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 20
Confrontation
Dearka walked down the hall toward his daughters' room. Although he wasn't allowed to enter it as of yet, the nurse would leave the blinds pulled back for him to look in on his little girl.
"She's just adorable," Mrs. Haw said with sincerity and clapped her hands together softly. Love was flickering in her eyes as her gaze danced across the newborns features.
Shiho was pressed against the window looking at the small bundle on the other side of the glass. "Why does she have so many machines hooked up to her? She seemed perfectly healthy on the ship."
Anyone could see the obvious answer, but Shiho wasn't thinking rationally at the moment. She had the pleasure of meeting the little angel right after birth and it was inconceivable that she needed so many mechanisms to keep her little heart beating and her lungs breathing.
"Do you know the prognosis yet?" Yzak asked Dearka sternly while ignoring Shiho's question. His arms were folded in front of his chest, ruffling his uniform slightly. Even Yzak couldn't stand to see the state the baby was in. His best friends' child was helplessly struggling just to survive.
"No one is really telling me anything as of yet. I'm sure my father has something to do with it," Dearka replied somberly.
"Of course I had something to do with it," came the gruff voice in the distance.
Dearka lifted his head and blinked his eyes in recognition. "Dad?" he questioned.
Wasn't he supposed to have left already? At least that's what the man had told him. He had hoped it had been true and he was rid of him for the time being. No such luck.
Mrs. Haw's eyes glinted with a flash of anger. This was the man that was causing her family so much grief in order to twist future events in a way he felt was suitable for his own image.
The man moved closer to the group before speaking. "Yzak, I see you are lending your usual support to my son in order to keep him out of trouble," he said to the young uniformed officer.
"I'm here as Lt. Elsman's commanding officer, Sir," Yzak replied saluting the Councilman.
"Yes, of course, how careless of me, Commander Joule," he said returning the salute.
The councilman's eyes wandered across the group and he noticed a new, yet familiar face. Albeit the woman was a bit older than her counterpart, the resemblance was striking.
"And you are…?" the councilman asked politely.
"I'm Miriallia Haw's mother," she said kindly extending her hand to the man.
He looked down on it and hesitantly reached his own hand out to her gesture. She could feel the insecurity in the shake. It wasn't as powerful a grip as she would have expected from the man standing in front of her. Then again, she thought it might have more to do with the fact that he hadn't anticipated her presence here.
"What are you doing back here Dad?" Dearka asked the lingering question on all their minds.
"I received a call from your assistant. She told me it might be in my best interest to pay you a visit in the ICU. I will admit, however, that I was not expecting to meet my soon-to-be daughter-in-law's mother in such a depressing ward," he said in an attempt to cover the apparent insecurity.
"There's no where else I would rather be than with Miriallia, Dearka and my grandchildren," Mrs. Haw stated removing her hand from the man's grip.
She could see what Dearka had meant so long ago when he stayed with her family. This man, his father, was very unemotional and obviously lacked sympathy for any actions Dearka took that he felt was unjustified.
"Of course there isn't," he paused contemplatively before continuing, "Well, at least for three of the four people you just mentioned. My son is not your concern," he said disdainfully.
Mrs. Haw blinked with agitation, leaving the three young soldiers feeling extremely uncomfortable. Yzak could tell it was his cue to gather the troops and head for the exit.
"If you will excuse us, I need to discuss a few private matters with Lieutenants Hahnenfuss and Elsman," Yzak excused himself and his Lieutenants from the group saluting to the Councilman and nodding politely in Mrs. Haw's direction.
Dearka was unsure of whether or not to leave, but saw Mrs. Haw nod her own head in acknowledgement and welcomed the time alone with the young mans' father.
"Lieutenant Elsman," Yzak said abruptly, snapping the young soldier from his daze.
"Yes Sir," Dearka replied leaving the ICU without looking back. Not wanting to wait for his father to respond to his lack of obedience, he scurried away leaving the two parents alone with his daughter on the other side of the glass.
"You have a very respectful and heroic son," Mrs. Haw said softly. Her head tilted slightly to left to allow her a look back through the glass at Nora's sleeping form. Gently her eyes softened as a smile slipped across her features.
"You think so, do you?" Tad replied starring at the same object.
