Dearka & Miriallia
Book II
Disclaimer: It is obvious by now if I'm here that I do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny or any other Gundam Series. But any characters I create to place in this world are mine (But I don't mind if you guys want to use them too. I have no problem with that. You don't even need to ask me. I enjoy sharing to make other stories the best they can be.)
Chapter 2
Resolutions
On The Voltaire...
Dearka sat at his desk flipping through meaningless papers and searching for something to keep him occupied.
"Two days left," he said softly to himself.
The time continued to tick slowly. It hadn't even been that long since Shiho had caught him out of his quarters and slightly nagged him back to his room. He just couldn't sit still knowing Miriallia was so close to him, yet still so far away.
"Then there's Belle. I don't even know what happened to my little girl," he thought sighing sadly.
He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad may have happened or that his father had kept true to his threat about taking care of her.
"Would he really just give her away to someone? I mean, she is still an Elsman and I can't imagine he would really want to give one of his own up," Dearka thought trying to re-evaluate the situation.
His room felt so cold and uninviting without the small pitter-patter of her little feet or the sweet soft sound of her voice. He had grown so attached in the short time he was able to spend with her and now he had to leave it up to Yzak.
"What kind of a father am I if I keep leaving these important tasks up to Yzak and Shiho? And here I am hiding out in my room while Ian continually has an opportunity to make a move on Miriallia. On top of that, she is having my baby and I couldn't even get her attention on the way back here," his thoughts continued to flow.
Before long he heard the buzzer of his room door and the clicking of the override code and knew it could only be one person. He sat there waiting for his uninvited guest.
As soon as Yzak walked through the door, Dearka sat up straight in his chair and quirked his eyebrows and rolled his eyes at the visitor.
"That's some way to greet your friend," Yzak stated to the look on Dearka's face.
"Friend? Is that what you are right now?" Dearka asked curiously.
Yzak shook his head in annoyance and walked over to Dearka's bed to sit down. As he moved toward the bed, Dearka swung the chair around to stare at his so-called friend.
"Do you want to know how she is doing or not?" Yzak asked as he fell to the bed below and stretched out to get comfortable.
"Depends. Are you going to let me see her soon?" Dearka asked.
Yzak looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to avoid Dearka's glare. It's not like he felt threatened by him, but he really didn't want to start a fight again with him over the suspension.
"You'll see her in a few days. Can't you just wait? I have this all planned out, but you both have to serve your time. It's only fair. And technically speaking, you were the one that stole that information from your commanding officer and then recruited Lieutenant Randall in your endeavors, so I really can't overlook the penalty this time. You don't want it to look like favoritism, do you?" Yzak said with a smirk.
"Yeah, whatever," Dearka snipped back spinning in his chair.
Yzak waited a moment for Dearka to let what he just said sink in before he continued. He knew Dearka wanted to know how Miriallia was doing regardless of what he said.
"She had another appointment today," Yzak started trying to gain Dearka's interest.
Dearka pushed the chair again like a little kid and let it spin around a few more times.
"And?" he asked curiously.
"The doctor told me everything was going well. The drugs are starting to wear off safely and your kid is doing okay. I went back to check on her status after I dropped her off somewhere," Yzak answered closing his eyes.
"Good to know. So where is she now?" Dearka asked praying for the answer to not be with Ian.
"I said I had to drop her off somewhere," Yzak said without missing a beat.
"And that would be?" Dearka prodded.
"Did I mention I made a deal with her?" Yzak asked quickly trying to make the situation better for him.
He had avoided telling Dearka anything about his plans for almost his full suspension. But now it was becoming even more difficult to keep it under wraps.
"Yzak," Dearka said with warning and frustration in his voice.
"She's with Ian right now," Yzak said quickly and then rolled over to face the wall away from Dearka.
Dearka cringed when he heard those dreadful words come out of Yzak's mouth. He couldn't believe it. He left it up to Yzak to do his best to keep her away from him and now to find out Yzak had been dropping her off to see Ian infuriated him.
