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 13
Deliberately
"I'm going in to check on Miriallia. Can you wait out here with her until I come to get you?" Dearka asked cautiously.
He had been more relaxed around Ian for the past few weeks, but still remained quite vigilant. Their relationship was almost back to the way it had once been. But it was still obvious to anyone that Dearka had been through a lot in the past couple of years. He wasn't so naïve to believe that people could change so easily. Especially those people who were associated with Cadey.
"Sure, no problem. Just call me when you want me to bring your daughter in," he replied with the sound of innocence dancing on his voice.
"My daughter," Dearka thought with a smile on his face as he entered the room.
He saw the doctor finishing up with Miriallia and stood there for a moment before moving any closer. Once he watched the doctor move away, he walked toward the bed where Miriallia was lying peacefully. She looked like an angel the way she was glistening.
"She had a tough time, but Yzak helped her through it until I was able to arrive. She will need to get to a hospital on PLANT still. She's a little worse for wear right now and needs better medical attention than I can provide on a war ship," the doctor stated.
"Yeah, thanks, I appreciate everything you've done for her," Dearka replied before kneeling next to her.
Miriallia's eyes fluttered open, the exhaustion still keeping hold.
"Hey there blue eyes," Dearka said forcing a small smile to escape her lips at the sight of him.
"Hey yourself," she said with a raspy throat.
"Been screaming a little?" he asked with a gentle tease.
"I'm glad you're here. I was worried about you," Miriallia said in earnest ignoring his blatant attempt to cheer her up.
Dearka stood from his position and sat on the side of the bed as he grabbed her hand. He continued to rub it gently as Miriallia fought off her urge to sleep.
"So, what did you name her?" he asked while brushing some strands of hair out of her face.
"I didn't. In fact, I haven't been able to hold her yet. But also I really want you to name her," she replied simply.
Dearka's eyes widened in confusion; unable to make sense of what she had just said. The whole time she was back with him, she informed him that she was going to name the baby and that he had no say whether it was a girl or a boy.
"You want me to name her? But I thought you said…" he started.
"Forget what I said. She's your little girl, there's no mistaking it. I may have had my doubts a few months ago, but I've remembered everything now. I know you're the one I'm meant to be with," Miriallia said sincerely.
"But I don't think I can name her," Dearka said overwhelmed.
"Why not?" Miriallia asked with a furrowing brow.
"What if she doesn't like her name? Then it will be my fault. Not to mention, I wouldn't even know what to name her," he said shyly.
Miriallia laughed gently at him.
"What's so funny?" he asked feeling offended.
"You are," she replied. She used the hand he had in his grasp to pull him closer to her. When they were face to face, she gave him a deep kiss. When they finally separated she spoke again. "Our daughter will love any name you give her. Now close your eyes," Miriallia said.
"Why?" he asked curiously.
"Just do it will you? And stop asking so many questions," Miriallia said with a laugh still present. It was almost as if she was infused with a second wind of strength.
"Fine," Dearka obliged.
As his eyes closed he felt Miriallia move closer to his ear. She began to whisper softly making a smile form on his face. "Now just think of her in your arms again. Look down on her and tell me who do you see," she said staying close enough for him to feel her breath on his neck.
"I don't know what you mean," Dearka said with honesty.
"Picture your little girl in your mind. Do you see her?" Miriallia asked.
Dearka began to concentrate and did as Miriallia asked. The smile on his face grew larger. "She's so small and beautiful," he said feeling at peace.
"Now tell me again, who do you see?" Miriallia asked.
"Nora," he said sweetly.
He opened his eyes to see Miriallia smiling at him. He couldn't believe it; the name had just slipped from his lips with no previous thoughts on the matter.
"I really like the name Nora," he repeated.
"Nora it is then," Miriallia said with a smile as sleep began to overtake her.
"Do you think she'll honestly like the name?" he asked sincerely.
"Of course she's going to like her name. Actually I'm sure she'll love her name," she said still smiling.
"Miriallia are you going to be okay for a little while?" he asked gently.
"Why, where are you planning on going?" she questioned as the small ounce of strength she had fought for escaped.
"I need to make arrangements for you and the girls on PLANT," he said standing from her bedside.
"You're coming with us though aren't you?" her voice panicked. She could already sense he had no intention of traveling with them and that terrified her.
