No. I do not own Gundam 00. :( The only one that I own is Eri.
"Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions."
-Booth Tarkington
Arguments
"Nii-san! What are you doing here?"
Laughter. Gentle smiles. There was nothing more except a flow of warmth, a sense of security. Hands around me, a comforting embrace. The happiness was there, a fuzzy glow that began from my chest and spread throughout.
He was tall…much taller. All I could see was the button-up shirt that he wore, and his pale, slender fingers.
"I'm making some final adjustments to this mobile suit, sister. Doesn't it look magnificent?"
"It does! Can you fly this thing way up in the sky?"
"Of course."
"Nii-san…I want to do that too!"
More laughter. Hair ruffling. Tenderness. "You will. All you need are a few more years and…"
…
My eyes snapped open of their own accord.
The dream came rushing in, strong and unstoppable.
I turned around blindly, half-expecting to see a tall, male figure looming around somewhere with a mobile suit by his side. However, all I saw was a girl with pink hair resting on a bed not too far away from me. Feldt. I was temporarily rooming with her after all.
Reality returned – I was Eri, a new member of Celestial Being.
I sighed. How vivid was that dream, to have me temporarily mix it up with reality?
The bright red digits on the wall flashed . Four-fifteen a.m. huh? What on earth was I supposed to do now? Going back to sleep didn't seem like an inviting option.
My decision was swift. I kicked off the covers and decided to go for a walk.
The area was deserted.
To be honest, it was slightly eerie. The usual chatter of the Celestial Being crew was non-existent at this hour, and the only thing I could hear was the steady hum of machines. My footsteps echoed along the hallway, unusually loud.
Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea.
All right, Eri, you wanted a walk, didn't you? What are you worried about? Nothing's going to harm you. Just walk. Then perhaps you could go back and have some proper sleep after all.
The internal yelling somehow chased away any doubts. I wandered around aimlessly at a comfortable pace, not familiar with the layout of the Ptolemaios yet.
Before I knew it, I stopped outside a room that I only knew too well.
Veda's terminal.
Should I…?
The urge for me to enter was strong, and yet, I hesitated – what if someone was around and saw me sneaking in? But then again, no one was here now. Nobody would know. I probably wouldn't have a chance anymore when the sun came up.
No. I couldn't afford to waste time. Silently, I slipped inside, feeling a part of me bloom with joy as I felt myself float, weightless, amidst the vibrant hues of colours.
I felt at ease. This was a great place to be. There was no darkness here, only colours.
Colours…and information.
Nii-san, huh?
That dream was so persistent. Could it perhaps be a distant memory? Was it possible for myself to have a brother somewhere out there?
That thought was foreign, unwanted.
Perhaps I wasn't meant to be abandoned…
Would Veda have the answers that I needed? But then again, Veda only stored information that was related to Celestial Being. I was no original part of it after all...
"Don't make me regret allowing you to live."
That voice. Him again. I cursed inwardly, turning around so quickly that I nearly did a mid-air somersault. So much for "nobody would know".
His eyes flashed at me, a dangerous golden, face set into that glare that he was famous for. Tieria Erde didn't look so much like a Gundam Meister now with casual pants and a sweater on – he looked more like a regular teenage boy, a fussy one at that.
"...Is it wrong for me to be here?"
Eyes widened – he was surprised, obviously expecting an insulting comeback from me instead of a question.
"No. But it unsettles me about how you, a person without any special abilities, manages to access Veda with such ease."
"Well, you already know that I have no bad intentions."
He ignored my reply. "What are you doing here, at this time of the night? If you were not a part of Celestial Being already, I would have shot you right on the spot."
I had to bite back a smile. "You didn't shoot me the first time."
"Continue speaking to me like that and I swear I won't miss. Now, answer the question."
"Well…" I fidgeted. "I couldn't sleep."