To him, that's all the little girl was, an object. She wasn't worthy of his time or his affections, even if she had the Elsman genes running through her DNA. The same way Naturals felt anyone altered was not pure, he felt about his half Coordinator, half Natural grandchildren.
"Since finding Miriallia again, he's done nothing but go out of his way for his family. He goes above and beyond what most men will do for the ones they love," she replied.
It was her first attempt at a civil conversation with the man standing next to her; she used reason, hoping to spark a form of camaraderie. Maybe she would be able to sway the man into giving his son and her daughter a fair chance to become a family without interference. Maybe she could even help mend the broken relationship between father and son. Maybe…
"He's a fool. If it wasn't for me, that thing would be dead in there and this so-called love of his life wouldn't be far behind. Is this his way of repaying me for my generosity? Sneaking you here in an effort to hide behind you for protection?" Tad Elsman snapped as he turned from the woman.
Mrs. Haw was appalled. Never in her life had she been treated so disrespectfully, even from someone not too fond of her. And to speak so callously about her daughter, it was more than any mother could tolerate.
"The only fool I see here is you. Your son isn't hiding behind me, he's asking me for my support. It seems that requisite need is something his own family is unable to fulfill" Mrs. Haw aberrantly replied.
"My son doesn't NEED anything. He has everything at his disposal," Tad snipped back at her.
"For someone who must, in some way, be brilliant to have gotten to where he is today, you seem dense to me. Have all the years of looking at humans as clinical lab rats made you cynical to the basic physiological needs of the human psyche?" she heatedly asked.
She was well aware of the former position of the man standing before her. He had been the Council representative of the Februarius PLANT in the prior war, his job and knowledge focusing on basic and clinical medicine, biochemistry, molecular biology and applied somatology. Having a background in clinical and corporate psychology and her own former position as an executive director on the board of directors to a major Orb conglomerate, she felt pretty confident in her ability to speak with the Councilman on the same level. Although she no longer had the time to devout to the company as an executive director, she maintained her position on the board now as a non-executive member. Surely this man couldn't be more difficult than the men and women she served with on the board.
Councilman Elsman was not amused by the Natural currently berating him over his genius and his sons supposed needs. And how did she know so much about his position anyway? No doubt his son's lips had loosened slightly from this infectious family.
"I've never believed in the human psyche," he replied rudely.
Or maybe he could be more difficult, she noticed from his abrupt response.
"That's a shame, you really aren't as intelligent as I had originally perceived," she said still looking at the little girl. She was furious, although her demeanor did not show it. This man, in her opinion, needed to learn a thing or two about what a person is psychologically and not just assume all they were was what their genes denoted biologically.
Before he had a chance to rebuke her statement, she spoke again. "I think it's time I teach you a little something about people as an entity instead of how you know them from your experiments. There are five basic needs, according to Maslow's hierarchy, that help the human psyche thrive. The first is the physiological, the basic primitive needs, breathing, food, water, sleep, sex. Good thing for him, those are all things that are inherent abilities or he wouldn't have made it past his first moments in this world with someone like you for a father."
"Now wait just a minute…" Tad began interrupting angrily, but to no avail.
"I don't think I said I was done speaking," she scolded.
It was strange but something made him fall quiet and he wasn't sure why. This woman was insulting his intelligence and butting in where she didn't belong. Yet still the words failed him at that moment.
"Next is Safety, wherein lies the security of body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health and property. Unfortunately everything you do is a way to make him as insecure about himself as possible, in order to force him to come to you for help so you can manipulate his life. He's lucky he's made it this far with his lack of confidence. Everything he has, you take away, am I mistaken?" she asked looking at the man now.
"He hardly has a lack of confidence," Tad replied believing he knew his son better than the woman in front of him did.
"You are confusing his cockiness as a sign of confidence instead of the shield he puts up to hide his insecurities," she corrected knowing from many of her own interactions with people with the same general MO.
The hallway was silent and still. No one had been up or down the hall the entire time they had been having their discussion and this pleased Mrs. Haw. It showed the Councilman that she wasn't afraid to be left alone with him, that she could stand up for herself without another's presence.
