Chapter X: First Date

Miriallia sat at her computer looking through the pictures she had taken the past two days. A lot was weighing on her mind. She couldn't get the letter or the voucher out of her head. She wanted to confront Dearka about them but she didn't think it was her place. There was a reason he was hiding them from her, then again maybe it wasn't for good reasons. As long as he was hiding things from her they could never truly be in a good relationship. But then again she was lying about seeing those things, and she also stole his voucher. Maybe in reality she was no better than him.

Then there was the incident during their last supply run. In the past few days she had started to really get mad about it. Dearka could have died. He got himself hurt. She couldn't help but question his decision that day. It caused a great deal of tension between them. So much so that he had been once again sleeping outside the tent like he had before they started seeing each other.

She could hear him outside now. He was banging and crashing around. She shook her head in frustration. What the hell was he doing out there anyway? It was causing her to lose her concentration, not that she was very focused on her work anyway. Finally fed up with the noise she was about to go yell at him when he entered the tent. She sunk back down in her seat and looked up at him disapprovingly. He just smiled at her trying to get her to respond back with one, to no avail. She just pouted.

"Still mad I see…"

"You could have died. It was reckless" She replied as she stared him down.

"Reckless or not it was the right thing to do" He argued.

"And what makes you think that?"

"Do I really need to explain?" He asked irritated. But from the facial expression he received he knew it was a resounding yes. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and then sighed heavily giving into her request. "What do you think would have happened if that guy had started shooting some of the people who opposed his views? Or if some of those one his side had started to take action? It would have been chaos, chaos that could have spread quickly throughout the world. News casters and writers have a way of twisting truths. The peace could have crumbled within days."

"And if you were killed what would have happened?" She retorted. "The face of the man killed would have been plastered everywhere. Even if you stopped a riot what would happened if your family found out the you were killed by a group of coordinator hating naturals?"

"Mir…" He said concerned. She was right. His father would turned his attempt at keeping the peace into something ugly. But luckily that didn't happen. "It wasn't suppose to be like this" He said sadly.

Miriallia tilted her head confused. "What do you mean?"

"The supply run. I didn't expect everything to go the way it did. And I especially didn't think the night would go the way it did… not that I'm complaining about that part." He said smirking devilishly before changing to a serious face. "Listen let's start over, forget about that day. You're never going to think I did the right thing. To you all you saw was the possibility of losing someone else you care about. And all I saw was everything I fought for, everything you and all our friends fought for, being taken away by someone who didn't understand what was sacrificed for this peace."

"If I say yes, then where do we go from here?" She asked curious.

He smiled as if he was waiting for her to ask that. He reached out his hand to her. "You follow me" He said in a husky voice. She hesitated for a moment before taking his hand. She followed him as he pulled her towards the opening of the tent. Once outside she couldn't help but gasp in surprise. There outside the tent was one of the most romantic things she had ever seen. He had created a candlelit dinner experience in the middle of nowhere. She was speechless. "It occurred to me that you and I have been together for a few months now and haven't really had the opportunity for a first date. So… The day I was shot we actually had reservations at a five star restaurant in town."

She looked up at him surprised. She had no idea he had planned anything like that. "You're… not at all the guy I thought you were when we first met."

"I was exactly who you thought I was when we met. I was a horrible guy, I didn't deserve a girl like you back then. But I hope that maybe I'm starting to deserve you now." He said sweetly.

She nodded smiling at him. "Yes… you are" She kissed him for the first time in a few days and he hugged her tightly, happy to finally be back on her good side. He then lead her over to the ground where they sat around a table he made out of twigs and broken tree branches he found in the woods. She could help but think about how resourceful the young coordinator was. "Mmmm.. something smells wonderful" She said before he placed two bowls of stew on the table.

"I thought some vegetable stew was in order, since someone seems to think I needed to eat more veggies" He joked.

She giggle slightly at him. He then took a bottle of wine out of a bag and two glasses. He poured them each a glass and handed one to her before sitting down. "Wine?"

"It's a special occasion isn't it?"

"Is it?"

"I thought maybe we could hit restart on all of this. Forget the ARCHANGEL, forget the war and everything else. I'm just a guy on a first date with his girl."

"So what do you propose we do from here?"

"I was thinking we could enjoy this meal I prepared us and maybe we could ask some get to know you questions."

"Sounds like a great evening." She said as she took a spoonful of the stew. Her eyes open wide with delight. "This is amazing!" She squealed.

He laughed at her a bit. "My mother's speciality." He answered. She was a little surprised he actually said something somewhat family related. Especially since it was always a hot topic with him. "So why don't we get the Q&A started." He said smiling. "Ask away"

Miriallia thought for a second before asking her first question, just as Dearka was taking a sip of wine. "When did you lose your virginity?" She asked causing him to choke on his drink.

"Wha-you can't seriously want to know that!" He said panicked.

She laughed at his reaction. "Well Mr. Elsman, you know you should really set some ground rules before letting me ask whatever I want" She joked. "But judging by you defensive reaction, I'd say I was certainly not your first."

