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 14

It's Time

"You're blowing things out of proportion, Shiho." Dearka exclaimed as they entered Yzak's office.

Yzak looked up from his seat with a look of confusion. He had no idea what had just transpired between the three of them and was busy working on the extensive paperwork that followed each enemy engagement.

Belle was also looking at the three who entered the room with her own look of confusion, although for a very different reason than Yzak had. She smiled when she recognized her daddy walk through the door and stood up from her spot with the blocks and scurried over to him. "Daddy's home," she shrieked in excitement.

"Hey there sweetheart. You were a good girl for Uncle Yzak, right?" he asked while swooping her up into his strong arms.

"Yes sir," she said with the ZAFT salute Shiho had been teaching her.

"Cute Shiho," Dearka scolded.

"Hey I figured she IS the daughter of a soldier, she might as well learn the gestures of one too," Shiho emphasized with a smile as she walked by and headed toward Yzak.

Yzak remained still. He was waiting for an explanation on why everyone had graced him with their presence once again. "Well?" he asked shifting his eyes between the three intruders. Every thing seemed so tense between them all lately that he wondered if things would ever be the way they had used to be.

"Oh right," Shiho said straightening her jacket and saluting. Both Ian and Dearka looked at each other with the same uncertain look at Shiho's reaction to the question.

"Commander, I feel it's in the best interest of this ship to remove both Lt. Elsman and Lt. Randall from active duty effective immediately," she stated coldly.

"What the hell!" Dearka yelled creating a ripple effect he didn't expect.

"What the hell!" Belle exclaimed happily copying her father's exact words.

"Good job Dearka. If you haven't ticked Miriallia off with what you did before, this is sure to push her over the edge when she wakes up," Ian reprimanded and rolled his eyes.

"You want me to deck you again," Dearka said through gritted teeth.

"Try you mean," Ian corrected.

"And that is precisely the reason why I believe both men should temporarily be removed from duty," Shiho said needing no other explanation thanks to their small quarrel.

"You know, I thought you said we were coming down here to finally have it out, not to have our jobs threatened. You do realize this is my only way of supporting my family," Dearka said angrily.

"Yes, but your job is to protect the PLANTs and…" she started.

"And I've done that better than anyone," Dearka finished.

Ian remained quiet, the last thing he wanted to do was provoke Yzak into agreeing that he should be sentenced to the unemployment line temporarily with Dearka. Yzak sat there with a scowl on his face. He knew Shiho was agitated by their antics, but he didn't realize they had gotten this out of hand or even irritated her this much. Last he checked they were playing nicely with each other.

For all intents and purposes she was correct, but still Dearka was his best friend and Ian, well Ian was just Ian. Another soldier connected in some way to the High Council. "Okay, so what is really going on here that you finally pushed Shiho to her limit?" Yzak asked putting his hand up to hush Shiho.

"Are we speaking freely or are our jobs really at risk?" Dearka asked.

"They should be," Shiho huffed. She could already tell from Yzak's response to her request that once again Dearka was going to walk through the fire and not get burned. Sometimes that in itself would drive her absolutely insane. It had once even made her consider trying her hand at causing trouble just to see if Yzak would jump through as many hoops to protect her position as he did for his best friend. Unfortunately for Shiho, that particular personality trait of pushing the limit wasn't strong enough in her to overcome the intense work ethic trait she carried.

"Speaking freely of course," Yzak said more calmly than any of them were used to. He just wanted to get what was going on out in the open. One minute he was picking up Belle with Shiho and the next everyone was in his office again with daggers in their eyes as if the truce between them had never occurred.

"Ian and I had another falling out, that's all," Dearka said trying to make it sound like it was really no big deal.

"Give me a break! You took a swing at him and he blurted out everything Yzak and I worked so hard to cover up about that small disappearing act you pulled," Shiho stated filling Yzak in unintentionally.

"So that's what's going on. Ian do you have anything you want to add?" Yzak asked before handing down his verdict.

"Just that Dearka's paranoid that I'm still after his fiancée. And honestly had he not tried to deck me I was planning on asking him if he really wasn't interested in Cadey anymore if he minded that I pursued that avenue, but he went crazy and attacked me. Lucky for me he missed," Ian said with an evil grin.

"You lay one finger on Cadey and I won't miss next time," Dearka snapped inadvertently. Yzak and Shiho stared at Dearka in shock at his response to Ian.

"Yeah, what? You can't seriously be surprised that I'm still slightly protective of her, regardless of what she's done in the past. We were together for two years and he's only saying that because he knew it would make me angry." He paused for a moment before continuing with a thoughtful look on his face. "In fact, it almost seems like you wish you were me at times. After all everything that's mine you try to take away," Dearka pointed out due to the awkward silence.

"Being you is the last thing I'm interested in. Who would want such a screwed up life. You only have a clean record because of Cadey and Yzak and you aren't the most reliable guy I've met. Plus, if Miriallia only knew half the girls you've whispered promises of a future with you to, she would be sick to her stomach. So no, I really don't want to be you. I don't have to be a heartbreaker to find company," Ian said with malice.

