WE BELONG TOGETHER

Well, here it is. I'll keep in mind to keep the names as spelled correctly as possible. I've got some time recently to continue with this story. Thanks to those for reviewing!

Chapter 22: To Be or Not To Be

"Miriallia, I'm so happy you are back!" Her mother said excitedly.

"Oh, mom, I'm glad to be home as well!" Mir replied happily.

"Now now. It's not like Miriallia is going to go away again. There's no need for such dramatics, my dears." Lord Haww chuckled.

"That's right, now that your mistress has been safely delivered into Zaft's hands, you can take your rightful place here. Oh, Tolle will be so happy!" Lady Haww replied.

"Yeah…Of…Of course…" Mir laughed bitterly. Is this how it's going to be? Say goodbye to Dearka forever when he leaves?

Knock! Knock!

"Come in." Lord Haww said. The door opened to reveal a slender young man. He wore a bright smile and bowed politely to Miriallia's parents.

"Speak of the devil. Tolle, come in and join us." Her father waved. "We were just discussion about you with Miriallia."

"Good day sir, madam, and of course, my dear Mir. It's been a long time since we've seen each other, hasn't it?" Tolle gave her a light kiss on her cheek.

"Yes, how've you been?"

"Silly, I've been quite lonely without you." He grinned. Mir's parents watched on silently and nodded their approval at the pair.

Miriallia lowered her head and thought to herself. Oh, Tolle… Why can't you make this easier for me? I'm not the same Miriallia Haww you knew…

After contemplating in silence, Mir finally decided to come clean and speak about Dearka. It will be hard but it was the right thing to do.

"Everyone, I have been keeping something from all of you. You see, when I was in Zaft…"

Just when she was about to spill, a guard interrupted her and announced a Lord Elthman has come to pay a visit to the Hawws.

"Lord Elthman? We have no acquaintance with him. What else does he say?" Mir's father asked.

"My lord, Lord Elthman wishes per chance Lady Miriallia to be present as well."

"Does he? Is he a friend of yours from Zaft?" Her mother asked the girl.

"Dearka? Yes…yes." Mir stuttered. Why does Dearka have to show up now of all times? If he revealed their relationship to her parents…and with Tolle here… This is not happening!

"Lord Elthman, my lord." The guard showed Dearka into the room.

"My Lord and Lady Haww, I am Marquis Dearka Elthman of Zaft. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance." He bowed deeply.

"Lord Elthman, I realize you are a friend of our daughter." Lord Haww said.

"Please call me Dearka, and yes, I have befriended you daughter." Dearka smiled warmly, he looked at Tolle. "May I have an introduction, sir?"

Tolle stepped forth to shake Dearka's hand. "How rude of me! I'm Tolle Koenig, a close friend of the Hawws."

Miriallia almost fainted seeing the two men together.

Her mother noticed her daughter has gone pale. "Miriallia, are you unwell?"

Everyone turned their attention to her instantly.

"NO!" She shrieked. "I'm okay! Really! Just feel a little faint."

"Do you want to lie down?" Tolle rushed to her side immediately. Mir noticed Dearka's frown so she gently push Tolle away. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"Well, Dearka, on behalf of our daughter, thank you for taking care of her. But she seems unwell, so perhaps we can meet another day?" Lady Haww dismissed.

"Actually, there is another reason of my visit. I would like to acquire your permission to…"

Miriallia cut Dearka off before he can finish. "Lord Elthman, how inhospitable of me! Didn't I promise you to show you around our manor back in Zaft? Allow me to honour my promise." Miriallia bid the others leave and dragged Dearka out of the room, leaving her parents baffled and Tolle confused.

Miriallia finally stopped panting after they reached a secluded area in the garden. Dearka grabbed her and turned her to face him.

"Milly, why didn't you let me finish? You do know I was about to ask for their permission don't you?" He demanded quietly but gravely.

Miriallia felt so sheepish under his glare, until she could no longer withstand his scrutinizing look. She needed to tell him, it's now or never.

"Dearka, promise you will be calm." She begged.

"This doesn't sound like a good beginning." He frowned, but grudgingly promised.

Miriallia put some distance between them. "Actually, there's someone waiting for me here in Orb."

"Somebody?" Dearka repeated. What does she mean? There's someone…

"Wait, are you telling me you are engaged already?" Dearka spoke disbelievingly. "It's him isn't it? Tolle Koenig…" He spoke, thinking back to Tolle's attentiveness to the girl.

"No! It's not like that!" Miriallia exclaimed.

"So what is it?" He demanded.

Mir shivered, hearing the strain in his voice. "You see, Tolle and I grew up together. His house and mine have been really close. So our parents assumed that we are going to end up together."

"So are you?"

Mir looked up at him, with tears in her eyes. "I thought it was perfect. Tolle loves me and I love him too."

Dearka's eyes sharpened. "So you choose to reveal this to me now? How can you do this to me?" He turned to leave, but Mir held on to his arm.

"Listen! I said I love him…as a brother. It was before I met you. I've never plan this to happen. What was I suppose to do? Brush my parents' expectations aside and cast Tolle away? I have to be considerate."

Dearka removed her hands and spoke to her seriously. "You have to be considerate…Have you ever considered my feelings? Miriallia, I've been honest with you from the start and I've never held back about us. I'm not asking you to be disobedient, and I can't help you with all the thoughts in your head. So for once stop thinking and start acting. You are on your own in this choice. I'm sorry, I need to be alone right now. Excuse me!" He walked away without looking back, losing all the usual casualness.

