thing on his mind was gaining forgiveness from that girl. He decided he would ask Dearka about it. Sighing, he bade Cagalli farewell and left. After changing out of his piloting gear, Athrun headed to the mess hall. As the door slid open, many voices leaked into the otherwise silent hall. He walked towards the water machine and grabbed a cup, placing it under the spout and pressing the button to turn it on. He casually scanned the dining area, and his eye caught on something. It was the girl from earlier, sitting with her feet on the bench, knees to her chest and her back against a wall. She appeared to be talking with another boy, who appeared to be not much older than her. He had orange-tinted glasses and sandy hair. Were these the friends Kira had so desperately fought to protect? He grabbed his cup of water and walked over to the bench he had been eyeing.
"Can I sit here?" He asked, forcing a small smile. He could see that both of the boys were about to refuse his request, but the girl spoke up first.
"Go ahead." She said, forcing on a smile. He could feel the awkwardness creeping up on them. "So you're friends with Kira, right?" She asked. She acted like the fact that he'd killed… whatever that guy had been to her didn't bother her in the slightest.
"Yeah." Well that was a great conversation.
"Has he always been like this?" She asked. Did she really want to keep the conversation going?
"Like what?"
"Like… Kira. Always pretending to be happy even though you can tell he's not? And always burying himself in his work?" Athrun thought for a moment. The last part did sound like Kira. He had always been an over-achiever, but the sad part?
"Well, Kira's always been one to overwork himself, but when I knew him he seemed earnestly happy." The girl 'hmmed' in response and they sat in silence for a while longer until she gasped and threw her legs over the bench so she was sitting properly, an action that must have taken much practice considering she was wearing a skirt, and faced him.
"I'm Miriallia, and this is Sai," she said, motioning to the other occupant of the table. Sai nodded, apparently not paying too much attention to their conversation.
Athrun." He introduced himself. They conversed easier after that. Sai left after a while, and slowly the mess hall emptied until eventually the two were the only occupants. Athrun took a calming breath. It was now or never he decided. "I-" He began. She looked at him expectantly. "I-I'm…" He trailed off. Since when did he stutter? "About, about Tolle." His voice got quieter "I'm sorry." Miriallia was silent for many painfully long seconds before speaking up. "This is war. It's not really your fault. Tolle wasn't ready for the battlefield. He shouldn't have been out there in the first place." She told him. They sat in silence together for a while longer until she glanced at the clock positioned over one of the counters and yelped, muttering strings of incoherent words, that surely included curses, under her breath. "My shift on the bridge started five minutes ago." She explained before rushing out, past a rather surprised looking Dearka and Kira, sending a wave to them as she ran out. Athrun resisted a smile. He had gained forgiveness, without Dearka's help.
A/N: I originally accidentally wrote Kuzzey into this, but then I remembered that Kuzzey had already left. I know it varies slightly from the actually timeline of episode 40, but, when I saw that scene with Miriallia yelling at Dearka, the look on Athrun's face inspired me. I think I wrote most of them out of character, but… meh. I'm kinda happy with this one. Don't expect a new chapter until after the 26th, unless I'm feeling really nice, in which case I'll consider writing another chapter before then.