He turned back to look at her giving her a reassuring smile. "You and Nora need better medical attention than you can receive here. You heard the doc yourself. I'll be there as soon as I'm able and I'll make sure you are well taken care of. You can trust me Mir."
"I know I can trust you, but with the chance of upsetting you, I don't trust them," Miriallia insinuated.
Dearka's head raised and his eyes glazed over with an insulted look. Although he couldn't blame her for how she felt because it was no different than he felt on Earth around so many Naturals, it was still harsh. "No one will hurt you. You've chosen to live your life with a Coordinator and you have two children that have some altered genes as well."
"But still, they may not look at it that way. How do you know there aren't Coordinators that think the way some Naturals do; that if you aren't 100% altered, you aren't a real Coordinator," she said sounding paranoid.
"Will you look at it a little more rationally than that please? Coordinators aren't like that. Our girls are more likely to end up as some of the first in a new wave of the future for Coordinators rather than being thrown aside as a disgrace. After all, we're no different than Naturals biologically. We want our genes passed down to the next generation by any means necessary the same way you do," he explained logically.
The doctor moved back to Miriallia and finished placing the IV on her in order to give her some more medication and fluids. "I'd listen to what he's saying. I think the two of you are on to something that other Coordinators will wish they had. It seems the ability to conceive children for the second generation is not as far out of our grasp as once believed. I'll bet your daughters have all the benefits of being a Coordinator and none of the disadvantages that have developed."
The doctor's explanation seemed to soothe Miriallia's nerves as she nodded her head toward Dearka to allow him to make the arrangements. Dearka let out a deep sigh of relief that she had finally given in. The most important thing at the moment was to make sure Miriallia and Nora were safe and healthy.
"Make sure you get that little girl down to PLANT as soon as possible. She's a little early and I want to make sure they do a full diagnostic to evaluate her condition," the doctor announced to Dearka as he began to exit the room.
"I'll have them down there within the hour," he replied saluting the doctor.
When the door shut between him and Miriallia, he turned to look at Ian standing there with his little girl still in his arms.
"So did Miriallia name her yet?" Ian asked.
"Not exactly. She let me name her instead." Dearka replied.
Dearka could see the disappointment in Ian's eyes and knew he still had feelings for Miriallia regardless of what he said. Not wanting to make a big deal out of it, he headed down the hall without looking back.
"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you even going to tell me her name?" Ian called curiously.
"Nah, I'll let Mir do that," Dearka said waving his hand in the air at him as if to brush him off.
Ian realized that was Dearka's way of giving him permission to see Miriallia. He thought it was a little strange for a moment that Dearka was walking away without taking the little girl back from him. He took a deep breath and turned to enter the room with the little girl now asleep in his arms.
"Ian…" Miriallia said softly still fighting the medication that made her feel even groggier.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"Better now that the doctor gave me something for the pain," she said with her weak smile.
"Yeah, I'll bet you needed it," he answered smiling back at her.
"Where did Dearka go? I thought he was just going to make arrangements for me to transfer to the hospital. I didn't realize he was leaving completely," she said. Her head twisted back and forth as she looked for him.
The doctor came back over and took Nora from Ian's arms to free him of the tiny angel. "I just need to continue monitoring her until the two of them are transferred. I only let Yzak take her out of the room while I worked on her mom here," he stated with a wink in her direction.
"Oh yeah, sure, no problem," Ian answered as he sat on the bed and held Miriallia's hand.
It was an awkward moment for the doctor to be witness to. He knew full well the triangle that had occurred on the two ships and wanted nothing to do with it. Unfortunately he was stuck in the room watching Lt Randall make a fool of himself with another man's fiancée.
"Did Dearka tell you her name yet?" Miriallia inquired. She could feel the tension in the room rising and had decided to make idle chit chat until Dearka returned.
"No, he said I needed to ask you what her name is," Ian replied.
"I let Dearka name her," she began.
Ian could now sense the tension too and noticed the doctor shift uneasily while he tended to Nora. He wasn't naïve enough to believe the doctor didn't know what had been going on the past few months between all of them.
"He told me that, but then said I had to bring her in to you and ask you what he named her myself," Ian stated more to inform the doctor that Dearka had allowed his presence than to fill Miriallia in on what went on between them in the halls.