"What is wrong with you? Have you gone completely insane? You said you would take care of everything. Oh, don't worry Dearka leave it to me. She won't get near him at all. I won't let her," Dearka repeated the words his friend had said a few weeks prior.
"Well, I had to change my strategy a little. You do want a chance with her, don't you?" Yzak questioned now turning back to see Dearka's face.
"The thing is, I shouldn't have to have a chance with her. She was with me to begin with," Dearka shouted.
Yzak didn't like when anyone yelled at him, least of all Dearka. After all, he was going out of his way to help him get his Natural girlfriend back.
"Well, sometimes life doesn't go the way we want it to, does it? I figured you didn't want anyone to know she was pregnant until you could see her again. It's still not obvious yet and it won't be in the next two days either. I made a deal with her that she could spend time with Ian while he was on restriction if and only if she promised not to mention anything about her condition to him or anyone else on the ship," Yzak stated the anger in his voice beginning to show.
Dearka's eyes widened in amazement at what was said. He had no idea Yzak had gone to such lengths to keep the news from Ian.
"Look, I just didn't want Ian making any desperate attempts to gain her affection before you had a chance to remind her about her past with you. Not that I agree with you being with a Natural," Yzak said sincerely although making his true feelings on the situation known.
"Thanks Yzak," was all that Dearka could say to him in his moment of almost speechlessness.
"And about your other kid, I'm afraid I don't have the best news for you," Yzak said throwing Dearka back down from his moment of hopefulness.
"Why? What happened?" Dearka asked fearing the worst.
"It seems your parents gave her up for adoption to someone and may not reveal to who. Right now my mother and Cadey are working on locating her," Yzak stated calmly.
"I knew he was going to do something like that. I can't believe he actually went through with it though," Dearka said with the same calmness in his own voice.
Yzak had realized he didn't hear the entire statement, or at least it hadn't sunk in yet.
"WAIT A MINUTE! Did you just say CADEY was working on locating Belle?" Dearka cried out terror lining his voice.
"There it is, realization hits," Yzak thought sarcastically.
"Yeah well, my mother thought it would help if she met up with her at your place. Apparently the Eternal dropped her off finally at her home due to the danger they might fall in to. So, mother contacted her to see if she would help. Cadey said she would do anything for you, even if the two of you were no longer together. And there you have it, Cadey is helping to get your kid back," Yzak explained.
"Oh please, do you really believe that? Cadey has had an ulterior motive since I met her. There is no way she is just going to help out without wanting something in return. And you and I both know what or who she wants," Dearka stated.
"Well, we don't have much choice. It may make a difference if Cadey is there to find out where the kid was sent. We all figured your parents were more likely to give her back if they knew you two were going to remain together and that Cadey wants her back too," Yzak rationalized the situation for him.
"Belle," Dearka said.
"What?" Yzak asked in confusion.
"You keep calling her the kid again. Her name is Belle and you know better," Dearka reminded him.
"So you're not mad now?" Yzak questioned cautiously.
"Oh, I'm still mad. But I see your point, especially if mom and dad have already gone to such extremes to make her non-existent. The only real way to get her back is if Miriallia and I aren't the only ones to know about her connection to my family," he stated.
Back On Februarius...
Ezalia sat in the Elsman mansion calmly sipping the tea Flora had brought her. She still had no idea how to even begin when one or both of them finally arrived. The seconds that passed felt like an eternity to her and she was continually looking at her watch.
"She should be here soon," Ezalia thought beginning to lose her look of calmness.
As soon as those thoughts entered her head, the French doors opened revealing Tad Elsman. He entered the room with a greeting smile closing the doors behind him.
"It's good to see you Ezalia. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked curiously heading for a chair.
"Actually, I came here as a favor," she replied in all honesty.
As Tad made himself comfortable, Ezalia shifted feeling just the opposite. She just wanted to get this over with and return to her own duties.
"A favor?" Tad questioned.