"All humans need sleep for optimum functioning," he stated flatly. "You are no exception. I will not tolerate any sort of illness from you that is stemmed from an unhealthy sleeping habit. "
I sighed.
"All right. Actually, I had a dream."
Tieria had known all along that humans had dreams at times when they were asleep, and most of the time they were nightmares or just plain peculiar dreams. Sometimes he would sense Setsuna waking up from a bad dream, and there came a point when Tieria had to aim his gun at Hallelujah, who had insisted on giving him a play-by-play description about a perverted dream he had with the female population. Dreams that the Celestial Being crew had were mostly nothing good.
"All humans dream. I am not interested in what your dream was about."
The girl in front of him – Eri – shrugged. On closer inspection, she appeared to be frowning, obviously worried about something.
"It's not a normal one. This is the second time I've been dreaming about it, and it's just too vivid to be ignored. Somehow, it feels…it feels…"
Tieria folded his arms, waiting patiently for her to find her words.
"It feels…like it could be a memory."
She quickly looked away, obviously uncomfortable about discussing this with him.
Ah. No wonder she was concerned.
Could dreams be associated with memories? Tieria was not entirely sure about that. Veda never supplied him with such information.
"I dreamed…that I had a brother."
"…A brother?"
"Yes. I always call him by 'nii-san', and never by his real name. I can't dream up his name though, and I'm never able to see his face, but…but I do know some things, like he's a mobile suit pilot for instance. He supports world peace, and I feel…that he's a good person."
Tieria immediately dissected this information as she continued speaking.
A brother that piloted a mobile suit?
Since when did Innovators had 'brothers'? They were all created, not born. Supposedly he had made a mistake and she had nothing to do with them at all? But then again, where could she have obtained the ability to access Veda so easily?
More disturbingly, if her brother was a mobile suit pilot, then who exactly was he working for?
Did he know that he had a sister here with Celestial Being? If he did, would he come for her?
Tieria tried to dismiss all these possibilities. After all, it was a mere dream. Dreams were dreams. Persistent dreams were still dreams. Yet, there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, an uneasy one at that.
However, for now, there was nothing that he could confirm from just words alone.
"You. This is going nowhere. It's probably nothing but a dream that you humans fancily have at times. Don't dwell on it too much and go back to your room, or would you like me to drag you back there?"
Colour rose to her cheeks. "I have a name, so stop calling me by 'you'. And what about you anyway? Do you always come by here for no apparent reason?"
"I am a part of Veda. What gives me the right to not come by here?"
"Well, that means you do come by here often then. Could I do that too?"
She? Access Veda anytime she wanted?
"This is outrageous – how dare you even ask! There is no way I will approve of that!"
She glared at him. "Why not? Veda obviously isn't rejecting me. I do not intend to copy out any information for malicious purposes. Besides, If I tried anything, you would have the ability to shoot me down in a second."
Her fuchsia gaze was determined.
"Or is it that you are afraid of me, Tieria Erde?"
"Afraid? What are you talking about?"
She was challenging him. Him, of all people!
"You dare deny it? Every time you see me, you threaten to kill me, and now you are forbidding me to be at Veda's terminal!"
Tieria stiffened, some part of his anger abating. As much as he hated to admit it, this girl actually had a point. There wasn't much that he could do, not when the argument had reached a stage like this.
"All right. You have my authorization to access Veda in this terminal anytime you want. I don't know why you want to, but mark my words – if I see you try anything suspicious, I won't hesitate to kill you. Now, will you stop all these nonsense and leave already?"
She smiled – whether it was in victory or some twisted semblance of happiness, he did not know.
"Okay, okay. I'm going. See you!"
Tieria watched her leave, his irritating mounting by the seconds. He had unwillingly lost to her in an argument, and could already imagine Lockon saying, "I told you so!"
He scowled.
It seemed like the days were going to be very long indeed.
How on earth are they even going to get along anyway... [shakes head]
Please read and review. ;D
-Anne