"You know what, why don't we deal with more pressing matters than both of your love lives. Say like the well being of the PLANTs or something like that. What do you both say?" Yzak asked not even taking another step into the minefield that had been set up in front of him.

"You are seriously going to let them off the hook again aren't you?" Shiho said with a dangerous tone lining her voice. Her dark hair whipped around, allowing the strands to dance like thousands of needles.

Yzak knew he was in for a lecture from her when they were off duty, but for now, he was still in charge of the situation and he wasn't going to let Ian or Dearka screw around anymore or allow Shiho to add fuel to the fire.

"I really don't have time for this. Stop acting like children and get back to work. I expect all the maintenance to be completed on your ZAKU Ian, you'll be up front in any future battles," Yzak said looking down to avoid eye contact with Dearka.

Dearka let Belle slip gently to the floor and patted her on the back to herd her towards the blocks she had been playing with before. Belle was obedient and moved away feeling the tension rising in the air despite her age.

"And what about me?" Dearka asked holding his temper back. The rage was evident in his voice even making Ian step back from him.

"You know what, I'm going to go and maintain my ZAKU. That is, if I may be excused Sir," he asked saluting.

Yzak nodded his head with the go-ahead and watched as Ian scurried out the door. Even Shiho didn't know what to do now. "Would you like me to leave Sir?" she asked as she saluted.

"I think that would be a good idea," Yzak replied. Shiho bent over to pick up Belle when she heard him clear his throat. "That won't be necessary. She can stay where she is," Yzak ordered.

"Sir," she saluted again and headed out the door avoiding the scathing look that was being thrown in her direction.

As the door closed letting out the final intruder, Dearka turned to look at Yzak again. "Well, are you going to say anything?"

"Dearka, go be with your family. It's obvious to all of us that you are so insecure that you take every little thing said out of context. The fact that you keep letting Ian get to you or that you still think he's trying to take that Natural away from you…"

"Miriallia," Dearka corrected.

"Fine, Miriallia. But that's what I'm talking about. We're best friends, but lately I don't feel like you think of anyone but yourself. Everything is about you and that; I mean Miriallia. I think I speak for both Shiho and myself when I say you've needed our assistance one too many times and we're all feeling a little rundown. You also need to let go of this control thing you have going on lately too. Cadey doesn't belong to you. Heck, even Miriallia doesn't belong to you. They're not objects and it seems you think of everything that way since you and Ian had the first falling out. Every thing's a competition with the two of you," Yzak said sincerely.

"So because I've needed your help keeping Ian at bay and bringing my family back together, I'm a burden to you and you're going to discharge me?" Dearka said defensively.

"I never said that. I just think it's time for you to get your life back together without any of our help. You want Ian to stop hitting on your girl, than marry her for crying out loud. He's not going to bother you then. As annoying as I think he is, I still believe he's an honorable guy. You want you parents to stop interfering, than announce to the world that you are with a Natural and have two children with her. Don't just stand there and hide behind this uniform. It's not fair to her and its' certainly not fair to ZAFT," Yzak stated.

"Unbelievable! You think I'm playing around. I risk my life out there every time I'm called and you think it's a game to me or that I'm hiding like some little kid? I went through hell and back since this war between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance began and you were with me every step of the way. I can also recount some of the times I saved your sorry butt too," Dearka shouted.

"And I can do the same!" Yzak raised his voice.

The two hadn't argued like this in a long time. In fact the last time they argued about personal issues was back in the Academy. "Look you've changed and I don't know if it's for the better of for the worse, but I can tell you it's not an asset to our forces at this moment. Have you forgotten your fiancée is lying in your room hooked up to an IV waiting to be moved to the PLANTs just so she can survive and here you are arguing over your position in the military? You also have another daughter that needs medical attention that this ship just can't provide and again here you still are glaring at me like I'm the monster."

"I have it taken care of. She's being moved as soon as the perimeter is secured," Dearka replied through his gritted teeth.

"And where will you be? Here on the ship? You would just leave her alone on the PLANTs with no family and no friends? Wow, if her father hated you before, I can't imagine he'll ever like you after this stunt."

"She's going to be fine. Nell said she would stay there with her until I finish things up around here," Dearka defended.

Yzak couldn't believe his ears. It was as if he and Dearka had switched places. For once he was being the rational and Dearka was being thickheaded. "Fine you don't want my advice, I get it. I'm not one to talk. I can't even count the number of times you've told me what I needed to hear and I blew you off. But really you need to think about this. You're about to send Miriallia down to the PLANTs in a weakened state with a new baby that is over a month early, leave her with one of your ex-bedmates, and keep her other daughter up here with you until you can figure out how to put your life back on track. Seems like you're going out of the way more for yourself than for her well-being."

"That's not even funny," Dearka scolded.

Yzak shuffled through some more papers with a small grin on his face. He knew exactly which part of that offended him the most. "You could have picked a million people and you chose Nell. Nice choice."

"I chose her because I trust her. She's the only one who hasn't been obsessed with me once we broke it off," Dearka answered with a small twinge of guilt forming in the pit of his stomach for not thinking about who he was about to introduce Miriallia too and right after she gave birth to their second child.