Ezalia placed her teacup on the table with determination. She might as well come out and say what she had to say. There was no reason to drag out the inevitable any longer.
"I want to know to whom you gave Dearka's daughter to?" she asked forcefully.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," Tad replied cool-headed.
Ezalia had a very short-temper and was not in the mood to listen to his cover-up.
"Look, I'm not interested in listening to the clueless act. I know about the little girl and I know what you've done. What I don't know is where you sent her or how you could devastate your own son and soon to be daughter-in-law with such an act," she said her eyes icing over.
Tad sat there in amazement. He had no idea anyone else, other than Dearka and the mother, knew about the little girl. In an instant Tad became very quiet trying to decide on his next move.
"I don't know what stories you have been told, but Dearka isn't a father. For goodness sake, he's only nineteen and I think we would have noticed if Cadey had a child," Tad replied continuing his denial.
"Don't give me that. You know as well as I that you have a granddaughter. Cadey is enthralled with her and had been helping Dearka take care of her since he found out about her. For you to go and rip that bond away from them is outright cruel," Ezalia reprimanded.
"Are you saying Cadey knows?" he asked giving away the masquerade.
"Of course she knows. Your son is engaged to her after all," Ezalia said shortly.
Before Tad could say another word there was a knock on the doors and then they swung open revealing his wife. Tad stood up for a moment and walked over toward her.
"Can this wait until later dear?" he asked trying his best to herd her out of the room.
Without a word, she stepped aside revealing their guest. She didn't even know what to say to him after what she had just been told in the hall moments before. When he caught one glimpse of her, he nodded his head in acknowledgement and walked back to his seat. Ezalia looked behind her with a huge grin on her face.
"Please, Councilman Elsman, give her back," she said as they entered the room.
Tears poured down her soft silky cheeks and her eyes were blood shot. She sat down next to Ezalia on the couch as Mrs. Elsman made her way to her own chair. The two were now in the same spots they had been when Dearka had brought their granddaughter to meet them on that fateful day.
"I don't know what we will do without her. I know you were probably shocked when you found out and so was I, but we became much closer thanks to that little girl. If you keep her from us, you'll destroy him. I'm sure that isn't your intention," Cadey begged.
Luckily for Ezalia, she was able to start the conversation with Tad in enough time for Cadey's little show to commence the way they had planned. She had been waiting in the room for so long that she wasn't sure how much she would be able to get started before Cadey's planned arrival.
"Cadey, I'm a bit confused on what you are talking about. Give who back?" he said innocently to see if Cadey really knew about the little girl.
"You know who I'm talking about. I want my daughter back. I want Belle in my arms again," she cried out.
Mrs. Elsman shook her head feeling the unbearable pain she thought Cadey was going through. Even if she hadn't been the one to give birth to the little girl, she could see it was tearing her up inside to have her taken away.
"Tad, enough is enough, give her back to them," his wife cried out unable to take it anymore.
He turned his head to her in shock. He was so confused by her request after she had made it quite clear how she felt about the situation Dearka had put the family name in not so long ago.
"I..." he started trying to find the words.
"Tad, tell me where she is and I will help get her back for Dearka and Cadey. We can pretend this whole thing never happened. And if you are willing to sit down and speak with your son again, I'm sure the four of you can come up with some way to save face when the knowledge of your granddaughter becomes public," Ezalia said offering a helping hand.
"How long have you known?" Tad asked turning to Cadey.
"Since the first day Dearka found out about her," she replied looking at the ground tears still falling.
"Why didn't he mention it when he brought her here? He made it seem as though the two of your weren't together," Tad asked now wanting his own answers and giving up the facade completely.
"Truthfully I didn't want him coming here at all yet. I wanted to wait until we were married, but we ran into Councilwoman Joule during the dedication ceremony a while back and she said we had to tell you or she would. I still wanted to keep it under wraps for a little longer, but he was sure the two of you would be more upset if he didn't introduce you to her before hand. Especially before someone else told you two. He did promise to keep it from my father until then. He was probably trying to protect the truth so you didn't say anything to my dad before I wanted him to know. If we weren't together in his introduction to her, you would both be more likely to not say anything to my father either," she answered like a good little actress.