He stared at her jaw nearly on the ground before getting a hold of himself. "You know I could turn it around and ask you the same thing."

"You don't have to. You already know exactly when that happened." He looked at her shocked. He didn't realize that he had been her first. "How about a different question. You're an ace pilot, master marksman, a great martial artist, intelligent, and amazing singer, a good cook… is there anything you can't do?" She asked.

"Relationships." He answered bluntly. "This is my first relationship really. I've never really been in one before. And I have to say I feel like I'm really messing it up sometimes."

"You're not. You're doing great." She replied sympathetically.

"If I was doing fine on would have slept on the proverbial couch the past few nights."

"Sorry"

"Nah, it's okay." He said brushing it off. "So I guess it's my turn to ask you something."

"Be easy on me" She pleaded jokingly.

"What's the hardest thing you've ever done?"

She looked deep in thought. She seemed to be really thinking about his question before finally answering. "When I left Orb to interview for this job. I was so scared that someone would talk me out of it that I didn't even tell anyone I was leaving. I just left a note. I didn't think I was good enough or brave enough to do it. But… I guess I've proved myself wrong. I can't believe what an amazing experience this has all been. The hardest thing in my life has suddenly become the easiest."

"I'm glad nobody talked you out of it. I can honestly say these have been the best few months of my life… give or take a few days" He said looking down at his injured arm. "So next question?"

"Right. Umm… What is your guilty pleasure?"

He looked embarrassed, even hesitant. "I like Japanese style dancing." He replied in a hush tone with a red blush crossing his cheeks.

"You mean watching it or performing?" She questioned way to eagerly.

"... both" He said regretfully.

She giggled gleefully "So, would this be on the list of things you are good at?"

"Ok, I think that it enough talking about that" He said hoping to change the subject. "Why don't you tell me about your favorite childhood memory?"

"My favorite childhood memory?"

"Yeah. You had a life before the war. Before everything in the world around you started to get complicated. So in that past what was something you could never forget because you can't help but cherish it?"

She thought for a moment before answering him. "When I was little, about 6 or 7, my parents and I were at a festival. I can't remember what it was for but what I do remember was it was the first time I saw the night sky. I always use to fall asleep before dark. I looked up and I saw these strange things, like hourglasses in the sky. I asked my mother what they were. She told me it was where special princes and princesses lived. They were magical beings with extraordinary abilities that traveled there to be safe from all those who seeked to harm them. And if I was ever lucky enough to meet one of them that I should treat them with kindness and love. I can remember on sleepless nights looking up to the sky wishing one of the princes would come and be my knight and shining armor. I never thought when I grew up it would come true."

"You think I'm some kind of knight?"

"Since I released you from your cell you've always protected me in your own way. You deflected from ZAFT, whether that was anything to do with me or not you saved my life more time than I could count. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here now enjoying this amazing dinner under the same night sky I did so many years ago at that festival."

He smiled at her. "You are a very insightful girl. Very mature for your age. But I guess age, true age, is built in experiences not necessarily years."

"Thanks" She replied a little embarrassed. "Well Mr. Elsman, you're a brave soldier. You've face death head on hundreds of times and never seemed to flinch. So what exactly are you afraid of?"

He looked at her and frowned. "Becoming my father." He said emotionless.

"What?" She replied without thinking.

He broke eye contact for the first time that night. He didn't really want to answer but he didn't want to lie to her either. It was his chance to start over. "There is a reason I don't like talking about my father. I don't want to be him. He always put politics before family. He treated me like a burden. No matter what I did it always seemed to disappoint him. When I decided to join the military I thought finally I would make him proud of me. But he wasn't he wanted me to quit. We got into an argument that escalated much more quickly than I expected it to. I stormed off and packed my bags. That was the last time I was ever in my parents house."

"You never went home again?" She asked in a sad tone.

"Too much was said. I needed time. I went through the academy hoping that he would be proud of me when I finished, but again he just seemed to disapprove. I've never seen him since." He admitted.

"How long has it been?"

"Two? Maybe three years?" He said unsure.

"Really!" She was surprised.

"It's funny I cut myself off him because I didn't want him in my life. I didn't want to be like him. But the day in the infirmary with you, Sai and that girl, I started to realize how much like him I was becoming. Bitter and full of hate for no reason. After meeting you I started to change, become something much different from him. I could never thank you for that"

"Thank you Dearka"

"For what?"

"Finally letting me in" She said sweetly. "I know talking about your family is hard for you. I've talked almost non stop about mine. But you never seemed to want to talk about them. It's nice to start to understand why."

"It's all part of starting over" He said raising his glass.

"To starting over" She said raising hers to his. They lightly touched the glasses together before taking a drink.

The rest of the night was spent talking about the interest and friends. That night they didn't feel like two ex soldiers. They didn't feel like a bodyguard and a photographer, or a coordinator and natural. They just felt like two ordinary teenagers on their first date, and that meant more to them than anything.