His eyes slit with anger as she continued her explanation. "Love and Belonging are the third of the five. This includes friendship, family and sexual intimacy. He's lucky to have that young fellow looking out for him. He seems like a good friend. And Miriallia, I'm guessing, is the most intimate relationship he's ever had. Just look to your left if you don't believe me. That just leaves family, a family that doesn't truly love or believe in him. Does he really belong to your family or is he just a genetic prize to you? Because what I see is a person standing in front of me when he's there. I'm beginning to think you only see a trophy," Mrs. Haw snipped at the man.
"If I felt that way, I wouldn't be fighting so hard for his future!" Tad yelled.
"What future does he have if you're the one calling all the shots? If you could, you would have someone telling him where to be and what to say every moment of the day. You are not a God and if you really were, you would remember the one thing God gave to all living beings, free will!"
She had barely taken a breath before continuing her rant. "After that, there is self esteem, to go beyond ones' self with an attempt to expand your horizons and to have the confidence to do so. Fortunately Miriallia gave him quite the boost. She was a new frontier for him, the sweet, gentle, quiet Natural girl that stole his heart. And how about acceptance and respect? He craves that from the ones he cares most about. Dearka seems to struggle in his attempt to gain your acceptance, but that's something you don't ever intend on giving to him. Does that make you feel like the bigger man?" she scolded every rule of the psychologist in her being thrown out the window as she spoke to him.
It was amazing, this was the longest Tad Elsman had stayed quiet when someone was verbally attacking his character. She wasn't sure if he was allowing her to do this because his son wasn't present and it was easier to let her rant or if she was honestly forcing him to think about the actions he had taken up to this point in life with regards to his son.
"Self-actualization, including morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of the facts. Well again, as luck would have it, you haven't screwed that up too much. I'd like to believe it's based on his personality and not your upbringing, maybe even by the help of the military and the atrocities that he's seen while out there on his own. The only thing that he can't seem to do to complete this is to get his father to understand that he is an individual, making his own choices and not just a clone of the man he, for some reason, unbeknownst to me, admires. Even though the human psyche needs all these things, it only needs them to some degree, which is probably why he has functioned so well regardless of what you've done to him," she ended.
"Are you finished lecturing me about my sons' life that you really know nothing about? You're extremely confident that you know everything about the situation. Dearka, I'm sure, hasn't filled you in on half the things that have led up to the decisions I enforce upon him. He is not as caring or concerned about others' needs as you think. All you know of him is a few lousy months he spent on Earth, whereas I have known him his entire life. He is not as pitiful as you are describing and he is deserving of a much better woman than your daughter. Whether you like it or not, things will go the way I design them and there is nothing you can do or say, for that matter, to change that," Tad scolded back.
It infuriated her. Saying her daughter wasn't worthy of his son. It was an uncalled for hit below the belt that made her realize there was only one thing she could do.
"I have to ask you this question. Do you think you are the only man well connected in this world?" Mrs. Haw spoke with affirmation.
"No, but I do believe I'm the only man that can keep that child alive at this moment in time and unless you want me to pull the plug on the entire staff that is working on her, I suggest you tell your daughter to sign those papers," Tad Elsman threatened.
"You can't be serious, that's your granddaughter in there," she said feeling disconcerted.
"Not by choice," he replied.
She was set off again. It didn't take this man long to push her buttons. This time she wasn't lecturing, but yelling!
"Of course not by YOUR choice, she's not YOUR child. But she is your son's child and he made the choice to have her. I don't think you realize that you don't really get a say in the matter. You chose a woman to have a child with, and so did he. Did your father choose your wife for you?" Mrs. Haw continued in a scolding manner.
"My son and I do not live the same lifestyle I did with my father. There was no need to choose someone for me. I'm also not as rash as Dearka is," Tad said simply.
"So you're saying your judgment is always spot-on? Because from what I can see, it's lacking," she rebuked.
"It doesn't surprise me that someone like you wouldn't understand. It was your daughter that trapped my son in the first place," Tad stated viciously.
"My daughter is a good woman and…" Mrs. Haw began.
"I'm not debating that your daughter is probably very sweet, but as I said before, she's not the one my son is arranged to be with, she's not good enough for him. Just because she served some time in the military by circumstance doesn't make her a good candidate to be not only a military wife but also a former representative's daughter-in-law. Our kids should have never been together in the first place. In fact, they should never have even met," he yelled.
