Changing Fate
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything pertaining to the Gundam franchise.
Chapter 3: Where We Stand
DOMINION
Arnold woke to Natarle, once again, attempting to sit up in bed, failing miserably and letting loose a few colorful words. "I've never known you to say anything like that, Natarle," this caused the woman to blush; she hadn't expected him to be awake. "Hey, what do you say about going around the ship for a little," Arnold asked the woman. "That sounds good. I have to see everyone, especially Fllay." With that Arnold went to retrieve the wheelchair that the doctors had left in the room from yesterday.
After a few pain filled moments, Natarle was in the hallways of her ship. 'It feels good to be out of there,' Arnold thought as he wheeled a beaming Natarle around the ship. 'Hard to believe that two days ago I was walking around the ship, but now I am being wheeled around in a damn chair,' Natarle thought as they passed her quarters. Next to her quarters was Azrael's, 'Bastard,' she thought as they wheeled by. The thought about the man that nearly killed her was shattered as someone shouted, "Captain!"
Several members of the crew rushed towards their injured captain, all asking the same question. "I'm fine, got a few holes in me, but I am okay. Thanks everyone," she said to the small crowd that formed around her, making her feel uncomfortable. Arnold stood amazed that this woman could go against a madman with a gun without a second thought, but was uncomfortable around a group of people that cared for her. "Have anyone of you seen Fllay," Natarle asked, curious that the young woman hadn't rushed to join the crowd. "She is on the bridge with a few other members of the bridge. You know just a precaution, you never know what could happen now," one of the many faces said. "Thanks, Randy," Natarle said to the man, shocking Arnold, "well, we are going to head over there to see everyone else." The crowd wished their captain a speedy recovery and the violet haired duo continued to the bridge. "Natarle you have changed a lot since Alaska." Natarle shifted in the seat so that she could look up to Arnold. "Let me guess, you have the names of the crew memorized," Arnold said to the woman. "I had to because if my gamble two days ago failed we all would have been killed for treason. I needed to know what all was at stake if I failed." Arnold stared at the woman in amazement, 'She changed more than I thought, but I love her more for it.'
They approached the elevator leading to the bridge, both of them steeling themselves against the memories that were bound to flood them. 'Please let the blood be gone, I won't be able to go through that again.' They both thought as the door to the elevator opened. The ride up was quiet, neither wanting to risk bringing up what could have happened. The doors slid open and the couple was on the bridge. Heads turned towards the couple, once they recovered from the shock of seeing their captain in the chair they rushed to duo. Fllay was nowhere in sight, 'I guess we missed her when we stopped to talk to the crew,' Natarle thought. Everyone had tears in their eyes; they realized that if they hadn't followed orders then she would have been injured. "Hey, I okay. Cheer up," the woman said to the group of young soldiers. "But-" one of the men said until he was interrupted, "I gave an order and all of you followed it. If anyone was going to be hurt by that madman it wasn't going to be any of you." "But-" another man said again being interrupted by their captain, "I am out of the captain's chair for two days and all of you think I didn't know what I was doing? Perhaps I need to prove all of you wrong."
Natarle slowly managed to stand, leaning on her uninjured leg. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she fought to remain upright. Arnold sensing what she wanted to do helped the woman to the chair that she sat in during battles. 'Damn, that was harder to do than I thought,' Natarle thought as she quickly rested. She looked around the bridge, her fight playing out in her head. Most of the blood was gone, but some could be seen on the helm, on her chair, and the spot behind the helm. The little amount helped Natarle, but for Arnold he could still see the events from days ago replay in his head.
Natarle looked back to the members of the crew, "If you didn't think I was competent then none of you would have followed that order, but everyone did. Now I am going to tell you what I wanted to, since everyone will listen to their captain. Thank you for everything you all did and I am sorry that I put all of you in that position, it won't happen again." Natarle told the young men and women around her, she grabbed her side. The effort from a few minutes ago caused strain on the wound. "Natarle, we need to get back to the infirmary or the doctors will stop us from going around again," Arnold said helping Natarle to the wheelchair. They said goodbye the members of the bridge, who were all feeling a little better by their captain's talk.
"Natarle, that wasn't very smart, you could have opened your wounds. But you showed them that you are doing better since they last saw you. Your talk also stopped them from blaming themselves for what happened," Arnold said as Natarle's breath returned to normal. "I'm sorry, Arnold," she said quietly as they approached the infirmary. They went into Natarle's room and they were both shocked to see a red headed woman in the room. "Fllay…" Natarle said, shocking the girl. The girl, whose bruised cheek stood out on her pale skin, rushed towards the woman who had become a maternal figure towards her. She lightly hugged the woman around the neck. "Fllay, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have let him even touch you," the injured woman said as she was helped back into her bed. Fllay's eyes watered, Natarle was apologizing to her, the opposite of what she wanted to do. "And if you want to apologize to me you need to forget about it. It is the captain's duty to protect the people under her command, not the other way around." As Fllay started to cry Natarle put her uninjured arm around her shoulders. Arnold left the two women to go and eat and shower, 'those two are going to need some time to get over what happened.'
Then both Natarle and Fllay heard a voice they never wanted to hear again, "That bitch is still alive!"
AN: One, I know that the ships experience zero G's when in apace, but let's pretend that the ships have artificial gravity that they can turn on when a battle is over. There may be some Kira, Lacus, and Fllay parts in the next chapter. It depends on how hard it is to write as them.