"I don't understand how he even found out about her then," Tad mentioned trying to get more of the story from Cadey.
"On an assignment on Earth that Yzak sent him on, I snuck aboard the shuttle to go with him. I know I shouldn't have, but I wanted to be with him. It ended up being fate because he met up with the young woman he had been with on the Archangel during the last war. She had been injured and we were watching a little girl that she had with her. When she came to, she saw Dearka again and told him the truth about the little girl. It also turned out that she really didn't want her so Dearka and I offered to take her back here to PLANT," Cadey said.
"I guess I'm confused now. I can't imagine any mother not wanting her own child. For her to have the little girl for so many years and then just give her to the two of you seems a little strange," Mrs. Elsman piped up regaining her composure.
Cadey and Ezalia sighed at the same time. They had discussed the possibility of this question being raised, but Yzak had given them a way out of it from the things Dearka had technically told him in confidence. If he was ever going to break that trust, now had been the best time. All she had to do now was act it out correctly.
"It's actually more simple than you may think. It turns out that Dearka had made a promise to come back to her. Although, when he arrived back to PLANT after the first war and found out we were engaged by arrangement, he didn't return to her. Instead he stayed here with me. I know it didn't seem like it at the time, but we really did hit it off quite well. I hadn't known anything about her. He never mentioned it to me until I finally met her. But it turns out due to that feeling of betrayal; the young woman was never able to bond with your granddaughter. Her mother had been taking care of her for all those years and the only reason she had her when she was injured was because her parents went out of town and she had been stuck with her," Cadey re-told the story with her dark eyes flashing brightly.
"I see, but I guess I feel that even still she must have some feelings for her daughter. It's just hard to imagine that any mother would do such a thing to a child she gave birth to," she replied.
Ezalia had no other option but to point out the obvious as much as she knew it would hurt her two friends.
"You did, didn't you," she said with malice in her voice.
"I beg your pardon," Tad said angrily coming to the aid of his wife.
"Well, you did have your son beaten into unconsciousness and ripped his daughter from his life. And on top of that, I heard you completely cut him off from his birthright. All he has to his name is what he's earned on his own in the military. So from what I can see, the two of you did the same thing as the mother of his child," Ezalia said coldly.
Cadey was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the room. She hadn't expected Ezalia to have to resort to such measures as questioning the Elsmans' loyalty to their family.
"Please, can we just stick to what we came here for? I just want my little girl back and I want to bring her back to Dearka as soon as possible," Cadey cried out.
"Fine, but I want nothing to do with that little girl. When you and Dearka have children of your own, I will be a wonderful Grandmother. But I refuse to stand by such a ridiculous arrangement," Mrs. Elsman blurted out in malice.
"She certainly flip-flops a lot," Cadey thought feeling uncomfortable.
Tad was still in shock as well and looked over at his wife. First she wanted him to do everything in his power to make this little girl non-existent, then she begged him to give her back to them and now she is willing to give her back, but wants nothing to do with the girl still.
"Will you take care of this, I need to go lay down. I'm not feeling so well," Mrs. Elsman said standing up from her chair with tears flooding her eyes.
She walked towards the doors and exited the room leaving them open behind her. Ezalia just sat there and waited for Tad to speak up.
"I'll call you when she is ready and you may pick her up. But I too feel the same way and you can tell Dearka that. You should tell your father before you marry if this is what the two of you plan to do so he can prepare to save face for your family as well. You two can show yourselves out," he said sounding defeated and looking at Cadey.
Ezalia and Cadey sat still while he left the room as well. For a moment Cadey didn't know whether she should feel happy or sad. She got Dearka's daughter back, but was sure he would still treat her the same.
"Damn that woman that brainwashed him. I'll teach her a lesson. There's no way Dearka will be with her. He's going to marry me!" she thought before standing to follow Ezalia out of the Elsman mansion.