Mrs. Haw ripped the papers from Councilman Elsman's hands and headed out of the ICU toward Miriallia's room. If the man in front of her wouldn't listen to reason, couldn't be swayed by a reprimand and had no intention of changing his stance, there was only one thing she could do to save Miriallia and her family.
Moments later…
Mrs. Haw came barging through the door to Miriallia's hospital room. "Sign this now Miriallia!" she ordered.
"Mom?" Miriallia questioned.
"Mrs. Haw…" Dearka began to repeat until he saw the cross look on her features as she shot a glare in his direction. It was a cold and menacing look, as if she was telling him not to make such mistakes when addressing her.
"I mean, Mom, what are you doing?" he replied correcting himself quickly.
He knew better than to call her Mrs. Haw anymore. It was something that had become bothersome to her now that he was, in her eyes, part of the family. Dearka's father was not far behind and Dearka looked over to him.
He had overheard his son and rolled his eyes at him. Dearka was furious and rushed over to Miriallia's bed in an attempt to stop her from signing.
"Mom, stop it, it's not a good idea. I know my father better than anyone, he'll get what he wants and he wants me to have custody of the girls and be without Miriallia," he pleaded with her.
"Well at least one of those things we agree on," Mr. Haw said through gritted teeth as he glanced at the man standing just inside the door.
"Dearka, stay out of it. Let the girls' mother give advice to her daughter without your interference," he scolded.
Dearka glared at him and then turned back to Miriallia. "Mir, don't do it," he begged.
He looked at his soon-to-be mother-in-law with his eyes wide as a puppy dogs, "Mom, please, tell her not to do it."
Mrs. Haw just shook her head as Miriallia grabbed the pen from her. Dearka desperately tried to reach for Miriallia's hand and felt two sets of hands grab his away. He looked at both people and felt his frustration rising.
"What's wrong with the two of you?" he cried out in anger.
"Dearka!" his father yelled from behind, "you're allowing your emotions to get the best of you right now. I taught you better than that," Councilman Elsman reproached.
Mrs. Haw released her grip on his wrist and Mr. Haw continued to squeeze the young man's hand as a warning. Dearka looked at the man and for once in his life felt that he wasn't out to get him. Mr. Haw shook his head gently at him, almost in a loving manner to tell him everything would be okay.
Dearka's eyes softened a bit as he watched Miriallia obediently sign the papers. When Miriallia finished, her mother took them from her hands and walked over to Dearka's father and handed him the paperwork.
"There you have it. They are officially married. That is what you wanted so you could destroy their family, isn't it?" she said ruefully.
"That tone doesn't work with me Mrs. Haw. I don't feel regret for taking matters into my own hands. I am protecting my family the same way you are protecting yours," Tad replied.
He looked over to Dearka and Miriallia with a sadistic smile. "Mrs. Elsman, you will be transferred to your new home on Februarius this afternoon. Dearka, as soon as your daughter is stable, you will be returning to your post aboard the Voltaire," he stated.
"But, I can't just leave Miriallia alone on Februarius with two children," Dearka argued.
"Don't worry dear, she'll be fine. It will give us all time to get settled, won't it darling," Mrs. Haw smiled sweetly.
This made not only Dearka look up in shock, but his father as well.
"Oh please Councilman, you didn't really think I would let you destroy my daughters' happiness that easily did you. I tangled with far more threatening entities than you in my day and I've read just as many agreements. There is nothing saying that I can't be with my daughter at all times on PLANT and no addendum you can legally write to make that happen," Mrs. Haw stated.
"Mom?" Dearka whispered softly.
"Dearka, she's not your mother!" Tad said with contempt for the woman standing before him.
Never had he expected this woman to be so cunning as to pull a stunt like this. It was infuriating to him.
"Actually, she technically is now. He's her son-in-law," Mr. Haw said swiftly making Dearka's father's face redden.
"Dearka, as soon as your daughter is released today, you will return to your post," he reiterated.
Dearka stood in attention and with a small gratifying smile; he saluted his father, as any soldier of ZAFT should. He watched the man storm out of the room making Dearka chuckle slightly.