"Our new little girls' name is Nora," Miriallia said with her eyes shining brightly.
"Does she have a middle name yet?" Ian asked curiously.
"Oh no, I forgot about that…" Miriallia started sounding concerned.
"Perfect," Ian thought. He sat quietly for a moment before commenting again. He didn't want her to catch on that he wanted to help name her little girl, but he also had to make a move quickly before Dearka got back in time to object.
"Well Annabella's middle name is Miriam, right?" he asked.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" she questioned.
"I assume you gave her a twist from your name, so why not twist Dearka's name a little for Nora's middle name?" Ian said.
"Really, you think I should?" she said while falling deep into thought about the proposition.
The doctor continued to work rolling his eyes at what he was overhearing. "Naturals are definitely naïve. If she thinks he's suggesting this for her benefit and not his own, she's sadly mistaken," he thought.
"I don't even know how I could twist Dearka's name to fit as a middle name for a little girl. It was easy for me being a woman because I could take my name and flip it around some, but his is a little more difficult," she said still contemplating it.
"Well, I could help you if you want," he offered sounding harmless.
Miriallia's eyes lit up from the proposal. She was extremely happy that Ian was still being so friendly to her after all she had put him through. She had felt as though she was toying with his emotions a few months ago and now that she had settled her feelings, she knew he had been badly hurt by her decision. "Will you really?"
"Of course, now let's see, how can we change Dearka's name around?" he said more to himself than to her.
They sat in silence for a few moments until it hit. "I've got it, what about Deanna. It's close enough to Dearka and it will go so well with Nora," he said praying she would agree to it.
"Nora Deanna Haw, I mean Elsman," she corrected herself.
Before she could agree or disagree with him the door swished open to the room. "Okay, it's all set. We can go as soon as the airspace is cleared from the last battle. Yzak is going to let me take you two down there and get you all settled. Then I'm going to call in a favor from an old friend of mine to look after you until I can get back again," Dearka said clapping his hands together from the successful arrangements.
Miriallia looked up at him as he came closer to her, "don't you mean the three of us?"
"Well, not exactly. I think it's best if Belle stays here with me so that you have time to recuperate from everything. Plus my friend isn't going to want to watch over a two year old," he said in earnest.
"Hey are you going to tell him?" Ian asked pushing her into a decision about the middle name he had chosen for the baby.
"Oh right; sorry, I picked out a middle name for Nora while you were gone. I hope you don't mind," Miriallia said.
"Of course not, why would I mind? I'm sure whatever you picked is perfect and she'll love it when she gets older," Dearka replied indulging her.
"Actually, Ian helped me pick it out," Miriallia stated.
"I take it back then, she probably won't like it," Dearka said with slit eyes and a deadly glare over in Ian's direction. He had thought Ian was telling the truth when he swore he wouldn't make a move on Miriallia again and there he was trying to help name Dearka's new baby girl.
"Dearka stop acting like such a jealous child! He genuinely wanted to help with her middle name. He thought of the perfect name and one to go along with the theme that I used for Annabella's middle name," Miriallia defended.
"All right, I'm game. What did he suggest?" Dearka said rolling his eyes.
"I gave Annabella a middle name similar to my first name, so he suggested we do the same for Nora, just using your first name instead," Miriallia started.
"The only thing I could think of that was close to yours though was Deanna," Ian said trying to sound ingenuous.
Dearka's eyes lit up at the thought of his little girl having a name similar to his. It didn't even matter that it was her middle name or that Ian thought of it, his ego was far more superior then his rationality. Ian's plan had worked. He would be able to have a hand in naming Nora and Dearka's ego would allow it without any complaints.
"I guess that's okay," he said trying to sound unsure.
"Really, you don't mind?" Miriallia asked again.
"Of course he doesn't mind. He knows I was just trying to help. Besides why would I help by thinking of a middle name that had anything to do with him if I was still going after you? That is what you were thinking right?" Ian coaxed in order to make Dearka look like the bad guy again.
"That has nothing to do with it!" Dearka snapped.
"Hey you two calm down. I don't want you guys to startle the baby by starting a fight with one another in here and Miriallia definitely doesn't need the stress right now," the doctor reprimanded.
"Honestly, the two of you have got to stop all the bickering. The doctor is right, I don't want either of you to upset me or Nora!" Miriallia snipped at them.
