Konnichiwa Minna-san! Ex-Shark-Virtue-005 is back with a new chapter! I'm sorry it took me so long. I've been absolutely swamped with everything. (It's really kinda bad when you barely have enough time to breathe during you waking hours) But aside from that I have another angsty Tieria chapter but it seems to fit him rather well. So after the disclaimer (Which you can skip) you can enjoy.

Disclaimer: Bandai Sunrise and Yun Koga own Gundam 00. Veda has just granted my permission to borrow the characters for a bit.

Happy Reading!

Chapter Six: True Feelings and Confusion

Mileina was quite glad to see Tieria in her normal seat in the bridge.

"Tieria-san!" She called happily, "What are you doing here?"

"Sumeragi said that if you slept through you work that I would have to take over for you," Tieria said.

"Tieria, if you and Mileina want to hang out for a while, I'll take over for a while," Sumeragi said, "We'll be landing on earth in a little bit."

"Okay!" Mileina said, "Come on Tieria-san! We'll go to my room!"

Tieria nodded and followed the hyperactive girl from the bridge. Aside from the night before, Tieria had never been in Mileina's room and was a little bit worried as to what the girl's room would look like but at the same time he was rather curious.

"Well," Mileina said, "Here's my room!"

Tieria wasn't sure what to expect. Despite being able to access whatever he wanted to, he had never once checked to see what the other Meisters' rooms looked like. But he was surprised to find that Mileina's room was nearly as plain as his room was. He had almost expected to find stuffed toys, posters and other things that girls her age liked. He took a good look around the room and he noticed a large amount of photographs everywhere and one vaguely familiar stuffed bear sitting on her bed.

"What's wrong Tieria-san?" She asked as she flopped down on her bed, "Tadaima, Nadleeh-chan!"

Tieria gasped, "You named the bear after my original Gundam?" he asked.

"Of course," Mileina said as she clutched the bear, "You gave it to me for my fifth birthday and I couldn't name it after you. I was too scared to ask for permission so I named it Nadleeh…For a while…it was the only part of you I had and that I could cling to…"

"Mileina…" Tieria gasped as he walked up to the bed.

"When we got the message stating that Seraphim had taken critical damage…I…I was…It felt like my heart stopped…and when…no matter what method we tried…couldn't get a life reading it felt like I was being torn apart…

"I didn't want to believe that you were dead…But…when you never returned…I found myself believing the possibility that you had been killed."

"Mileina…It's alright," Tieria said, "I'm here now. Somehow, I didn't die, which is why I'm here talking to you." He sat down next to the now crying girl, "I may not have a body of my own but my consciousness is still intact and that's all that matters. So please Mileina," He said in a gentle tone that Mileina had never heard before, "Cheer up."

Mileina looked up from her hands and saw that Tieria was lightly smiling, "Tieria-san…" She then suddenly felt rather embarrassed about letting herself get in such a state in front of Tieria, "Hai!" She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, "Sumimasen Tieria-san."

"It's alright," Tieria said, "You don't have to apologize."

"Ano…Tieria-san," Mileina started as her face flushed, "There's something I want to ask you."

"What would that be?" Tieria asked.

"What was it like…to lose your body?" Mileina asked, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I just wanted to see if you wanted to talk about it a bit. Maybe it will help you to feel better because you still seem kind of upset about the whole ordeal."

Tieria sighed. He really didn't want Mileina to know the gruesome details of his "death" but perhaps the girl was right and that he would feel better after talking it out. "Well as I told you last night, I was shot seven times," Tieria said, "And…I felt all but one of those seven shots. By the time I was shot in the head, my body had shut down and my mind was rendered unconscious. But thanks to Regene, my mind was not destroyed when th-…Ribbons shot me in the head. Then when Setsuna used Trans-Am Burst Mode I was able to awaken in Veda to access my body for one last time to initiate the Trial System." He paused for a bit, "I really have to thank those two because if it weren't for them I wouldn't be here talking to you…I would have been killed."

Mileina gasped. She really had no idea what to say to Tieria and she wished she could help to comfort him a bit. So she leaned her head on his semi-corporeal shoulder. "I guess I should thank them too then," She said as she felt her face grow warm, "They saved you." Tieria smiled a bit but Mileina could tell that it was a forced smile, "I guess talking about it didn't seem to help much, did it?"

"No," Tieria said, "It helped. It's just the kind of thing that's going to take a while to get over. I thought that my life was over when the first shot hit, then to wake up in Veda…it's going to take some time for me to adjust."

"I see," Mileina said, "Ooh Tieria-san guess what? Sumeragi said that we're going to go to a private beach for a few days!" She said trying to lighten the mood, "Isn't it great!?"

"It is," Tieria said, "I hope you have fun."

"Tieria-san," Mileina asked as she noticed that her tactic wasn't working out as well as she hoped that it would, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Tieria said as he faked a smile.

