Epilogue: Everything Must End

"These pictures are amazing!" Frederic said as he scanned through the years worth of pictures. Hundreds of photos taken at several locations, all summing up one terrible war. "It's going to be a masterpiece. And instant best seller and we have you to thank Miriallia!" He looked over at her but she seemed distracted. "Miss Haww? Are you okay"

"Huh? Yeah… I'm fine." She shook the thoughts from her head and smiled. "I couldn't have done it without Derrick. He kept me out of trouble, and the trouble he couldn't kept me out of he helped me out of. I… I owe him my life in many ways."

"I apologize for the dangers you two faced. We knew it wasn't going to be a safe trip but we never imagined Derrick would get shot or you would suffer heat exhaustion."

"It's fine. We knew it would be dangerous when we signed up. We are both former soldiers, we were prepared for anything."

"Mr Richard was very impressed with the work he's seen so far, I'm sure he'll be over the moon with this. He asked me to offer you a full-time position here of sorts"

"Full-time? In Paris?"

"Well not specifically in Paris. You can live anywhere in the World that you chose to. There is so much reconstruction going on in the World right now. Everywhere that was affected by the war is now rebuilding. We want to be a part of it. And we need a photographer to help document some of these places. It won't be a dangerous this time I promise. You'll only need a bodyguard if you chose to."

"It sounds amazing"

"And opportunity of a lifetime"

"If it's alright with you I'll like some time to decide"

"Take all the time you need. It will be a few weeks before we start planning anything."

"Thank you"

Miriallia and Dearka walked out of L'Aventure et Vie magazine's office. Their assignment was finally over. It was time for them to return to their lives. "You did an amazing job" Dearka said as they exited the building. He looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds had started to gather. "We should get going, looks like it might rain soon" Miriallia didn't say anything, she just looked away. She wouldn't make eye contact with him. "Mir? Is something wrong honey?" Without saying a word she reached into her camera bag and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed it to Dearka. He looked down at it and frowned. It was the voucher Yzak had given him. "Where did you get this?" He asked looking up.

"I found it the morning after you were shot, it fell out of your pocket"

"I'm never going to use it" He said trying to reassure her.

"Yes you are… tonight" she replied sadly.

He smirked and laughed a fake little laugh. "I'm going back to Orb with you. It's what we planned. What we talked about. I'm going to meet your parents remember?"

"And would I ever meet yours?" She asked quickly.

"Mir…" his face became serious.

"Don't… please you know it's true. You could never bring me home. Because the truth is we are still just a natural and a coordinator."

"That doesn't matter to me anymore you know that. I… I've changed. I'm not that guy anymore."

"And what guy is that?" He just looked at her. He was scared of where she was going with this. "Sometimes it feels like I've been with two different guys. The cold and angry guy who makes me feel like I always do everything wrong. And then there is the sweet guy who makes me feel like I'm his everything. The coordinator and the natural. But who is who I don't know. Are you Derrick Eastman or Dearka Elsman. Which one is really which"

Dearka looked at her. Tears were beginning to build up in both their eyes now. "I'm Dearka. The same guy I've always been the whole time. I was afraid of my feelings before, you know that. I was cold and distant at first because I wanted to push you away. But I don't want that anymore Miriallia. Please just forget this stupid thing" He said sadly. He put his hands on the voucher ready to rip it when Mir gently grabbed his hands to stop him.

"I can't. The war has been over for more than a year. Why are you still on Earth. Don't you want to see your family again?"

"Not if it means leaving you. I'd stay on earth for the rest of my life if it meant I could wake up next to you everyday."

"It won't last forever"

"Us?"

"This peace… I'm sure you felt it too. The tensions between our people is growing again, we've even seen it almost crumble in front of us. This era of peace is coming to an end. When it does where do you see yourself? Fighting for Orb? For ZAFT? Or still running around the world hiding from it all?"

"I-I don't know"

"I told you once that you can't escape forever. Someday whatever you are running from will catch up with you"

"What I was running away from that day already caught up with me. I was running away from the feelings I felt for you! But I stopped running from that long ago." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She leaned her head against his chest. She took a deep breath. She loved the way he smelled. It was so comforting. "But you're still running. Until you return to the PLANTs you'll always be running. You and I are still running… from our past. I haven't spoken to Sai, Kuzzy or Kira since the war ended. And what about you? Your friends? Your family?" She pulled away and looked him in the eyes, his beautiful soulful amethyst eyes. "I need you to go. Stop running Dearka"

"I'm not"

"Then what was Derrick? Lie to yourself all you want but at least be honest with me. Give me one reason why you should stay. Why you should pick me over your homeland."