"And that's why I'm putting you on leave again. I'm not discharging you, but if you're that confused that you are making decisions like that then I don't trust you out there with the life of my girlfriend or my ship," Yzak said with a wink.

"Fine I see your point. But what exactly am I supposed to do?" Dearka asked.

"I don't know you're supposed to be the older one here. You tell me."

Dearka's eyes shifted away from his target and dropped softly onto Belle who remained quiet on the floor for her father's sake. She could tell her daddy was in a bad mood and she didn't want to do or say anything to make him mad at her.

He looked back at Yzak and saluted, "Sir requesting permission for leave due to family obligations."

Yzak blinked and nodded his head, "Permission granted."

Dearka smirked at his friend and walked over to grab Belle. "Don't worry about the blocks. I'll have Shiho put them away. I think I'll be needing those around for when you get back with the rug rats."

"I'm not a rug rat," Belle replied defiantly and crossed her arms in front of her with a pout.

Dearka laughed at his little angel. "Thanks Yzak for everything. But you're right I need to get my life together on my own."

"So other than going down to the PLANTs and taking them all with you, what else are you planning?" Yzak asked curiously before Dearka could escape.

"I'm not completely sure yet about all the details. But I do know the first thing I have to do is make sure Miriallia and Nora are safe and healthy and then I'm going to have to hack into my grandparents' trust fund that they left for me. I'm pretty sure the money that was set aside by my parents is already out of reach, but I don't think they thought far enough ahead yet in there attempt to teach me a lesson. After all that, I'll have to diffuse Cadey. Something tells me with the way Ian acted as soon as Nora was born that it's a sign that they've been up to something for a while now and the timing was messed up due to her early arrival."

"I'm glad to see you're finally thinking with a clear head. And if you could just marry this girl before you get back I'll finally be spared from hearing all the women on this ship swooning over you and your 'adorable children'," Yzak said with a hint of jealousy.

"Hey what can I say, I'm irresistible and so are they," he said with a smirk and hit the button to open the door. Belle waved from her fathers' arms with her own little smile. "Bye Uncle E-Yak."

"Bye rug rat," he replied with a soft smile that was unlike him.

"I'm not a rug rat," he heard her call out again as the door swished closed between them all.

"Well kiddo looks like we've got our work cut out for us if we want to finally be a happy family," Dearka said to Belle as they made their way down the corridors.

"I want a happy family," she repeated with her soft sweet voice.

"Me too," Dearka said with a sigh. They worked their way back to his quarters and he began to punch in his code. "Now Belle, you have to be quiet. Mommy's sleeping and she needs her rest. We don't want to wake her right now. You're going to be a good girl, right?"

"Yes Sir!" she replied with another salute. The sight brought a smile to his face although his thoughts raced to future worries at the same moment. "She better not think she'll get to be a soldier like her daddy. There's no way I'll let my baby girl get herself caught up in such a dangerous profession," he thought protectively.

The door opened and they could see Miriallia sleeping peacefully with the IV drip continuing to flow. Dearka put Belle down and walked over to Miriallia to give her a soft kiss on her forehead. She stirred slowly but never woke from her slumber.

"Well I guess we should get some rest too," he whispered to Belle as he picked her up again and placed her in bed strapping her in safely.

"Where are you sleeping Daddy?" Belle asked concerned.

"Not sure yet honey," he realized from her comment and began looking around their room. He didn't have much furniture in his room and it was pretty small now that there were four of them. "It didn't seem this small when it was just me. But then again, I wouldn't trade this for the world," he thought still smiling to himself.

"Daddy can stay with me," Belle announced trying to help. He kissed her on the cheek and pulled the covers up over her. Handing her the stuffed animal she loved so much, he let out a laugh. "Thank you Belle, but I don't think Daddy can fit in there with you. Don't you worry; I'll be fine. You just need some rest too, so close your eyes. We have a big day taking care of your Mommy and baby sister," he told her and walked away to hit the light switch.

The room went dark except for the tiny light from the humidifier Miriallia had set up when she had been complaining about the air being so dry on the ship. It was actually pretty stylish from the humidifiers he remembered as a kid. It was more deco art styled with a light blue glow-in-the-dark type light that it emitted. He noticed his office chair and decided he would just have to suffer and figure out a way to make himself comfortable. There was no way he was going to figure out how to fit in the bed with Miriallia when she was in such a state. Plus he still valued his life and wasn't quite sure how she would react when she woke up again.

The last few months had been a similar guessing game for him. One moment she was chipper and over-excited and the next she was depressed and angry with him for what she was going through. Not that he could blame her, she had gone through so much and then to deal with all her pregnancy symptoms on a rocking ship that was consistently ending up in battle and a small room that didn't allow either of them anytime to themselves took a toll on her and him for that matter.

"I can't wait until I get all of us down to the PLANTs. I need to start working on finding my girls a permanent home or I'm never going to survive becoming a family man," he thought as he sat down and set the chair to lean back. He put his feet up on the desk and closed his eyes allowing the sound of the humidifier lull him to sleep.