"It'll be great to spend some time in the sun won't it?" Mileina asked, "It'll be a relief to get off the ship for a bit!"

"I'm sure it will be," Tieria said softly, "Have fun."

"Tieria-san," Mileina said, "You will be able to come with us won't you?"

"No, I won't," Tieria said, "I have no corporeal body of my own. The GN-Particles were able to create a temporary body for me to use but the minute I try to leave the ship, the GN-Particle body will dissipate and my consciousness will return to Veda."

"Tieria-san," Mileina said, "You mean…you'll be all alone again?"

"Don't worry Mileina," Tieria said, "You deserve to have fun on Earth."

"Are you sure?" Mileina asked, "We'll be there for two days."

"I've been away from all of you for three weeks," Tieria said, "I can wait another two days. Don't worry about me, go have some fun."

"Okay," Mileina said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Will you ever be able to get a new body?"

"Eventually," Tieria said, "But there's a lot of work that needs to be done. There are thousands of corrupt files in Veda that we need to restore to their original state and while we've managed to fix about two hundred or so of those files it's going to take months to complete maybe even up to a year."

"I see," Mileina said, "I'll wait for you then. I'll wait as long as I have to."

"Thanks Mileina," Tieria said, "But you don't have to do that. There are other men out there better suited for you than I am."

"No," Mileina exclaimed as he face turned redder still, "I am going to wait as long as I have to wait!"

Tieria sighed as he noticed the color to the girl's cheeks, "Your face is all red Mileina," He said as he frowned, "Are you running a temperature?"

"N-No!" Mileina stuttered turned, if at all possible, redder, "I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?" Tieria asked sounding rather concerned, "Your face is very flushed. Perhaps you should go to the medical room."

"I'm not sick Tieria-san!" Mileina exclaimed, "Ano…Tieria-san…I…I…"

"What is it Mileina?" Tieria asked.

"I…" Mileina muttered cursing herself for not being able to get the words out properly, "Tieria-san I…I love you!"

Tieria's eyes widened at the girl's outburst. He didn't quite know what to say. He had known that the girl had had a crush on him for a long time but he wasn't sure about the idea of someone loving him, "Mileina…"

"I understand if you can't love me back because of what happened to you," Mileina said, "But I still love you!"

Tieria just stood there in shock, "I didn't think anyone could ever love me…" He muttered.

"What do you mean Tieria-san?" Mileina asked.

"I'm…not human…" Tieria muttered vacantly.

"Sure you are!" A voice interjected before Mileina could.

"Neil…" Tieria gasped as the spirit materialized next to Mileina, "But…"

"Oi no buts," Neil said, "Millie-chan you tell him! Tell him he's being an idiot."

"Ano," Mileina said, "D-Dylandi-san is right! You're human!"

"I don't have a body," Tieria said, "How can I be human?"

"You have a kind and gentle human heart," Neil as he started to fade, "And that's all that really matters right. Congrats kid, you managed to find yourself a girlfriend. Keep makin' me proud!"

Tieria nodded slightly as the man's image faded completely.

"Dylandi-san is right, you know," Mileina said, "Your body may be different from a human's but you do have a kind heart and emotions. That's what makes you human."

Tieria smiled weakly as Mileina's pager went off, "Mileina we're just about ready to go,"

"Okay," Mileina said as she turned to Tieria, "Are you sure you're going to be alright by yourself?"

"I'll be alright," Tieria said, "Go enjoy yourself."

"Okay," Mileina said, "If you get lonely you can borrow Nadleeh-chan!"

Tieria sighed as the girl left the room. He was now utterly confused and alone again. He knew that it would only be for a few days but still it would feel like an eternity in his state. Despite how much he used to love being alone in the past, he had now come to despise solitude.

He looked over at the small toy and picked it up. Despite being about nine years old the toy was in amazing condition. He wished that he could remember giving the toy to the young girl but since his body had been destroyed he found that some of his earlier memories had not been intact. The bear did look vaguely familiar but he couldn't remember any of the other details behind the bear. He then took the bear and left the room.

Setsuna sighed. He could feel Tieria's emotions and confusion almost as if they were his own. And he wished that he could help Tieria but there was a little voice in the back of his mind telling him to let Tieria figure things out on his own. He wasn't sure whose voice it was. Perhaps it was a probably irritated Regene Regetta or even Neil Dylandi but whoever it was obviously wanted Tieria to figure things out on his own.

Yes, it's short. But the emotion that I wanted was there and I didn't want to kill it. So Mileina confessed her love to Tieria and he stood there (as my best friend put it) like a deer in the headlights. Then Neil comes, which only pushes Tieria into a further state of confusion but T-chan and utter confusion seem to go hand and hand. So, I'll shut up before this note exceeds the length of the chapter. Until next time Minna-san!

Ex-Shark-Virtue-005