He knew why. He knew exactly the words he wanted to say, the words she had accidentally said to him long ago… but he wasn't ready. Even with his back against the wall he still couldn't say it. His heart begged him to, but his mind wouldn't let him. "So this is it… it's over."

Miriallia felt sick to her stomach. It was over. After nearly a year it was actually over. "Yes" she said her voice shaking. Almost like the sky knew their pain it began to rain. Not a soft mist but a heavy depressing rain. Dearka leaned his head down and desperately, deeply kissed her. Just one last kiss. Just one last time he needed to feel her lips against his. He pulled away and looked at her. Tears were streaming down her face mixed with the rain drenching her whole body. He felt like any minute the same thing would happen to him. He kissed her on the forehead, turned and started to walk away without saying a word.

Miriallia watched as he walked away. He was leaving her life. Maybe it was temporary or maybe it would be forever. She couldn't help but hope someday maybe there would a time a place for them to be together. But that place didn't exist right now. Coordinators and naturals could never be together in the open, not even in Orb. She couldn't help but be afraid. There was always a chance this was the last time she would ever see him. That her last memory of Dearka Elsman would be breaking up with him in the most romantic city in the world.

She arrived in Orb a half a day later. Out of pure irony it was raining here too. She couldn't seem to escape the memories of it. A taxi soon dropped her off at her family home. The place she hadn't seen in a year. She stood on the front step with her bag as the rain continued to fall down on her. She hesitated at first before ringing the doorbell. She waited until finally she could hear footsteps inside and someone opening the door.

"Miriallia!" Her mother said with tears of happiness forming at the corners of her eyes. "Come… come in." She said quickly opening the door wide so she could enter.

"Thanks mom" She said as she walked in. She looked around the house. Nothing had changed. Everything was just as it was when she left, even the smell of her mother's cooking filled the small home. It brought her a great amount of comfort, something she really needed in this moment.

"You're soaked sweetie." She said before looking back out the door. "Where's your friend? I thought Derrick was coming home with you?" She asked. She could see Miriallia was upset, but instead of crying she just smiled.

"It's a long story mom. One I intend to tell you but do you mind if I get changed first?" She asked tucking her wet hair behind her ear.

"Of course" Her mother replied kissing her on the forehead. "Take your time. I'll make you some tea to help warm you up"

"Thanks mom"

Miriallia walked up to her room. She entered and started to removed her sopping wet clothes. She went into her bathroom and grabbed a towel to dry herself off. Wrapping it around herself she headed to her closet to pull out some dry clothes. Instead she found herself getting distracted by the box inside. It was the box that contained everything that reminded her of Tolle. She sat down beside it and opened it. She picked up one of the pictures inside and looked at it. Much to her surprise she felt a smile cross her lips. Turned out Dearka was right all along… someday the things that reminded her of Tolle wouldn't make her sad anymore. Instead she was happy to have memories of him flood in her head.

She once again had lost love. But she managed to move on from the loss of another. She was finally ready to celebrate the life Tolle lived, not focus on the day he died. And that was all because of Dearka Elsman. She would never forget that.

She traced her finger around Tolle's face. She was finally accepting he was gone. It was like a weight being lifted off her shoulders. She was new girl. The Miriallia she was back in Heliopolis was gone forever. She was stronger and filled with more life experiences than ever before. She felt like nothing could stop her. She had a new lease on life and she didn't want this assignment to be her last. She was going to continue being a war photographer, even if it meant being her own protector.

She picked up her phone and dialed. "Frederic… It's Miriallia Haww. I've thought about it, I'll do it. I'll take the position."

"That's fantastic Miss Haww! I'll inform Mr Richard immediately. Au revoir"

"Goodbye"

She didn't know what the future held for her. The future was uncertain. She had no idea how right she was of the tensions that were growing around the world. A war was only months away. Chaos was coming and there was nothing they could do to stop it. But the thing she didn't know most of all about was if she would ever see the man of her dreams again. Breaking up with him was the hardest thing she ever did but she needed to do it. There was no future for them if he was hiding from who he was. She needed to know he would chose her over everything else. Even if he said it now she couldn't believe him, not when he had forgotten all he was leaving behind.

She stood up from her spot on the floor and and walked over to look out her window. Up at the hourglasses in the sky. For the first time since she was little she started to wish that a knight in shining armour would someday find her once again.

END