Both of them looked a bit dejected being yelled at by both Miriallia and the doctor. Dearka couldn't believe he had fallen for Ian's set up either. Part of him wished he could go back to the old days when he was on the Archangel with Miriallia. At that time it was just the two of them with no interruptions from anyone else. Now he felt as if he was fighting tooth and nail for her every minute of the day.
"Hey, maybe we should go and I can help you get things ready to take Miriallia down to the PLANTs," Ian said trying to mend the small tear he created between them again by giving Nora her middle name.
Dearka could feel the lack on sincerity but took him up on the offer anyway. He could see Miriallia was beginning to faze out and wasn't as suspicious of Ian as he was either so it wasn't worth the fight. The last thing he needed was to look like the jerk in Miriallia's eyes again with Ian's help. He had done a good enough job of that on his own in the past.
As the two exited the room once again, Ian felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. "Hey! What the hell was that for?" he exclaimed. He began to rub it as fast as he could to relieve the pain.
"Next time you pull a stunt like that my fist will end up in your face and not your shoulder," Dearka warned.
"I was just trying to help. God, you have a serious trust issue man," Ian said. He knew there was no way that wasn't going to leave a mark and cursed at Dearka under his breath.
"Yeah sure you were. I'm not that dumb. I know you planned to use my name just so I would look like the jerk to Miriallia if I didn't accept it in the end. And as for the trust issue, maybe it's only because I've been burned by you and Cadey one too many times to know better," Dearka scolded and stomped off ahead enraged.
Ian ran to catch up bumping into one of the soldiers on the way exclaiming his apologies to them as he continued to run by. "Hey would you wait up Dearka!" Ian called after him. When he finally caught up to Dearka, he grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around.
"What the hell do you still want!" Dearka yelled and took a swing at him. Ian had dodged just in time, but was now on guard himself.
"What is wrong with you? Did you forget who saved your sorry butt when your parents had their bodyguards beat you down!" Ian snapped revealing what had happened to him finally.
Soldiers in the corridor stopped in their tracks at the raised voices and display of childish behavior. But most of them stopped over Ian's retort since it had finally explained what really happened that day and finally laid rest to the rumors that had been circulating the two ships about Dearka's injuries that day.
As the shuffling of footsteps ceased for the moment and both Dearka and Ian's faces felt hot as their skin began to blush from the commotion they caused and attention they had brought to themselves. Not to mention Dearka hadn't expected Ian to blurt out to the whole ship what had really happened to him.
In the end, Dearka was still the son of a Council member and could find himself as one of the top gossip topics on both the ship and PLANT tabloids still even though he was a ZAFT soldier. They had a field day when he was demoted so long ago. Although some was his doing, most of it was thanks to the marriage arrangement to Cadey.
"What is going on down here!" a voice boomed over the crowd that had gathered. Dearka and Ian were still eying each other and making an effort not to let their guard down.
The crowd began to part and salute as the ZAFT member made their way through to get to the two causing all the trouble. "You two again! I would have thought you would have learned by now that this ship is not a playground! What are you all standing around for? We are post battle and should be securing the ship, so get back to work! What would Commander Joule do if he caught you all slacking off like this!"
"Shiho," Dearka called out in relief. The relief he felt though was short-lived when he saw the look on her face.
"Uh-oh," Ian said as he tried to scurry away.
"Lt Randall, where do you think you're going?" Shiho asked with a sweetened voice that was so obviously a façade. Ian stopped for a moment and turned back around to face her.
"I was just getting back to work. I should really go check the systems on my mobile suit," he stated walking backwards to escape.
"Sure you were. I think it's time we all head over to Yzak's office and have this out once and for all, don't you agree. Besides, Yzak is going to have to do some damage control thanks to you," Shiho reprimanded.
Dearka had his classic smirk on his face but quickly wiped it away when he saw Shiho glare at him again. "And you, I expected better of you. I saw you take a swing at him. I don't know what just happened between you two again, but that was definitely uncalled for. You know this is partly your fault," she continued to chew out Dearka.
"Yeah, yeah, can we just go to Yzak's office or are you planning on tearing me to shreds in front of more crew members?" Dearka snipped as he twisted back around and headed down the way he came toward Yzak's office.