"Dearka!" Miriallia cried out after her heart-broken lover.

This was a rare occasion for all of them. Gathered in a private room, Prince Kira and Princess Athrun sat on one side, while Princess Lacus and Princess Cagalli sat on the other. All four of them sat silently, glancing at one another.

"Well," Kira coughed slightly, "This…I was just thinking…"

"Cut the chase!" Cagalli blazed, "What the hell were you thinking on bringing Meer here to Orb?" She directed at Athrun.

"You know, it's not a crime to bring a friend with you. Besides, we traveled separately, so put away your concerns." Athrun said nonchalantly.

"Oh boy…" Lacus sighed, trying to make Cagalli calm down. Cagalli merely brush her sister aside. "Who said I was concerned? You only publicly embarrass me in front of the entire court."

"Embarrass you? Do you know how many horses were rode to death just so we could catch up to you. Even Nova couldn't take the amount of riding I had to endure to get here as soon as we could. But you didn't think about that did you?"

"I thought you had business. Don't take this out on me!" Cagalli sniffed.

Athrun stood up and walked over to Cagalli, and looked down at her. The blonde princess couldn't help blushing under his deep gaze, so she tried to turn her head in another direction. Athrun brought his hand up to her cheek to turn her attention back to him. "Cagalli…I was worried about you." He spoke intimately, while stroking her soft cheek.

Cagalli's mouth went dry as she felt the warmth of Athrun's hand and his words. They continued to share this passionate moment, until Lacus gave a cough to bring their attention back into the room.

Athrun removed his hand regrettably and took his seat once more besides Kira.

"Well, he's not at all what you described, Cagalli." Lacus smiled. "A pleasure to meet Your Highness, I'm Lacus."

"Ah…So you were my intended, pity…" Athrun joked, while stealing a glance at Cagalli.

The princess caught the look and replied, "You got that right! Lacus is the most beautiful and wonderful person in the whole world. Don't get any funny ideas about her. She and Kira are already in love. So I'm sorry, there's only me you're left with."

"Like I said, pity…"

Kira, on the other hand, felt rather uncomfortable about their conversation. He saw Lacus' smile turn bitter when Cagalli stated they were in love. Moreover, he felt extremely unpleasant hearing Athrun's remarks about Lacus.

"Athrun, I think it's time to get serious." Kira put on a grave face.

"Yeah, I was hoping to use this chance to speak to you directly." Athrun turned to face him.

Cagalli and Lacus looked puzzled.

"Do you two….know each other?" Lacus asked.

The princes smiled at each other. "Not that we've been keeping this as a secret, but we're old buddies." Athrun said.

"What? Well there's something new." Cagalli said.

"I guess we've known each other since we're kids, though it's unbelievably difficult to see each other often. But it's more advantageous to keep our friendship in the dark." The princesses caught on to his meaning right away. It's much easier to move in the dark, corresponding state affairs and civil movements.

"I got Shinn's report. So all the riots have momentarily died down?" Athrun asked.

"Ya, but I'm sure Azreal will not stop there. I've got a bad feeling about this. It's just a hunch, but there's something more, something nasty that's just lurking in the dark."

"I feel the same way. But thankfully we've got someone in custody right now. He's been quite difficult to deal with. Rau Le Creuset isn't your average criminal. If he doesn't want to talk, there's no way he'll open his mouth. I know this for a fact."

"So we're both on open ground right now, huh?" Kira considered their current move.

"We're on the counter strike and I don't like it. Cagalli's been taken hostage once proves the enemy is much more deeply penetrated in our circles than we can anticipate."

Lacus held on to Cagalli's hand. She was told about the incident after Cagalli had been rescued, but still, it frightened her so much.

"I can only predict what Azreal is after. Don't worry, in times like this, I've send Mischi to investigate."

"Mischi? Well, it must really be urgent to send in your most secretive agent. I've ordered Shinn to do some digging as well. They will get to the bottom of this."

"Who's Mischi?" Lacus asked Kira.

"Our most trustful special agent. Mischi's deployment only comes in urgent times. Only a handful of people know about Mischi's identity." He explained. "Unfortunately, without the permission of my King and Queen, I cannot share this information with you."

"That's okay." Lacus replied. "As long as he's doing his job and on our side."

Kira appreciated at her thoughtfulness.

"How can you not want to know, Lacus? Geez, the curiosity is killing me. This Mischi sounds like a useful person to have around. Maybe I can…"

"Forget it, Mischi doesn't take bribes and can never get away from Kira." Athrun chuckled.

"Darn," There goes her plan of recruiting him. "Wait! You know who Mischi is!" She accused.

"I do."

"Then what's he like?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah."

"The brat is too smart and intuitive. Gets on my nerves way too often. But luckily, I have someone else to direct attention off of me."

"So who's the poor fool?"

Athrun and Kira looked at each other, and laughed uncontrollably without answering.

So Kira and Athrun are good friends. As for Mir and Dearka, it's getting rough and tough for them. Poor Mir! And who is this Mischi? I jsut love those sweet AxC moments.

For the next chapter, there will be more on Rey and Shiho. Stay tuned!

Need some help from you guys. I really want to start working on another fic besides this one. What do you guys think? Any recommendations (assuming I know the anime/game)?